Tribune case rests in judge's hands

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After two days of legal argument, the immediate future of the Salt Lake Tribune now rests in the hands of U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell.

The Salt Lake Tribune Publishing Co., which manages the newspaper, has asked Campbell to issue a preliminary injunction to stop the Tribune's sale by AT&T Broadband to MediaNews Group.

The judge told attorneys and courtroom spectators Tuesday afternoon she would make a decision on Friday or Monday.

Tribune officials left the courtroom with measured optimism.

"We have asked the judge for an extraordinary measure (stopping the sale)," said Tribune General Manager Randy Frisch. "But all that we've learned this week suggests that this is an extraordinary situation."

Frisch said the hearing "has given (the managers) confidence going into trial."

"This is just the first step," he said. "And if we don't get the injunction, then we'll proceed, and we're confident we will ultimately prevail."

MediaNews President Dean Singleton said hearing the arguments in court did little to change his feelings about the case.

"AT&T had a right to sell, and we had a right to buy," he said.

Campbell kept the attorneys strictly focused on the question of injunctive relief throughout their final arguments, occasionally interrupting them with questions.

"What about the public interest?" she asked AT&T attorney Alan Sullivan at the end of his presentation. Would the public be harmed by this sale?

"I'd have to say there is a sizable public interest in the free press here," he told the judge. "But this transaction doesn't threaten that."

The Tribune managers — who owned the newspaper before they agreed to a $700 million tax-free stock swap with Tele-Communications Inc. in 1997 — say they have the sole right to buy the newspaper in 2002.

James Lowrie, attorney for the Tribune managers, told the judge that the AT&T deal with MediaNews was struck with help from the Deseret News in an effort to advance one newspaper over the other and eventually muzzle "the Tribune's independent voice."