CTNT Seeks Information From Publishers

The Committee for a Two Newspaper Town wants to be assured that the recent settlement between the Hearst Corp., owner of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and the Blethen Family, owner of the Seattle Times Co., will actually result in maintaining two newspapers, as the two publishers claimed it would.

Accordingly, CTNT filed a motion Tuesday May 29, 2007 in King County Superior Court asking Judge Greg Canova to lift a stay on discovery. Canova imposed the stay while Hearst and Blethen arbitrated their dispute over the fate of the P-I.

But the two publishers announced a settlement on April 16, the day the arbitration was to begin.

Now that the arbitration is no longer a factor, CTNT wants the stay on discovery lifted. It's vital to see all information relevant to this settlement to assure that there is no illegal collusion between the two publishers that would result in an illegitimate or premature closure of the P-I.

The April 16 settlement called for Hearst to pay the Seattle Times $25 million to end until at least 2016 the Times' efforts to shut down the P-I.

The Times agreed to pay Hearst $49 million. For that money, Hearst agreed to drop all legal claims against the Times and also agreed to give up a payoff clause in the 1999 amended joint operating agreement between the two newspapers. Under the illegal payoff clause, if Hearst voluntarily closed the P-I, it would have received 32 percent of the profits of the Times until 2083.

The two publishers initially maintained that the April 16 agreement would save the P-I for at least 10 years. But subsequently, Times Publisher Frank Blethen said he is "skeptical" that the new 2007 amended joint operating agreement will work out financially. And P-I Publisher Roger Oglesby has declined to assure employees and others that the P-I will continue to publish for 10 years.

Further, the two publishers have refused to say how much of the $49 million payment to Hearst was for the illegal payoff clause. CTNT is concerned that it might actually be a payment in advance for closure of the P-I in the future. In the 1999 joint operating agreement, Hearst was entitled to this payment only if it closed the P-I.

A side agreement, under which Hearst has the first right to purchase the Times, should the Times decide to sell, was also changed as a part of the April 16 settlement. It removed the requirement that the JOA be in effect in order for Hearst to have the first right of purchase of the Times.

CTNT needs full information before it can decide its course. It must be able to see all parts of all relevant documents and depose Times and Hearst officials about their agreements.

• CTNT's motion to lift the stay of discovery



• Citizens group fights to see payment details of papers' pact by Eric Pryne of The Seattle Times (May 30)



• Explanation, speculation after Times' about-face by Eric Pryne of The Seattle Times (May 6)



• Changes, challenges to shape future of Times, P-I by Eric Pryne of The Seattle Times (May 6)



• Newspaper watchdog is examining newly released documents by Bill Richards of Crosscut (April 24)



• Questions for Frank Blethen, publisher and CEO, The Seattle Times Co. by Alwyn Scott of the Puget Sound Business Journal (April 20)



• Second pact signed by Hearst, Times kept private by Eric Pryne of The Seattle Times (April 20)



• Arbitration was unlikely to end fight, Times says by Eric Pryne of the Seattle Times (April 19)



• P-I and Times settle legal dispute by Dan Richman of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (April 17)



• Key elements in JOA settlement by Dan Richman of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (April 17)



• Meet the CTNT Lawyers

CTNT Files Motion for Summary Judgment

The motion, filed in King County Superior Court on Feb. 20, 2007, notes that The Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer were doing well financially under their 1981 Joint Operating Arrangement. But in 1999, the two publishers amended that arrangement, allowing them to collude to close one of the newspapers, even if there were no financial losses.

"Our goal is to make sure the two newspapers don't agree to eliminate one paper by illegal means," Kathy George, an attorney for CTNT, told P-I Reporter Dan Richman.

• Read CTNT's 25-page Motion for Summary Judgment
• Read the Seattle Post-Intelligencer story
• Read The Seattle Times story

The Puget Sound region recently lost one of our heralded newspapers, The King County Journal.

"King County Journal's owner announces paper is closing" The Seattle Times, December 28, 2006.

Now, Seattle may soon lose one of its two daily newspapers.
One of two distinct editorial voices.
One of two distinct sources of news and information about our community.

A decision is due this spring in the private arbitration between the Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer. If the Seattle Times wins, the joint operating agreement between the two newspapers will end. If that happens, either the Seattle Post-Intelligencer will shut down or, as some have speculated, its parent company will buy the Times and shut it down. Either way, diversity of news and opinion would be lost.

DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN.

The Committee for a Two-Newspaper Town (CTNT) needs your help to keep both newspapers alive.

