'Newsday,' Auto Dealers Settle

By: E&P Staff A group of automotive dealers agreed to settle a suit with Newsday almost four years after the Long Island tabloid shook the industry when it disclosed the paper had inflated its circulation by hundreds of thousands of copies.

According to Newsday's Mark Harrington who reported the story, talks with the auto dealers and the paper had accelerated in recent weeks.

"It was a really hard-fought case, and I think they saw we were loaded for bear," Leonard Bellavia, an attorney representing the dealers, told Harrington.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Bellavia believes that if the case went to trial the auto dealers could win a settlement of anywhere from $50 million to $100 million if a judge found in their favor.