SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A judge is refusing to dismiss a lawsuit filed by supporters of the Salt Lake Tribune who say changes to a joint-operating agreement with the city’s other daily newspaper threaten the Tribune’s ability to continue publishing.
The Utah Newspaper Project says the changes made in October also violate federal antitrust laws and undermine the Tribune’s independent voice.
As readers and subscribers of the Tribune, they claim they will suffer under the deal that gave the Deseret News 70 percent of the profits from the newspapers’ joint businesses.
Owners of the two papers argued the group has no legal standing to challenge the agreement.
The Utah Newspaper Project says the deal gives too much power to the Deseret News, owned by which is owned by a for-profit arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
