• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, June 23, 2014

Not long after selling off the Dow Jones Local Media Group, News Corp is slimming its portfolio even further. It has sold the Community Newspaper Group, which publishes a number of community newspapers and specialty magazines with distribution concentrated in New York City.

Les and Jennifer Goodstein acquired the Community Newspaper Group for an undisclosed sum; Les Goodstein is a former News Corp executive who ran the group from 2006-2013.
 
The Community Newspaper Group publishes 11 community newspapers with a total weekly circulation of 235,000 and distribution in Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Manhattan, including Caribbean Life, The Brooklyn Paper, The Bronx Times Reporter, Bay News and Bay Ridge Courier, Bayside Times and TimesLedger.

The group also publishes specialty mags including Family, Wedding Guide and Sweet Sixteen.
 
News Corp CEO Robert Thomson stated: “This sale, like our divestiture of the Dow Jones Local Media Group, helps us reshape the News Corp portfolio as we achieve greater globalization and digitization of our businesses with an eye towards long-term growth.” The Goodsteins said they plan to expand local coverage focused on the neighborhoods served by the newspapers.
 
The Goodsteins already own NYC CommunityMedia, which publishes The Villager, Downtown Express, Gay City News, East Villager News and Chelsea Now.
 
Back in September 2013, News Corp (spun off from 21st Century Fox’s entertainment properties in June of that year) sold off Dow Jones’ Local Media Group, including eight daily newspapers and 15 weekly newspapers, to Fortress Investment Group, the majority owner of GateHouse Media.
 
News Corp isn’t the only big publisher that is shedding smaller newspapers to focus on flagship properties. Toward the end of 2011, The New York Times Co. sold its Regional Media Group -- including 16 newspapers and related businesses -- to Halifax Media Holdings LLC for $143 million in cash, and in 2013 sold The Boston Globe and other properties in its New England Media Group, including The Worcester Telegram & Gazette, to Boston Red Sox owner John W. Henry for a total $70 million .