Friday, March 9, 2007 - Page updated at 12:00 AM
E-mail article
Print viewJudge in JOA case rejects group's bid to obtain newspapers' documents
Seattle Times staff reporter
A judge today turned back a committee's bid to obtain the massive records the owners of Seattle's two daily newspapers have compiled in the legal dispute that could determine whether the Seattle Post-Intelligencer shuts down.
The Committee for a Two-Newspaper Town, which says it is working to keep both papers alive, requested the 3.5 million pages of documents amassed for closed-door binding arbitration proceedings between The Seattle Times Co. and The Hearst Corp., the P-I's owner. In its January request, the committee said it needed them to pursue its own lawsuit against the two companies.The companies asked King County Superior Court Judge Greg Canova to block that request. It was too broad, they said, and screening all the documents for confidential material would consume thousands of lawyer hours on the eve of their long-planned private arbitration hearing.
Hearst and The Times also asked Canova to postpone any similar committee "discovery" demands until after arbitrator Larry Jordan's ruling, expected by May 31.
This afternoon, Canova issued an order granting both of the companies' requests.
Hearst and The Times are fighting over the joint operating agreement (JOA) that has bound them for 24 years. While the newspapers maintain separate news operations, the larger Times markets, prints and distributes both.
It says the market can no longer support two daily papers, and has moved to trigger an escape clause that could lead to closure of the P-I, termination of the JOA, or both. Hearst, which says the P-I can't survive outside the JOA, is fighting that move.
The Committee for a Two-Newspaper Town, while not part of the arbitration, is an intervenor in an underlying lawsuit Hearst filed against The Times in 2003.
Today's decision by Canova was the committee's second setback this week. On Tuesday, he agreed to postpone a hearing on the group's chief claim against both companies until after Jordan rules.
Eric Pryne: 206-464-2231 or epryne@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
nwjobs
Post a comment
Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos
Choosing a new car? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
Open Houses | Find this weekend's open house listings.  Or search by location: |
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Italian lead prosecutor argues Knox motive was hatred
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helen's and Astoria, Ore.
- Italian prosecutors request life sentence for UW student
- Man shot in chest on E. Union Street in Capitol Hill
- Washington state wines make annual best-of list
- Mariners Blog | A Mariners-Tigers swap makes a whole lot of sense for both teams
- Lynnwood is reinventing itself — again
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Genetics anti-bias law takes effect
- Senate vote clears hurdle
227 - First key vote today on Senate health bill 168
- Mariners add six to 40-man roster 147
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000 88
- Tight Senate vote launches health care over hurdle 87
- Palin excitement builds in Tri-Cities 72
- Prosecutor requests life in prison for Amanda Knox 71
- Game thread 56
- Cutting through breast-cancer confusion 55
- Saturday links 54
- Washington state wines make annual best-of list
- Nonprofits get creative using Twitter and Facebook to make donation easier
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Lynnwood is reinventing itself — again
- Great places to cross-country ski for free (or almost) in the Methow
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helen's and Astoria, Ore.
- Recipes: Sesame Pork Roast, Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, Gingerbread with Lemon Sauce and more
- UW provost tapped for Nike's board
- 175 foster kids in Washington get 'forever families'
