The U.S. economy and newspaper valuations are continuing to spiral downwards, but as hard times tend to do, they are also bringing people together. Industry rivals the New York Post and the New York Daily News long “locked in a rivalry verging on vendetta,” are in talks to combine back-office functions, printing and distribution, MediaPost's MediaDailyNews reported Wednesday.

The report, which first came from The New York Times Tuesday afternoon, cited unnamed sources and has not yet been confirmed by either newspaper. However, as many newspapers across the country are putting rivalry aside and sharing work, such as the Chicago Tribune's deal made last year to deliver the Chicago Sun-Times, partnerships are becoming more common.

Also bringing the newspapers together is the fact that both owners, Rupert Murdoch, owner of the Daily News, and Mort Zuckerman, owner of the Post, “were both recently snubbed” when the Tribune Co. sold Newsday, which “the media moguls had long coveted,” to Cablevision. The sale was for $650 million, and the fact that neither Murdoch nor Zuckerman bought the tabloid meant neither could use it to cut costs by combining back-office functions, printing and distribution, according to MediaDailyNews.

“With Newsday off the table, it seems the longtime rivals are ready to reach a compromise – although the trash-talking will likely continue unabated,” the MediaDailyNews article stated.

The talks began in May, after the Newsday sale, which both Zuckerman and Murdoch had bid on, The New York Times reported.

The talks are “preliminary,” one executive told The New York Times; however, both sides want to reach an agreement.