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By Kent Larsen
Deseret News Accused of Forum Shopping in Tribune Lawsuit
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- One day after the Utah Supreme Court ruled that a
Deseret News lawsuit against the Salt Lake Tribune Publishing Company must
be heard in Salt Lake County, the News asked a Davis County Judged to
dismiss the case, saying that the News would now file its claim in U.S.
Federal Court. The move led the Tribune Publishing Company, which has a
contract to manage the newspaper, to accuse the News of 'forum shopping' in
its effort to move to morning publication and establish its right to veto
any sale of the Tribune.
The moves are part of the continuing war between the two newspapers, which
are locked together under a 1950s-era joint operating agreement under which
the two newspapers share printing, distribution and advertising sales
functions, but not their editorial offices. Under the agreement, the larger
paper, the Salt Lake Tribune, has control over the joint functions, and the
News claims that the Tribune has used this control to prevent it from
switching from afternoon publication to morning publication.
But, now that the lawsuit will be heard in Salt Lake County, the Deseret
News wants to move it to Federal court. "We filed in Davis County because we
believed it offered the most neutral jury pool." said Deseret News publisher
and president Jim Wall. "At the same time, we asked the federal court to let
all issues involving the Deseret News be heard in state court," Deseret News
publisher and president Jim Wall said. "The federal court has now decided
that the Deseret News must be a party in the federal case and the Utah
Supreme Court has held that we can't stay in Davis County. In light of these
developments, it makes sense to have the issues heard in one place in
federal court," Wall said.
The newspapers' long disputes exploded into public last Fall when the
Tribune's owner, AT&T, agreed to sell the newspaper to Denver-based
MediaNews Group, the publisher of the Denver Post and many small newspapers
around the U.S. The Tribune then sued MediaNews and AT&T, trying to overturn
the sale and validate an agreement that gave the Publishing company, the
newspaper's current manager, an option to purchase the newspaper in June of
2002.
The publishing company sold the Tribune to Telecommunications, Inc., in
1997, about the same time that the Deseret News wanted to move to morning
publication, as part of a tax-favored move to rid the Tribune of cable
systems it owned. Part of the agreement included an arrangement that named
the Salt Lake Tribune Publishing Company manager of the newspaper and gave
the company an option to re-purchase the Tribune. But Telecommunications
later merged into AT&T, which sold the newspaper to Denver-based MediaNews
Group earlier this year.
While the Tribune's lawsuit against MediaNews and AT&T originally involved
the Deseret News, it removed itself from the lawsuit, agreeing to "not take
any action" to prevent MediaNews from following a judge's orders if it
weren't named in the lawsuit. But subsequently, the Tribune added issues to
its lawsuit against MediaNews and AT&T that are important to the News,
leading it to file the lawsuit in Davis County. The current Deseret News
move makes it possible that the two lawsuits will eventually be combined.
Sources:
D-News to Pursue Tribune Suit in Federal Court
Salt Lake Tribune 28Sep01 B3
By Michael Vigh
D-News Suit Ordered to S.L. County
Salt Lake Tribune 27Sep01 B3
By Elizabeth Neff: Salt Lake Tribune
Newspaper suit is likely moving to fed court
Deseret News 27Sep01 B3
By Linda Thomson: Deseret News staff writer
See also:
SLC Newspaper Battles Escalate to Utah Supreme Court
Deseret News Files Lawsuit Against Salt Lake Tribune Over Morning Distribution
Tribune Wins Round in Ownership Lawsuit
Tribune Co. Delt Setbacks in Sale Lawsuit
MediaNews Opposes Adding Deseret News to Tribune Lawsuit
After FTC Approves, Salt Lake Tribune Sale Completed
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