Deseret News Sues Tribune - News about religious cults and sects

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Turning the tables in Utah's newspaper battle, the Deseret News sued The Salt Lake Tribune on Monday, alleging the Tribune tried to stifle competition by postponing the News' move to morning publication.

The suit also claims that Tribune managers violated terms of the joint operating agreement that has linked the two papers in an often uncomfortable partnership for nearly 50 years. Under that agreement, the two papers share printing, advertising and distribution departments, but they maintain separate newsrooms.

"If they would honor all the terms of the joint operating agreement, we could settle this tomorrow," Deseret News publisher Jim Wall said Monday.

The lawsuit accuses Tribune publisher Dominic Welch, who heads the Newspaper Agency Corp., the entity that runs the papers' combined business operations, of intentionally blocking the News' efforts to publish in the morning.

The 65,000-circulation paper, which is owned by the Mormon church, is expected to make the switch this fall, which would bring it into direct competition with the 135,000-circulation Tribune, which also publishes in the morning.
The two papers have always coexisted uneasily, reflecting the divisions between Utah's large Mormon population and the rest of the state. But the rivalry grew even more intense since the Tribune announced early this year that it would go head to head with the News.
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The Tribune, previously owned by AT&T Corp., was bought by Denver-based MediaNews Group Inc. for $200 million in January. The Tribune's managers accused MediaNews and the Deseret News of colluding in the deal and tried unsuccessfully to block the sale in court, saying The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was trying to squelch its voice.
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