Washington Post, Bloomberg launch news service

(AFP) -

The Washington Post and Bloomberg, the financial news agency, have announced plans to launch a global news service, offering stories to newspapers, websites and other subscribers.

The newspaper and news agency, in a statement late Thursday, said the Washington Post News Service with Bloomberg News will be available starting January 1, 2010.

It will offer 120 stories daily from the Washington Post and Bloomberg News along with photos and graphics, they said.

The announcement of the Washington Post-Bloomberg collaboration came one day after the Post ended its nearly 50-year syndication arrangement with The Los Angeles Times.

The Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service, which was launched in 1962 and has more than 600 clients around the world, is to cease operations at the end of the year.

The Post and Bloomberg, founded by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said they will also produce a co-branded Web-based business news page on WashingtonPost.com incorporating content from the Post and Bloomberg.com.

In addition, the entire content of the Washington Post will be available in real time to clients of Bloomberg Professional, its data, news and analytics service for financial professionals.

Bloomberg's tie-up with the Post comes amid reports that it is among the bidders for BusinessWeek magazine, which US publisher McGraw-Hill is seeking to sell.

The moves come as US newspapers and magazines seek ways to cope with a dramatic decline in print advertising revenue and the migration of readers to free news online.