Mr Murdoch's company News Corp, of which he is chairman, has made a bid for Tribune Company's Long Island newspaper Newsday, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.

The deal, estimated to be worth US$400 million (S$554 million), would come just months after News Corp completed its US$5.6billion takeover of Dow Jones.

News Corp also owns the New York Post tabloid.

Newsday is the nation's 10th-biggest newspaper, with about 387,500 copies sold on weekdays.

Buying the daily, which services New York City and the affluent commuter belt on Long Island, would give Mr Murdoch his third major paper in the Big Apple and pitch him against rival mogul Mortimer Zuckerman.

The latter owns the Post's fiercest competitor, The Daily News, and is also bidding for Newsday.

Mr Murdoch, who runs his media empire from New York and used to own a US$15 million waterfront mansion on Long Island, has eyed the daily before.

He covets Newsday as a means of bolstering his growing but money-losing New York Post, which has been in a three-decade-long war with its tabloid arch-rival, The Daily News.

Under his direction, meanwhile, News Corp is trying to reposition the Journal by ramping up its political, cultural and sports coverage.

NEW YORK TIMES, BLOOMBERG