And what happens when Rupert Murdoch owns every newspaper in the country?

Rupe is getting ready to buy another New York paper:

Tribune Co has reached agreement in principle to sell Newsday to News Corp (NYSE:NWS) for about $580 million in what would be a joint venture, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Under the terms of a deal, Newsday would be part of a joint venture with News Corp's New York Post and other News Corp assets, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. News Corp would own most of the company and Tribune would keep a stake of less than 5 percent.

Selling the paper would be key to Tribune Chief Executive and Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell's plans to help slash debt at the company, which he took private in an $8.2 billion buyout last year.

The Newsday deal is expected to wipe out as much as $50 million in annual losses that News Corp now incurs on the Post, with the combined Newsday-Post operation earning roughly $50 million, one person familiar with the situation said, according to the Journal.

Regulatory issues could slow the sale, particularly media ownership issues that could restrict the number of properties that News Corp and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch could own in the New York Area.

In the current no-regulatory environment, it's hard to believe that any Bush federal agency stocked with Christofascist Zombies from Bible colleges is going to stop this. And with the huge losses at the New York Times, I'm sure the Grey Lady is in Murdoch's sights as well.