Tuesday, April 16, 2007
Last updated 11:18 a.m. PT

Seattle P-I and Times settle JOA litigation

By DAN RICHMAN AND BRAD WONG
P-I REPORTERS

Seattle will remain a two newspaper town at least for now. The litigation between the Hearst Corp., the publisher of the Seattle P-I, and The Seattle Times Co. has been settled, the companies announced at about 8:45 Monday morning.

All litigation has been terminated, and the Hearst Corp. will give up its 32 percent contingent interest in the joint-operating agreement for the two newspapers. That 32 percent interest is what Hearst would have received if the P-I folded and the JOA continued.

As part of the settlement, The Seattle Times Co. will give Hearst$49 million to resolve all current claims and to buy back the 32 percent contingent interest, said Paul Luthringer, a Hearst spokesman.

In addition, Hearst will pay the Seattle Times $25 million in exchange for the Seattle Times to agree not to issue any loss notice until at least 2016, according to a Hearst new release.

The deal also calls for a Seattle Times Co. executive to work on P-I circulation and subscription issues, Luthringer said. The P-I, he added will receive “equal treatment” with production, especially with quality and color capacity.

Newspaper delivery trucks will be repainted with both newspaper names, or “equal co-branding,” and Hearst reserves the right to take future disagreements to arbitration.

Two-hours after the news broke, Seattle P-I staffers applauded as the P-I’s leadership and some of the lead attorneys for Hearst – Kelly Corr and Guy Michelson, of Corr Cronin Michelson Baumgardner & Preece LLP – filed in to address the newsroom.

At the staff meeting, Seattle P-I Editor and Publisher Roger Oglesby said the settlement, under which the Times can’t issue a loss notice until 2016, “isn’t nine years to sit around – it is a nine-year opportunity.”