Judge rules against Seattle Times; lets JOA continue

[Newsjock]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001745793_webjoa25.html

A King County Superior Court judge today ruled against The Seattle Times, stopping it from dissolving a 20-year-old publishing agreement with its rival, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

The ruling means The Times cannot pursue its attempt to dissolve the agreement and shut down the smaller P-I.

"It's a big victory," said Guy Michelson, an attorney for the P-I. "We're very happy."

Seattle Times spokeswoman Kerry Coughlin said The Times will assess its legal position.

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[flamingyouth]

1. Woo Hoo!

This town is too big for only one paper, and I've always preferred the P-I anyway. This is good news.

[KT2000]

2. This is great news!

The Bush apologist Seattle Times, at least for now, will not be able to take out the more liberal newspaper. Let's hope this lasts through the election.
The Times will undoubtedly appeal and eventually find a more eager audience for their power grab down the line.

[Barrett808]

3. <sigh_of_relief/> n/t

n/t

[jono]

4. YAY!

Great news! Seattle deserves better than just the Times.

[chascarrillo]

5. Great news!

The Times seemingly deliberately lost money last year in order to bury the JOA. They hired like crazy at a time the paper was losing revenues.

The P-I is a much better paper, so it's good to keep it.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

8. Really.

I'll bet Frank Blethen is on one hell of a bender right now. Guzzling Vodka and throwing the empty bottles at his neighbors.

[w4rma]

6. Thank goodness (n/t)

[opiate69]

7. A view from the South Sound...

First, let me just say that this is a great ruling. The PI is a far superior newspaper than the Times. Having said that, though, the PI is a remarkably bad newspaper. (That should give you an indication of what I think of the Times). Never have I encountered a major publication with more typos, or incorrect page numbers (ie: "see page 6", but when you go to page 6, the rest of the story you were reading is nowhere to be found, because it's actually on page 8). I think I'll stick to the Tacoma News Tribune.