Newspaper publisher and online media company Tribune Co said yesterday it had agreed to acquire Los Angeles-based Times Mirror Co in an $8 billion deal that brings together some gems of American journalism in a coast-to-coast empire.

The proposed deal would create the third-largest newspaper company in the United States, behind Gannett Co Inc, which owns USA Today, and Knight Ridder Inc, which owns the Miami Herald.

The Tribune's properties include the Chicago Tribune, the Orlando, Florida, Sentinel newspapers, 22 television stations in major markets and the Chicago Cubs baseball team. Times Mirror owns the Los Angeles Times, the Baltimore Sun, the Hartford, Connecticut, Courant and Newsday.