Seattle Group Keeps Up Fight to Save City's Two Newspapers

By: E&P Staff Seattle's Committee for a Two Newspaper Town, which was formed to preserve the city's two newspapers in the face of an effort by The Seattle Times to dissolve their joint operating agreement, plans to keep up its court fight, despite the loss of some financial support and union backing.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Thursday that the committee's board met Wednesday night and "emerged with a plan to broaden its support base, expand its board and hold fundraising events, the committee chairwoman, Anne Bremner, said. 'We are full speed ahead,' said Bremner, a lawyer. 'This is such a huge issue for Seattle.'"

The committee was created several years ago to intercede in a contract fight between The Seattle Times Co. and The Hearst Corp., which owns the P-I. The result of that battle, which recently moved from the courts to confidential binding arbitration, could result in the closure of one of the city's two papers.

The Times is seeking to dissolve the JOA it shares with the P-I, claiming it has the right under a provision in the agreement that allows either paper to withdraw following three consecutive years of losses. The P-I has sued to block the action, but recently agreed to allow an arbitrator to settle the matter.

The committee, which has opposed the arbitration, suffered a setback last month when the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild, which helped create it in 2003, voted to cut all ties to the group. The union, which represents both Times and P-I employees, provided about 80 percent of the committee's funding, the P-I reported.

The arbitrator in the case, former Judge Larry Jordan, must make a decision in the matter by May 31, 2007.