Yahoo!'s Paper Push

In yet another partnership between old media and new, a consortium of newspaper publishers has teamed up with Yahoo!(YHOO) to use the Internet giant's technology to sell advertising and offer search functions on the Web sites of more than 150 daily publications.

The deal will allow Yahoo! to reach local audiences tied to their hometown newspapers. Meanwhile, the group of publishers will leverage Yahoo!'s technology platforms to expand their reach and grab back some precious revenue that has migrated away in recent years as more consumers turn to the Web for their information needs.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The publishers include Belo (BLC), Cox Newspapers, Hearst Newspapers, Journal Register(JRC) , Lee Enterprises (LEE), MediaNews and E.W. Scripps(SSP).

"This is a transformational deal for the newspaper industry," said MediaNews and Hearst, two founders of the consortium, in a joint statement. "This relationship will significantly extend our local assets to a much wider audience, and gives us the technology required to fulfill the growing demands of advertisers and consumers."

This deal follows closely behind a similar announcement from Yahoo!'s archrival, Google (GOOG), which is partnering with newspapers like the New York Times (NYT) and Washington Post(WPO) to use its advertising sales platform to sell space in print.

Edward Atorino, analyst with the Benchmark Company, says these deals represent an early step for newspapers in repositioning themselves for the digital age.