Filing criticizes Tribune managers

In a new federal court filing this week, the owner of the Salt Lake Tribune charges that the managers of the paper, made up of some of its former owners, are guilty of "self-interested and highly damaging conduct" to achieve two goals:

One, to purchase the Tribune next year at an artificially low price, and two, to drive the Deseret News into extinction.

The current owners, Kearns Tribune LLC, which is owned by MediaNews Group, are responding to an amended complaint against them filed by the manager, Salt Lake Tribune Publishing Co. (SLTPC) In the 51-page document, Kearns Tribune LLC makes numerous counterclaims against the managers.

"Salt Lake Publishing has consistently acted as if it owned the Tribune," the document states. "Salt Lake Publishing has acted for its own benefit instead of for the benefit of its principal, Kearns LLC."

The Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News are tied by a 1952 joint operating agreement — amended once in 1982 and again in 2001 — that created the jointly owned Newspaper Agency Corp. (NAC) to handle all printing, advertising and circulation matters for both papers.

Among other demands, SLTPC's lawsuit seeks to erase all of the 2001 changes to the joint operating agreement (JOA).

Kearns Tribune receives 58 percent of NAC's net income, and the Deseret News, 42 percent. Thus, any economic damage to the News also directly affects Kearns Tribune.

"The crucial battle in this war has been with respect to the Deseret News' desire to switch from afternoon to morning publication. Such a move is critical to the survival of the Deseret News," the counterclaim states.

According to court documents, representatives of SLTPC have made many moves to prevent the switch, including:

Earlier this year, the News discussed using an NAC press to print newsstand copies of morning papers. The press was being used to print copies of USA Today on a month-to-month basis. However, Tribune publisher Dominic Welch "surreptitiously signed a backdated contract" with the national newspaper. Welch authorized the contract as NAC president, at a time when he was not serving in that position.

Also, when the Deseret News was considering a name change and had selected three possible names, Tribune columnists Paul Rolly and JoAnn Jacobsen-Wells registered the names for their own use with the Utah Division of Corporations and Commercial Code.