Those who have ever been on the sour end of media coverage might not like it, but U.S. public policy has long held that there is both merit and value in having two competing newspapers publish in the same market.
And therein lies the foundation of what's known in the newspaper industry as a joint operating agreement. (No, this is not an agreement to operate "joints.")
In Utah, the Deseret News and The Salt Lake Tribune — fierce journalistic competitors in every sense of the word — jointly own and are partners in the Newspaper Agency Corp., a joint operating agreement. That's why, when you pay your Deseret News bill, place a classified ad or try to find out why your paper wasn't delivered (a rare occurrence, we hope) you deal with the Newspaper Agency Corp.
Editorially, the News and the Tribune operate completely independently of each other. With absolutely no coordination or consultation, we each gather and publish news and features as we see fit. We each employ our own reporters and editors. Any similarity in the editorial product is completely coincidental.
But, because of the Newspaper Agency Corp., we offer advertising using the same sales force, print on the same presses and deliver the paper with the same trucks.
(OK, I can already see those of you familiar with, but not immersed in, antitrust law scratching your collective heads.)
"How is it possible," you ask, "that two competitors can collude in this way?"
The answer is simple: We don't collude. U.S. public policy — eventually including an act of Congress — has long held that democracy is the beneficiary when two newspapers compete in a single market.
A short history lesson might help explain:
Journalism is democracy's watchdog, charged with keeping the public informed and governmental officials in line. The Founding Fathers, having suffered from the English crown's abuse of governmental power, believed so strongly in the need for free-flowing information that they guaranteed press freedom in the Bill of Rights.
But the ways that information flows have changed drastically since Thomas Paine published "Common Sense," and newspapers, for better or for worse, must navigate the same free market as other businesses.
Just because we have a constitutional right to publish doesn't make it economically viable.
Without boring you with details, suffice it to say that the cost of collecting and distributing the news is substantial. Hence newspapers that provide a great benefit to public policy might — and indeed do — find themselves unable to simply make ends meet.
(Hold on. We're not asking for sympathy.)
A joint operating agreement allows competing newspapers to share costs on capital-intensive production and distribution, saving money and allowing a floundering concern to prosper.
And that allows the editorial independence of each newspaper to flourish.
Utahns — you, the people — then, are better served because you can choose between two daily newspapers. And, quite simply, that choice is possible because of the joint operating agreement.
The Newspaper Agency Corp. was formed in 1952, after a five-year circulation battle that left both the Deseret News and The Salt Lake Tribune in financial distress. Salt Lake City was not the first market in which competing newspapers formed such an agreement, but still, records O.N. Malmquist in his history of The Salt Lake Tribune, the move drew attention — but no official action — from U.S. Justice Department anti-trust investigators.
In 1970, Congress removed any question about anti-trust problems by passing the Newspaper Preservation Act that specifically allowed joint operating agreements and protected parties thereto from antitrust sanctions.
Nationwide, there are currently about 14 joint operating agreements in force.
E-MAIL: rhall@desnews.com