'Rocky' Closing Reveals Death Rattle of JOAs

By: The joint operating agreements that were meant to save dying publications in two-newspaper cities like Denver are themselves dying off.

JOAs were designed to give struggling newspapers a shot at survival by letting them share business costs and operations with their in-town rivals while keeping separate, competing newsrooms.

There've been more than two dozen JOAs.

But in recent years, newsroom and newsprint costs have risen, and the Internet has siphoned advertising dollars and readers, making JOAs increasingly unprofitable.

Denver's JOA took effect in 2001 between the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post, which was promised $60 million by the owners of the News to enter the agreement.

The Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 was signed into law by President Richard Nixon despite concerns from the Justice Department. It gave the deals a break from antitrust regulations and cleared the way for more.

But by Jan. 1 of this year, the Denver JOA was among just nine remaining. JOAs in Detroit, Seattle and Tucson, Ariz., are limping too. Hearst Corp. says it may close the Seattle Post-Intelligencer if it can't find a buyer, and newspapers in Detroit are cutting deliveries to three days a week.

Other JOAs are in Charleston, W.Va.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Las Vegas; Salt Lake City and York, Pa.