Denver-based ap will acquire The Detroit News from Gannett Co., Inc. as part of a three-way transaction announced today.
Gannett will acquire rival newspaper the Detroit Free Press from Knight Ridder.
MediaNews and Gannett will form a new partnership, called the Detroit Newspaper Partnership, to handle the business operations of both papers.
The partnership is a reorganization of the joint operating agreement between the News and the Free Press. Under such an agreement, business operations at two papers are merged but the newsrooms remain separate and competitive.
The terms of today’s deals were not disclosed.
MediaNews, which owns The Denver Post, is a privately held company that owns and operates 50 daily newspapers and 121 non-daily newspapers in 12 states. It also owns a television station in Anchorage, Alaska, and four radio stations in Texas.
“We are glad to be joining our friends at Gannett in the new venture in Detroit,” William Dean Singleton, vice chairman and chief executive of ap, said in a statement. “Like Gannett, we believe in Detroit and in two newspaper voices. So, stand by for some robust competition between newsrooms, as well as a renewed spirit of cooperation in the back office.”
Ceeon Quiett, spokeswoman for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, applauded the new arrangement.
“We welcome ap to our city,” she said. “Gannett has been a good neighbor and corporate partner for a long time and we’re glad they’re still going to be here. We look forward to seeing the benefits of this partnership reflected in the editorial pages in terms of news and information that accurately reflects the Detroit communities that they serve.”
But Michael Bernacchi, a University of Detroit Mercy marketing professor who publishes a newsletter on local advertising and newspaper issues, said he expects MediaNews will eventually sell off the News.
“I would think that that’s what’s going to happen down the road,” he said. “Their business operations are already integrated. Eventually, this is going to become a one-newspaper city.”
The most recent report from the Audit Bureau of Circulations, a circulation auditing body, showed that the News’ weekday circulation fell 2.9 percent to 218,841 in the six-month period ending in March, while the Free Press’ fell 2 percent to 347,447.
The two papers publish combined editions on Saturday and Sunday. Those circulation figures for the same period were 488,012 on Saturday, down from 503,063 a year earlier, and 682,798 on Sunday, down from 705,212.
Under their 1989 joint operating agreement, the two Detroit papers run their newsrooms separately, but combined their business, advertising, production and delivery operations.
The two daily Denver papers, The Post and the Rocky Mountain News, entered into a joint operating agreement in January 2001. The Rocky Mountain News is owned by E.W. Scripps Co.
Today, Gannett and Knight Ridder also announced an exchange of newspapers in Florida, Washington and Idaho.
Gannett is acquiring the Tallahassee Democrat in Florida and will receive an undisclosed amount of cash from Knight Ridder.
Knight Ridder is purchasing Gannett’s newspaper in Boise, The Idaho Statesman, and two Washington state newspapers, The Olympian in Olympia and The Bellingham Herald. All the swaps are subject to regulatory approval.
The Detroit News, which now primarily publishes in the afternoon, will become a morning publication, the company’s announced. And instead of publishing combined a combined paper on Saturdays and Sundays, the News and Free Press will each publish separate Saturday editions and the Free Press alone will publish a Sunday newspaper.
Knight Ridder said it is selling its partnership interest in the Detroit Newspaper Agency, the joint operating agency that handles business, advertising, production and delivery operations under a 1989 joint operating agreement. Under the new arrangement, Gannett will be the general partner and ap will be the limited partner.
Gannett, headquartered in McLean, Va., publishes 101 daily newspapers in the United States, including USA Today. Knight Ridder, based in San Jose, Calif., is the nation’s second largest newspaper publisher.
Gannett said David L. Hunke will become the president and publisher of the Free Press. Hunke was president and publisher of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle in New York. He previously worked at the Cincinnati Enquirer, The Miami Herald, the Wichita Eagle in Kansas and the Kansas City Star.
Gannett also named Paul E. Anger as editor of the Free Press. He has been vice president and editor of the Des Moines Register in Iowa and previously worked at The Miami Herald and the Knight Ridder News Service.
Mark Silverman, the current publisher and editor of Gannett’s Detroit News, will join Gannett’s newspaper division corporate news staff. And Mark S. Mikolajczyk, the senior vice president/operations for the Gannett newspaper division will become president and CEO of the Detroit Newspaper Partnership L.P.
ap said David J. Butler will become publisher and editor of The Detroit News. Butler was editor of the Daily News in Los Angeles.
Knight Ridder said three Detroit Free Press executives will stay with Knight Ridder: Carole Leigh Hutton, previously publisher and editor; Thom Fladung, managing editor; and Jerry Teagan, vice president and business manager.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