A King County judge allowed the Committee to intervene in the ongoing contract litigation between the two newspapers. Although the Committee is shut out of the private arbitration process, it is bringing its own antitrust claims against both the Times and P-I in an attempt to prevent the closure of either newspaper. In order to pursue these claims, the non-profit Committee must wage an important court battle against two large news corporations, both of which have teams of lawyers at their disposal.

These are just a few recent examples of the diversity offered by two newspapers. There are many others - The Times and P-I differed over the Iraq War, and re-election of President Bush, for example.

The Committee for a Two Newspaper Town (CTNT) is dedicated to trying to keep two newspapers in Seattle. We think that it is entirely feasible.

Some 12 other small or medium sized urban areas have two newspapers that are either combined in a joint operating arrangement (JOA), like the P-I and Times, or are competing or semi-competing. In important respects, Seattle is among the best-positioned of these areas to support two newspapers. The Seattle area has the highest median income ($49,300) of all except Honolulu. And in the last five years Seattle's population has grown 1.8%. Compare that with Cincinnati, where the median income is $29,600 and the population has declined by 6.6% in the last five years. St. Paul-Minneapolis has significantly lower median income and a population loss the last five years. Yet both those areas are supporting two daily newspapers.

CTNT seeks to assure that the two corporate owners are not secretly agreeing that one paper will close so that both corporate owners will benefit financially. Unfortunately, secrecy has become a pattern. Besides the secret arbitration now under way, the Seattle Times some months ago refused to allow CTNT to buy advertising space to get its ideas out.

CTNT has an outstanding legal team working largely pro bono. We are now attempting to raise $25,000 to pay for legal expenses. In the great tradition of Seattle public initiatives that saved the Pike Place Market and Pioneer Square, CTNT seeks to fight private deals that threaten the public interest, and to promote diverse media outlets in America's most educated city.

For more information or to become involved, please call (206) 781-4430 or visit our Take Action page.

January 26, 2007

Making good on earlier threats, a citizens group filed court papers Thursday seeking all evidence produced so far in secret, quasi-judicial proceedings aimed at settling the legal war between Seattle's two daily newspapers.

The Committee for a Two-Newspaper Town (CTNT) asked The Seattle Times Co. and The Hearst Corp., owner of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, to provide it with all documents and transcripts of depositions the companies have compiled since they agreed last spring to resolve their dispute through binding arbitration.

January 21, 2007

Could David Black save the P-I?

With a decision looming in four months that might spell the beginning of the end for the smaller of Seattle's two daily newspapers, some speculate Black could ride to the Post-Intelligencer's rescue.

He kept an endangered daily alive before under similar circumstances, they note, in Honolulu.

Liz Brown, administrative officer for the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild, said she mentioned the possibility to Don Kendall, who heads Black Press' new King County operations, at a meeting last month.

"I told him, 'You could save the day again,' " said Brown, whose union represents workers at both Seattle papers.

January 20, 2007

When Mary Swift woke up the morning of her last day at the King County Journal, she felt a sense of relief.

The newspaper where Swift has worked for more than 32 years has its last issue Sunday and the past few weeks of saying goodbye has been difficult for her.

"It's like having a death in the family," said the newspaper columnist.

January 5, 2007

A citizens group made a bid Thursday to lift at least a corner of the shroud of secrecy enveloping the high-stakes legal war between Seattle's two daily newspapers for the past eight months.

The Committee for a Two-Newspaper Town asked attorneys for The Hearst Corp., owner of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, to provide it with documents produced during binding arbitration proceedings with the rival Seattle Times Co. that may decide the fate of one, or both, papers.

In a letter to Hearst's lawyers, Michael Gendler, a committee attorney, asked for records concerning The Times that Hearst had subpoenaed last month from Goldman Sachs, the New York investment-banking firm.

But Gendler said in an interview the committee is entitled to all legal documents produced — but not made public — since the Times-Hearst dispute went behind closed doors last spring.

"It's important to have access to these records because it's important to the community, to the region whether its largest city continues to have two daily newspapers," Gendler said.

Read more at The Seattle Times

Friday, December 15, 2006

Citizens group to re-enter JOA dispute

A citizens group said Thursday that it is poised to re-enter the fray over preserving both of Seattle's daily newspapers, bringing the 44-month-long dispute back into the public eye.

The Committee for a Two-Newspaper Town said it has hired lawyers who will go before a local judge soon and revive legal arguments over a contract between The Seattle Times Co. and The Hearst Corp., owner of the Seattle P-I.

In March, arguments over that contract -- known as a joint operating agreement, or JOA -- moved out of the state court system and into entirely confidential proceedings before an arbitrator, Larry Jordan.

Jordan is scheduled to deliver a non-appealable decision by May 31 on whether The Times Co. can escape the JOA.