Saints Owner Tom Benson Offers To Buy Times-Picayune

(KPEL) -- New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson has offered to buy the financially-strapped New Orleans Times-Picayune.

The newspaper announced last month it would cease daily printing and instead move to just three editions per week. 200 people face losing there jobs while the paper shifts its focus to online news.

"The city of New Orleans is a city of immense culture, economic growth, and host to millions of people annually," Benson says in a letter to Steve Newhouse, the owner of the the newspaper. "It is a nationally and internationally recognized city, it is a city deserving of a seven day a week newspaper."

No details are known about the amount of any offer Benson may submit.

Earlier this week, the Baton Rouge Advocate announced plans to expand into the New Orleans market after the Times Picayune cutbacks take place in the fall. Officials with the Baton Rouge paper says it will offer a re-tooled version its paper to focus more on New Orleans-area news.

Newhouse expressed appreciation for Benson's interest but nothing else.