Newspaper companies and other media companies are under pressure as their traditional business model is challenged. Some companies try to compensate by entering new markets, i.e. to internationalize. This strategy increases their presence in old and new media markets and segments. This paper problematizes how two family owned newspaper companies internationalize from two perspectives, i.e. an ownership perspective and an industry perspective. Empirically, the paper draws on two examples of family owned newspaper companies. Semi-structured interviews with owners, managers and editors have been conducted domestically and in the respective foreign market. Archival data has been used to complement the interviews. Both companies started as regional newspaper companies and have reached leading positions in their distribution area. Whereas one company entered the Eastern European market in the 1990s the other company focused on domestic expansion and small scale, international joint ventures in the later 2000s. From an ownership perspective it becomes visible that the family owners are initiating and supporting the internationalization process. In one company, an owner manager was in charge for the internationalization process which can be seen as a success factor. In the other company, the owners were not actively involved which is reflected in the relatively poorer results. From a newspaper industry perspective the study shows that synergies are possible by syndication of content across languages within the same industry as well as business models (printing).These perspectives contribute to the developing body of literature in the field of media management on internationalization and ownership.