The management company also asserts that the sale to MediaNews would somehow threaten the independence of the Tribune, maybe even silence its voice. Singleton has pledged the survival of that independent voice.

In fact, it is the voice of the Deseret News that has been under threat by the actions of the Tribune's management company. Through its operational control of the NAC, the Tribune management company has obstructed and delayed the transition of the Deseret News from afternoon to morning publication. In a field in which afternoon newspapers are becoming extinct, that could ultimately mean the death of the Deseret News.

The Tribune's publisher, Dominic Welch, told a meeting of the Deseret News board that ultimately there would be one newspaper in Salt Lake City and it would not be the Deseret News. By contrast, the Deseret News management has consistently reasoned that the community is best served by the continuation of two separate newspaper voices in Salt Lake City. When TeleCommunications Inc.(TCI) acquired the Tribune in 1997 and offered to sell it to the Deseret News, the News management's position was that even if it acquired a larger management position in the NAC, it would preserve the separate editorial voice of the Tribune through an independent trust, an independent owner or some similar arrangement.

The News has become increasingly concerned in recent years over the domination of the equal-partnership NAC by the Tribune. The Tribune's publisher is the NAC's president and assumed the authority of the previous general manager. The News has raised concerns about the impeding of its growth, as well as the NAC's business performance at a time when the economy of Utah and the nation is growing, and profits of other newspaper companies have generally been on the rise.

When the Tribune decided to sell the paper to TCI in 1997, the News raised these concerns with TCI, and again with AT&T when TCI was acquired by AT&T. Both TCI and AT&T indicated they wanted to sell the Tribune because it was not a "strategic asset" for them. The News made clear the conditions it wanted any new partner in the NAC to fulfill. It placed special emphasis on the fairness a new partner must display in establishing a level playing field for the News in operational matters, including conversion to morning publication.

AT&T urged the News and the Tribune's present management company to come to an accord on these conditions. In lengthy negotiations, the Tribune management company was unwilling to accept terms the News considered reasonable. At Singleton's request, the News provided him with the conditions it would request a new owner to fulfill.

With Singleton indicating agreement to those conditions, and the present Tribune management company flatly rejecting them, the News supported Singleton's MediaNews group as the buyer that would assure the survival of the Deseret News as well as the Salt Lake Tribune. Apparently, MediaNews' bid was significantly higher than the Tribune management company's.