McClatchy, Christian Science Monitor announce Foreign Bureau content sharing deal

In another step forward for resource sharing between newspapers, McClatchy and the Christian Science Monitor (CSM) has announced a content sharing deal for their Foreign Bureaus.

Under the deal, McClatchy will provide CSM with stories written by its correspondents in Venezuela and Africa, and the CSM will offer stories to McClatchy from its reporters in Mexico and India.

McClatchy said in a statement that the move allows “both news organizations to expand coverage even as they struggle to cope with declining circulation and advertising revenues.” It’s also being spun as a way to better maintain foreign news:

“Cooperation between McClatchy and the Monitor supports the continued professional coverage of international news,” said Monitor editor John Yemma. “That’s important because readers need independent and trustworthy sources of news to understand complex issues around the world.”

The interesting part of the deal besides the cooperation angle: the deal involves no money changing hands, and is a true sharing agreement. It’s a sensible way for newspapers to cut costs without reducing coverage, so expect to see more deals like this in the year ahead.