Herald-Tribune could be sold

Updated at 4:23 p.m.

SARASOTA -- The Sarasota Herald-Tribune, currently a property of The New York Times Co., may soon be sold.

The New York Times Co. confirmed via press release that it is in discussions with Halifax Media Holdings LLC regarding the sale of the 16 newspapers in its Regional Media Group, which includes the Herald-Tribune. Earlier today, the Times' Amy Chozick said the publication was "close to selling" those assets. Those 16 papers accounted for 11% of The New York Times Co.'s 2010 revenues, which were $2.4 billion, Chozick says.

"Even as optimism for the digital plan at its The New York Times newspaper has grown, the regional publications have dragged, the steady decline driven by a lack of classified ads and a migration of readers to the Web," Chozick writes.

A cached version of Halifax' website shows the Herald-Tribune listed as one of the company's Florida-based publications. The website has since been changed, but a saved version of the old site remains available on Google's servers.