Among those most interested so far in how the Newsday-Cablevision combination will affect Newsday coverage have been sports writers and fans. Because the Knicks and Rangers have been among the most visible parts of the Cablevision empire, and people are thinking about how Newsday, under Cablevision's control, will cover the teams -- especially when things go bad, as they have been in recent years.
One of those writing about this situation is Richard Sandomir, the witty writer about the business of sports for The New York Times (part owner of the Boston Red Sox). Sandomir, who was a reporter for Newsday years ago before he went to the Times, is skeptical.
Speaking about Jim Dolan, the Cablevision and Madison Square Garden chief, Sandomir says in understated fashion, "Dolan is an unlikely newspaper owner."
"Perhaps all Dolan wants is a vehicle to cross-promote Cablevision products and he will not dictate the direction of the editorial product," Sandomir muses, "But Dolan is not a man of half-measures or indifference. So Newsday staffers must wonder how a company and a chief executive who have shown hostility to journalism will treat journalists on its payroll."
--Noel Rubinton