The Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 was created to preserve editorial diversity in markets that no longer supported competing daily newspapers. Editorial operations under a joint operating agreement remain separate, while all other operations are combined. Below are the nation's 13 JOAs with the year they expire:
Newspaper Daily circulation Ownership
The Cincinnati Enquirer 194,328 Gannett
The Cincinnati Post 72,616 E.W. Scripps Co.
2007
Deseret News 68,195 LDS Church
Salt Lake Tribune 134,701 AT&T
2012
The Honolulu Advertiser 102,236 Gannett
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin 69,362 Liberty Newspapers
2012
The Birmingham News 150,346 Advance Publications
Birmingham Post-Herald 25,652 E.W. Scripps Co.
2015
The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson 91,561 Pulitzer Publishing
Tucson Citizen 42,267 Gannett
2015
The Journal-Gazette, Ft. Wayne, Ind. 61,782 Family owned
The News-Sentinel, Ft. Wayne, Ind. 48,289 Knight Ridder
2020
Albuquerque Journal 113,694 Family owned
The Albuquerque Tribune 25,061 E.W. Scripps Co.
2022
Seattle Post-Intelligencer 197,921 Hearst Newspapers
The Seattle Times 227,162 Seattle Times Co.
2033
The Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette 51,514 Family owned
Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail 40,906 MediaNews
2036
Las Vegas Review-Journal 158,441 Donrey Media
The Las Vegas Sun 38,332 Family owned
2049
Denver Post 413,730 MediaNews
Rocky Mountain News 446,943 E.W. Scripps Co.
2050*
Detroit Free Press 384,624 Knight Ridder
The Detroit News 246,638 Gannett
2089
The York (Pa.) Dispatch 40,326 MediaNews
The York (Pa.) Daily Record 43,003 Buckner News Alliance
2090
* Pending Justice Department approval
Sources: Newspaper Association of America, American Journalism Review, Journal of Media Economics