It really is a brave new world for daily newspapers. The Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun announced today that they will share a certain amount of content, including both local Maryland news and national, international and feature stories. Post editor Marcus Brauchli and outgoing Sun editor Tim Franklin both put out glowing statements assessing the esteemed worth of the other paper and how this arrangement will be beneficial to their readers, but surely this is largely being done to save money. The announcement indicates that the two papers will not "usually" share exclusive stories, but it's not hard to imagine this agreement could eventually ruffle feathers across competing Metro sections. Then again, the Sun's ever-shrinking newsroom could probably use the help. Full press release is after the jump.

The Washington Post and The Baltimore Sun today announced that effective January 1, 2009 they will share selected stories, photos and news content with each other in order to better serve readers of both newspapers.

The Post and The Sun have agreed to share the newspapers’ day-to-day coverage of certain Maryland news and sports. In addition, The Post and The Sun may draw on each other's national, international and feature stories that are distributed by the LAT-WP News Service, to which both contribute. The exchanges will allow each paper to take advantage of the other’s strengths and expertise in specific subjects around the region and the world.

“We have great respect for The Baltimore Sun’s reporting and believe adding their expertise to our regional coverage will be very beneficial to our readers,” said Marcus Brauchli, Executive Editor, The Washington Post.

"The Washington Post is one of America's most respected news organizations, and adding its award-winning coverage of the federal government and national affairs to The Sun's pages will help make our paper even more relevant and comprehensive for readers," said Timothy A. Franklin, the editor of The Baltimore Sun.

J. Montgomery (Monty) Cook, who was named yesterday to take over Franklin’s position as Editor and Senior Vice President of The Baltimore Sun at the beginning of 2009, said, “Having worked in both newsrooms, I can say that this agreement makes readers of The Baltimore Sun and The Washington Post the real winners. There's never been a more important time to provide greater access to quality reporting and writing to our readers and online audience."

As part of this accord, exclusive stories will not usually be shared, nor will coverage of such competitive subjects as Maryland state government and University of Maryland athletics.