Oldest JOA Set For Early End

By: E&P Staff Another joint operating agreement is having an early demise, and this time it involves the country's oldest. The E.W. Scripps company announced today plans to sell The Albuquerque (N.M.) Tribune, an afternoon newspaper published Monday through Saturday.

The Tribune is published as part of the of the country's first and longest-running JOA. The controlling partner is the Journal Publishing Co., which owns The Albuquerque Journal, the morning newspaper published seven days a week. The JOA was created in 1933 and has been amended several times. It is set to expire in 2022.

Scripps notified the Tribune's 46 editorial employees about the decision.

If Scripps does not find a buyer, it will close the afternoon paper. Scripps would not disclose the time frame for such a move. Broadwater and Associates is assisting in the sale of the newspaper. Any sale would have to be approved by the Department of Justice.

"The Albuquerque Tribune, with its outstanding reputation for journalistic excellence, has been enlightening readers in New Mexico for more than 80 years," Rich Boehne, executive vice president and COO for Scripps, said in a statement. "Unfortunately, readers in Albuquerque, as in nearly all cities across America, are choosing other media alternatives to afternoon newspapers."

Under the terms of the JOA, the Journal Publishing Co. is responsible for all the business operations of the Tribune. Scripps and Journal Publishing share profits from the JOA.

According to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations report, the Tribune's daily circulation is 10,789 while the Journal's daily circulation is 105,966.

Scripps bought the Tribune in 1923 from its founder, Carlton Cole "Carl" Magee.