Joint operating agreement
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A joint operating agreement (JOA) is a federally sanctioned agreement in which two daily newspapers published in the same city or geographic area combine business operations while maintaining separate — and competitive — news operations. In the United States such agreements are permitted under the Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 and are thus not considered to be violative of antitrust laws. The legalization of these agreements stemmed from the fact that the alternative is usually for at least one of the newspapers, generally the one published in the evening, to cease operations altogether.
The first joint operating agreement was between Albuquerque Tribune (then the New Mexico State Tribune) and the Albuquerque Journal in Albuquerque, New Mexico, signed on February 20, 1933. Their agreement became typical of the type — both papers were printed on the same presses at different times of day. Classified advertising sales were consolidated, as were distribution agents. A joint entity to perform these functions was created, with equal representation on its board from both papers. Newsgathering and editorial operations remained completely separate, although located under one roof in different portions of the same building.
Arrangements similar to this allowed most medium-sized U.S. cities, and some of the larger ones as well, to have two daily newspapers until fairly recently. The number of joint operating agreements, as well as the number of evening-published daily newspapers, has declined considerably in recent years, due to the ongoing consolidation of the newspaper industry as a whole, and the decline in readership and interest in evening newspapers in particular, which many observers have attributed to television and the internet, of which the former seems to be magnified by the presence of several 24-hour-a-day news operations on cable television. There have been 28 Joint Operating Agreements to date.
[edit] Cities with newspaper joint operating agreements
- Albuquerque, New Mexico, The Albuquerque Journal (family owned), and The Albuquerque Tribune (owned by The E. W. Scripps Company)
- Birmingham, Alabama
- Charleston, West Virginia, Charleston Gazette (family owned) and Charleston Daily Mail (owned by Media News Group, minority stake)
- Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Post (owned by The E.W. Scripps Company) and The Cincinnati Enquirer (owned by Gannett) (expires in 2007)
- Denver, Colorado, Denver Post (owned by Media News Group) and the Rocky Mountain News (owned by The E. W. Scripps Company)
- Detroit, Michigan, Detroit Free Press (owned by Gannett, formerly owned by Knight-Ridder) and the Detroit News (owned by Media News Group, formerly owned by Gannett)
- Fort Wayne, Indiana, Fort Wayne News-Sentinel (owned by Ogden News Group, formerly owned by The McClatchy Company, formerly owned by Knight-Ridder) and the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette (family owned)
- Honolulu, Hawaii
- Las Vegas, Nevada - Las Vegas Review-Journal (owned by Stephens Media Group) and the Las Vegas Sun (owned by Greenspun Media Group): as of November 2005, the Sun publishes as a daily insert insde the R-J (expires in 2040)
- Miami, Florida
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Salt Lake City, Utah, Deseret Morning News (owned by the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and The Salt Lake Tribune (owned by Media News Group) (JOA run by the jointly-owned Newspaper Agency Corporation)
- Seattle, Washington, Seattle Post-Intelligencer (owned by The Hearst Corporation) and The Seattle Times (family owned) - This JOA is currently in litigation.
- Shreveport, Louisiana
- Tucson, Arizona, Arizona Daily Star ( owned by Lee Enterprises) and the Tucson Citizen (owned by Gannett)
- York, Pennsylvania, York Daily Record (owned by Media News Group, formerly owned by Buckner News Alliance) and The York Dispatch (owned by Buckner News Alliance, formerly owned by Media News Group)
[edit] Cities with joint operating agreements that terminated
- Anchorage, Alaska - Anchorage Daily News publishing, and Anchorage Times folded 1978
- Birmingham, Alabama - The Birmingham News (owned by Advance Publications) publishing, and Birmingham Post-Herald (owned by The E. W. Scripps Company) folded 2005
- Chattanooga, Tennessee - Chattanooga Free-Press and Chattanooga Times papers merged 1999. Surviving paper named Chattanooga Times Free Press
- Columbus, Ohio - Columbus Dispatch (family owned) publishing, and Columbus Citizen-Journal (owned by The E. W. Scripps Company) folded 1985
- El Paso, Texas - El Paso Times publishing, and El Paso Herald-Post folded 1997
- Evansville, Indiana - Evansville Courier , (owned by The E. W. Scripps Company, formerly family owned) and The Evansville Press (formerly owned by The E. W. Scripps Company) folded 1998. Surviving paper named Evansville Courier & Press
- Franklin, Pennsylvania, & Oil City, Pennsylvania - Franklin News-Herald 1985 merged into Oil City Derrick
- Honolulu, Hawaii - Honolulu Advertiser (owned by Gannett) and Honolulu Star Bulletin (owned by Black Press of Victoria, Canada, formerly owned by Liberty Newspapers of Florida, previously owned by Gannett) 2000 JOA terminated, both publish
- Knoxville, Tennessee - Knoxville News Sentinel publishing, and Knoxville Journal 1991 became weekly
- Miami, Florida - Miami Herald (owned by The McClatchy Company, formerly owned by Knight-Ridder) publishing, and Miami News (owned by Cox Enterprises) folded 1988
- Nashville, Tennessee - Nashville Tennessean (owned by Gannett) publishing, and Nashville Banner (family/local ownership) folded 1998
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (owned by Block Communications, Inc.) publishing, and Pittsburgh Press (owned by The E. W. Scripps Company) folded 1992
- San Francisco, California - San Francisco Chronicle (owned by The Hearst Corporation) and San Francisco Examiner (formerly owned by The Hearst Corporation) 1999 JOA terminated, both publish
- Shreveport, Louisiana - Shreveport Times publishing, and Shreveport Journal folded 1991
- St. Louis, Missouri - Post-Dispatch (owned by Lee Enterprises, formerly owned by Pulitzer, Inc.) publishing, and Globe-Democrat (owned by Newhouse) ended when the Globe-Democrat was sold to Veritas Publishing Corp. in 1983; Globe-Democrat again operated independently until folding in October 1986.
- Tulsa, Oklahoma - Tulsa World publishing, and Tulsa Tribune folded 1992
