Largest Ok newspapers to share news content

In a joint announcement Friday, the state’s two largest newspapers made it official: Economic conditions have forced them to consolidate some operations, including news gathering and reporting. The joint announcement, anticipated in The McCarville Report Online’s story last Tuesday.

"Oklahoma’s two largest news organizations, the Tulsa World and The Oklahoman, announced they will share selected stories, photos and other news content to better serve their audiences throughout the state.

"The agreement means some content produced by the Tulsa World staff will appear in The Oklahoman and on NewsOK.com, and content produced by The Oklahoman staff will appear in the Tulsa World and on tulsaworld.com. Stories and photos produced by one organization and published by the other will carry attribution to the contributing newspaper or Web site.

"We are excited at the quality and breadth of journalism that can be done by combining the two largest news-gathering operations in the state," said Joe Worley, executive editor of the Tulsa World.

"Ed Kelley, The Oklahoman’s editor, said the collaboration provides more coverage of news in Oklahoma for the organizations’ audiences at an uncertain time for the news industry.

"Both The Oklahoman and the World have terminated newsroom positions in the past four months as part of cost-cutting measures. Over time the two organizations will focus on reducing some areas of duplication, such as sending reporters from both The Oklahoman and the World to cover routine news events.

"We want to try to make sure the level of coverage doesn’t drop even as our staffs are smaller," Kelley said. "Partnering with the World and their professionals makes a lot of sense for both of us."

"Both Kelley and Worley said the two organizations will maintain their separate voices on their editorial and opinion pages, as well as their individual approaches to gathering news.

"The agreement between the papers is historic in that each paper is independently owned, and together they represent more than 200 years of reporting in the state of Oklahoma. The Tulsa World and The Oklahoman are each family owned, representing two of the largest such newspapers in the country.

"We each have independent spirits going back to our beginnings," said Worley. "And while we plan to share some of our talent, I think readers will see that we will also maintain our independence from each other."

"The agreement in Oklahoma follows a number of news-sharing agreements that have been announced by newspapers in Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Texas and the Washington, D.C., area."

About the author:
Mike McCarville has covered Oklahoma politics and government since he became State Capitol Correspondent for The Tulsa Tribune in 1966. Since, he has been a governor’s press secretary, investigative reporter, television station news executive, radio station program director and talk show host, and political consultant. In 1980, he founded the McCarville Report and it is the nation’s longest-running state political publication. In its online version, it has been called "The best political blog" by Dr. Keith Gaddie, pollster and pundit and "Oklahoma’s venerable McCarville Report" by The Arkansas Times. McCarville, also a real estate investor and commentator for the National Rifle Association on NRANews.com and Sirius Satellite Radio, is a regular contributor to Tulsa Today.