Executives of the Salt Lake Tribune were locked in conflict Friday with their owner, AT&T Broadband, as well as their pending owners, MediaNews Group, following AT&T's announcement that it had agreed to sell the Tribune to the Denver-based newspaper group. AT&T termed the paper a "non-strategic asset."

Early Friday, Tribune executives ejected from their offices AT&T representatives who had come to Salt Lake City to announce the sale and later refused to allow those representatives and MediaNews Chief Executive Officer W. Dean Singleton to meet with Tribune employees to discuss the sale.

Related links and archive stories: Media NewsGroup press release Story continues below AT&T press release Salt Lake Tribune Coverage on KSL-TV including video link \ AT&T sale of Tribune announced Deseret News seeks 'level playing field' News has no intent to buy Tribune What is LDS Church's involvement with the Deseret News? Deseret News 1850-2000

After receiving pressure from AT&T lawyers, they recanted and agreed to a late afternoon meeting with a small group of Tribune representatives.

The Salt Lake Tribune Publishing Co., LLC, the paper's management group, filed suit in federal court Friday against AT&T Corp. and AT&T Broadband & Internet Services, LLC, to stop the sale of the newspaper to MediaNews Group.

In an interview with the Deseret News, Tribune General Manager Randy Frisch charged that "Mr. Singleton is a front for the Deseret News," an allegation that Singleton, a staunch Baptist, rejected as "mind-boggling."

"We respect and admire the Deseret News and the (LDS) Church, and we look forward to being their partner in the JOA (the joint operating agreement involving the papers and the Newspaper Agency Corp.), but they are in no way involved in our purchase of the Tribune," Singleton said.