The New York Post, part of News Corp, announced on Monday it will launch a sister paper in California in early 2026, with the company saying the brand will bring a mix of “commonsense, fearless journalism,” entertainment news, and sports to the West Coast.
The California Post will be headquartered in Los Angeles and consist of a daily print edition and news website, along with video and audio pieces and a social media presence, and will cover a range of stories “but from a distinctly Californian perspective.”
New York Post Editor-in-Chief Keith Poole will be overseeing the California newspaper, along with its new chief editor, News Corp veteran Nick Papps.
The New York Post said Los Angeles was fast becoming a “news desert,” with California lacking a voice in the media landscape that will hold leaders to account.
The newspaper said, “Now more than ever, Californians need a media outlet dedicated to common sense, clever coverage of the most important issues, many of which are ignored or dismissed by current print and digital outlets.”
“Thousands of stories are going untold and countless perspectives aren’t being represented by a media ecosystem that has lost touch with the people—especially as the city and state face unprecedented challenges and leadership vacuums,” it added.
The publication will sit within the New York Post Media Group, a subsidiary of the News Corp media empire and home of the New York Post, Page Six, and Decider.
90 Percent of Readers Outside of New York
Some 90 percent of the New York Post’s digital readers live outside of New York, with Los Angeles being home to the second-largest concentration of readers—3.5 million monthly unique visitors and 7.3 million across California, according to the media group.
News Corp Chief Executive Robert Thomson said Los Angeles and California “need a daily dose of The Post as an antidote to the jaundiced, jaded journalism that has sadly proliferated.”
“We are at a pivotal moment for the city and the state, and there is no doubt that The Post will play a crucial role in engaging and enlightening readers, who are starved of serious reporting and puckish wit,” he said.
The move to the Golden State is set to help position the New York Post Media Group as a national brand.
Poole said that despite California being the most populous state in the country and the center of advanced manufacturing, entertainment, and AI development, many viewpoints are not being represented.
“With The California Post, we will bring a common-sense, issue-based approach to metropolitan journalism. We‘ll tell the stories that our readers care about the most, but others overlook, and we’ll do so with clarity and our trademark conviction, across print, digital, and the platforms where audiences live today,” Poole said.
Three Years of Profitability
The New York Post, known for its irreverent content style, has recently broken such political stories as the Hunter Biden laptop.
In October 2024, the NY Post endorsed then-presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump. Trump has expressed his fondness for the outlet, writing in an Instagram Post, “I LOVE THE NEW YORK POST!” and appearing on its “Pod Force One” podcast last month.
Founded in 1801 by Founding Father and Federalist Papers co-author Alexander Hamilton, the nation’s first Treasury secretary, the NY Post describes itself as the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States.
Murdoch, News Corp’s founder and chairman emeritus, bought the NY Post in 1976 and sold it in 1988, only to repurchase the newspaper in 1993.
The company said the NY Post had achieved three consecutive years of profitability since 2022, which it noted was an impressive achievement, given the challenging environment that the media industry finds itself in.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job market for journalists is set to decline by 3 percent from 2023 to 2033.
Northwestern University’s 2024 report on the state of local news found that more than 3,200 print newspapers have shuttered since 2005.
