Deseret News sues Salt LakeTribune managers

The Deseret News filed a lawsuit in state court Monday against the holding and publishing companies of the Salt Lake Tribune, alleging the Tribune has tried to "stifle competition" between the two papers by delaying the Deseret News' move to morning publication.

The complaint, filed in 2nd District Court in Davis County, asks for a jury to determine the contractual "rights and obligations" of all three entities — the Deseret News Publishing Co., Kearns-Tribune, and the Salt Lake Tribune Publishing Co.

"We have a joint operating agreement that provides all parties to that agreement with certain rights," said Deseret News publisher Jim Wall. "And that's what this case is about. The honoring of those rights."

The suit specifically seeks validation of the Deseret News' claim that it must consent to any sale of the Tribune and its accompanying half of the Newspaper Agency Corp.

Printing, advertising and distribution for the Deseret News and the Salt Lake Tribune are handled by the NAC, the company created by the JOA.

Although the NAC is owned equally by both newspapers, its president, Dominic Welch, is also the publisher of the Salt Lake Tribune.

Welch told the Deseret News he was "appalled" by the filing. "I was hoping we could resolve this without getting to this point," he said. "But I guess these are the issues that have to be resolved."

The suit alleges that the publishing company has abused its "control over the NAC for its own benefit" and "caused the NAC to engage in discriminatory practices designed to favor the Salt Lake Tribune and damage the Deseret News."

The Deseret News claims the Tribune has breached the JOA by:

• Using NAC personnel and assets without payment or reimbursement

• Collecting inflated or unfair rent from the NAC for use of leased space

• Collecting "unreasonable and unwarranted" monetary assessments against the Deseret News

• Engaging in billing and revenue allocation practices that "unjustly enrich" the Tribune and "injure" the Deseret News.

The suit also alleges the Tribune has obstructed the Deseret News' efforts to publish a morning newspaper. From the beginning, the "decision to publish a morning edition met stiff and unjustified resistance," the suit states.

Tribune managers "inaccurately asserted" that the NAC's current printing facility could not produce two morning papers, overestimated the cost of the simultaneous printing and insisted that the Deseret News would have to bear the inflated expense, according to the complaint.

"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.' "