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Attorneys for managers of the Salt Lake Tribune have abandoned their efforts to add the Deseret News Publishing Co. as a defendant in their federal lawsuit against AT&T Corp. and MediaNews Group.

In a letter filed in federal court Tuesday, James S. Lowrie, representing the Salt Lake Tribune Publishing Co., which manages the Tribune, told U.S. District Court Judge Tena Campbell he had been assured the Deseret News would abide by the court's decisions in the case.

Both AT&T, the Tribune's former owner, and MediaNews, the Tribune's current owner, opposed the addition of the Deseret News as a defendant. They feared doing so could put the case before a new judge.

But Lowrie denied accusations that the Tribune managers were "forum-shopping."

"(The Deseret News') proposed joinder was not calculated to deprive — and would not have deprived — this court of jurisdiction," the letter said. "(MediaNews') insinuations to the contrary are incorrect and regrettable."

Federal judges hear civil cases when they involve a matter of federal law or when the opposing parties are from different states. Adding the Deseret News as a defendant would have meant the plaintiff in the case, the Tribune management company, and a defendant, the Deseret News, were both from Utah.

Lowrie said if the managers had wanted the case heard by another judge, there would have been easier ways to do it than adding a new defendant.