ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH JOA TERMINATED

By: Staff reports Pulitzer, Advance Form Joint Venture



Pulitzer Inc. and The Herald Co. (a division of Advance Publications
Inc.) terminated their joint operating agreement Monday which
originally covered the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the now-defunct St.
Louis Globe-Democrat. The two companies will transfer their interests
to a new joint venture to be managed by Pulitzer.



Under the agreement, Pulitzer will increase its interest in the Post-

Dispatch's operating results from 50% to 95%.



The JOA has been in effect since 1961, when the Herald Co. owned the
Globe-Democrat. The company moved to close the paper in the early 80s,
but the Justice Department forced them to sell it. The newspaper ran
for a few years under the ownership of Jeff Gluck before finally
folding for good.



But the JOA has remained in effect, giving the Herald Co. half of the
Post-Dispatch's profits, but also obligating it to pay part of any
losses and portions of the newspaper's expenses.



The Herald Co. will receive an upfront payment of $306 million and will
retain a 5% interest in the results of operations of the Post-Dispatch.
After 15 years, Pulitzer will acquire the Herald Co.'s remaining
interest in the joint venture for a cash payment to be determined.



'This transaction has special meaning to me, because the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch was the first newspaper owned by my grandfather, Joseph
Pulitzer,' said Michael E. Pulitzer, chairman of Pulitzer, in a
statement.



Donald E. Newhouse, president of Advance Publications Inc., parent of
the Herald Co., said, 'Our involvement with the Post-Dispatch, unlike
all our other newspaper ownership, has been one of passive investment.
When our partners at Pulitzer indicated their desire to create a joint
venture which would more appropriately reflect their continuing
operating responsibility for the paper, we agreed that these unique
circumstances fully justified the new arrangement.'



Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Huntleigh Securities Corp. acted as financial
advisers to Pulitzer on the transaction.



Separately, Pulitzer announced that its board of directors authorized
the repurchase of up to $50 million of its common stock. The new
authorization is in addition to $28 million remaining under an earlier
$50 million buy-back program announced last July.