The battleground is about to change significantly in Utah's newspaper wars. A new owner is set to take over the reins of the Salt Lake Tribune on Thursday. News Specialist John Daley has more.

For more than a century the Salt Lake Tribune has at times been a lightning rod in this community, staking out a position as Utah's "Independent Voice." Now with a new owner in town, all eyes are on the Trib, watching to see just how independent it will be.

The Salt Lake Tribune has long viewed itself as a key counterbalance to Church influence in Utah. So it was no surprise that a bruising legal battle erupted when a national corporation--Media NewsGroup--moved to take over the Tribune, with blessings of the Trib's longtime rival the Deseret News, with whom the paper grudgingly shares the printing presses.

Whether or not powerful Church or political leaders orchestrated the takeover was a key issue in the bitter fight. For now, thanks to the ruling of a federal judge, Media News Group has won. The paper's new owner says he won't muzzle the state's self-proclaimed "independent voice."

Dean Singleton/New Tribune Owner: "WE'RE GOING TO BE COMPETING AGGRESSIVELY. WE'LL CALL THE SHOTS AS WE SEE THEM. THERE'LL BE NO SACRED COWS. WE'RE NOT GOING TO GO SOFT ON ANYBODY."

And he denies any Church-backed conspiracy to deep six the Trib.

Singleton: "WE HAVE NO SUCH THING, NEVER HAVE HAD, NEVER WILL HAVE."

But Phil McCarthey, whose family has had an ownership share of the paper for four generations, says the end game for MediaNews Group is to make Salt Lake a one-paper town. He says the fight is not over, setting the stage for another round in the courtroom.

Phil McCarthey/Former Tribune Owner: "WE HAVE BEEN HERE FOR ALL THOSE YEARS. WE WILL CONTINUE TO BE HERE FOR ALL THOSE YEARS."

McCarthey says his family has an option to buy the paper and will exercise that right. So at the deadline on Thursday, a real media circus could break out, with two parties claiming rightful ownership of the paper.

McCarthey: "AS THE EQUITABLE OWNER, ANY OF THE EMPLOYEES TECHNICALLY WOULD REPORT TO US."

That option to buy is disputed and is contingent upon approval from The Deseret News. A last-minute appeal to block the takeover in the Tenth Circuit Court in Denver failed late Tuesday afternoon. How this whole fight will play out over the next few days is anybody's guess.

July 30, 2002