"On repeated occasions, Mr. Welch has stated to (Deseret News) managers that 'ultimately there will be only one newspaper, and it won't be the Deseret News.' "

Welch said Monday morning that statement was "a total lie." What he predicted was that neither newspaper would survive in the traditional format.

"Perhaps you could have two newspapers on the Internet," he said. "That's happening all over America."

Although the suit states that the Deseret News has "suffered economic harm" as a result of the Tribune's "wrongful actions," Wall said the company is making "no claim for monetary damages at this time."

"We're only seeking declaratory and injunctive relief," he said, an adjudication of the contractual rights of all the parties involved in the JOA.

The lawsuit was filed after a unanimous vote of the Deseret News board of directors. Wall said it was filed in Davis County, because the population there reflected a nearly 50-50 split of readership between both newspapers.

"We wanted neutral forum for a jury pool," he said.

Wall said the Tribune has a larger circulation than the Deseret News in Salt Lake County and the Deseret News has the higher circulation in Utah County.

The suit was filed in state court, even though all of the recent legal activity surrounding the Tribune has taken place in federal court.

Managers of the Tribune tried to block the sale of Kearns-Tribune by AT&T Corp. to Denver-based MediaNews Group in December, but U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell denied their request for a preliminary injunction.

The sale, finalized Jan. 2, was followed by several changes to the NAC board. MediaNews President Dean Singleton replaced Welch and chief operating officer Randy Frisch with MediaNews representatives.

On Feb. 21, Campbell ruled those changes were improper and Welch and Frisch returned to the board.

But Singleton immediately appealed that decision to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, where the case is still pending.

Since Monday's suit involves two Utah parties, its proper venue, Wall said, is state court.

Both this suit and the Tribune's lawsuit against MediaNews focus on two documents written in 1997 when the original owners of Tribune agreed to a $731 million tax-free stock swap with Tele-Communications Inc.

AT&T acquired the Tribune when it merged with TCI in 1999.

The Tribune managers claim a "management agreement" gives them the right to manage the day-to-day operations of the newspaper, despite the fact that Kearns-Tribune is now owned by MediaNews.

The managers also claim an "option agreement" protects their rights to purchase the newspaper back in the summer of 2002.