Tribune defies AT&T over sale

"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.

The only reason that he even discussed the deal with Deseret News management, Singleton said, is the fact that, under his organization's reading of the JOA contract, the Deseret News must approve the sale of the JOA's interests before any sale can go forward.

The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also dismissed Frisch's claim, saying it "denies any and all accusations that Mr. Dean Singleton and MediaNews Group, who are reported to have purchased The Salt Lake Tribune, are acting as a front for the church."

L. Glen Snarr, chairman of the board of Deseret News Publishing Co., also denied that the newspaper is a party to the purchase but noted that the deal will mean MediaNews will replace AT&T as joint owner of the NAC, which provides circulation, advertising and production services for both the Deseret News and the Tribune under the joint operating agreement. The Deseret News and the Tribune each owns one-half of the NAC.

Snarr said both newspapers will continue to be edited separately, with neither having any influence or control over the editorial content of the other.

Snarr said the Deseret News was invited by AT&T to submit an offer to buy the Tribune property but declined to make a bid.

"We do not want to own or control the Tribune in any way," Snarr said. "Neither MediaNews Group nor the Deseret News will have any affiliation with the other except through the JOA."

AT&T acquired the Tribune when it bought TeleCommunications Inc. last year. TCI had acquired the Tribune in 1997. Prior to that year, the newspaper had been owned and operated for decades by the Kearns-Tribune Corp., a closely held company composed mostly of the heirs of Utah Sen. Thomas Kearns.

MediaNews said in a statement Friday that it ". . . looks forward to joining with the Deseret News to assure the growth and prosperity of both newspapers."

The chain, which owns 48 daily newspapers and 94 non-dailies in 12 states, would not disclose the price it will pay AT&T for the Tribune but said it expected the deal to be completed by the end of the month.

Representatives of Kearns-Tribune said they would fight the sale in court, asserting that their own right to buy the paper was being ignored by both AT&T and MediaNews. In legal papers filed Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court for Utah, the Salt Lake Tribune Publishing Co. said a 1997 agreement entitled it to purchase the paper.