DENVER PAPERS FORM JOINT OPERATING AGREEMENT

By: Staff reports Post, Rocky Mountain News Declare a Truce



The Denver Post and The Denver Rocky Mountain News today announced they are forming a
joint operating agreement (JOA), calling it a partial truce after a bitter circulation
war that lasted years. The two dailies agreed that circulation and advertising would
be handled by a new, joint company to be developed in the coming months.



During a press conference this afternoon in Denver, Ken Lowe, president and COO of The
E.W. Scripps Co., which owns The News, and William Dean Singleton, chairman of MediaNews
Group, The Post's owners, said they planned to file an application with the U.S.
Department of Justice on Friday to seek approval of the JOA.



Singleton and Lowe said the agreement would run for 50 years and result in new joint
editions of the paper on Saturday and Sunday. They said the Saturday paper would include
editorial content from The News' editorial staff, while The Post would be responsible for
editorial content on Sunday.



Both papers would continue to publish Monday through Friday with their

usual formats and delivery times.



Lowe said Scripps initiated the discussions for a JOA several months ago

after determining the paper would be 'a probable financial failure' without such an
arrangement. He also said The News had sustained $123 million in net losses since 1990.
Singleton says The Post had reaped a $200 million profit over the same period.



Neither would speculate on job losses or advertising and circulation rate increases from
the deal, but they believed neither would be substantial.