Free Republic

May 3, 2005 — Shareholders have filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Tribune Co. and some of its officers, alleging circulation fraud that affected the Chicago-based media company's financial results, attorneys announced Tuesday. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, contends Tribune violated the Securities and Exchange Act by intentionally overstating circulation at "numerous" newspapers, including Newsday and Tribune's Spanish-language newspaper Hoy, which meant the papers could charge more for advertising. Also named as defendants were Tribune chairman Dennis J. FitzSimons, senior vice president for finance Donald C. Grenesko and retired president of Tribune Publishing Jack Fuller, according...

The release of the six-month circulation figures for U.S. daily newspapers showed big declines at Tribune Co.'s Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. The newspaper industry's twice-yearly circulation report showed modest circulation declines at many dailies, continuing a two-decade-long trend. The latest report, released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, is being studied especially closely by advertisers and Wall Street. It marks the first industry circulation data since several major newspapers reported overstatements this year, beginning with scandals in June at Tribune's Newsday and Spanish-language Hoy. Subsequently, Hollinger International Inc.'s Chicago Sun-Times and Belo Corp.'s Dallas Morning News also admitted...

Most of the predominantly Hispanic customers at the Central Bar on New Main Street in Yonkers say they enjoy watching Univision on television because it reminds them of home. "We like Univision because the clientele is 80 percent Mexican, and they broadcast Mexican programs," said Lucero Cifuentes, 29, a bartender who on Tuesday was enjoying a media buffet on two televisions, each tuned to different channels. Here, Univision's programming sparks conversations — not controversy. But in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere, Univision is at the heart of a heated debate over whether the media giant should be allowed to acquire the...