Gannett and MediaNews Group Announce New Partnership

Posted on April 11, 2003

Gannett Co., Inc. and MediaNews Group have announced the formation of the Texas-New Mexico Newspapers Partnership, the second partnership group for the two companies. Gannett will contribute its El Paso (TX) Times and MediaNews will contribute its New Mexico newspapers to the partnership, including five daily newspapers and two weeklies. Gannett and MediaNews, along with Little Rock, AR-based Stephens Media Group, also are partners in the California Newspapers Partnership, which was formed in February 1999.

The partnership will be operated by Gannett and managed by a five-person committee. Three members will be appointed by Gannett and two by MediaNews. William Dean Singleton, vice chairman and CEO of MediaNews Group, will serve as chairman of the Management Committee. Sherman Bodner, formerly publisher of Gannett's Norwich (CT) Bulletin, will be chief executive officer. Gannett will have approximately a 66% interest in the partnership and MediaNews Group will have a 34% interest.

"As we looked at the growth pattern in and around our markets in Southern New Mexico and Gannett's El Paso market, it was clear to us that these newspapers would work together well," said Singleton. "Since neither we nor Gannett was interested in selling, a partnership made perfect sense. We built the model in California in 1999, and it has worked well. We believe it will work equally well here. We are thrilled to expand our relationship with Gannett as we purse creative ways to build value."

Gannett Co., Inc. is a leading international news and information company that publishes 94 daily newspapers in the USA, including USA Today. The company also owns in excess of 400 non-daily publications in the USA and USA Weekend, a weekly newspaper magazine. Gannett subsidiary Newsquest is the United Kingdom's second largest regional newspaper company. Newsquest publishes more than 300 titles, including 15 daily newspapers, and a network of websites. Gannett also operates 22 television stations in the United States.

MediaNews Group, Inc. is the nation's seventh largest newspaper company, with headquarters in Denver, CO. MediaNews Group and its affiliated companies publish 50 daily newspapers and 121 non-daily publications in 12 states with daily and Sunday circulation of approximately 2.1 million and 2.4 million, respectively. In addition, MediaNews Group owns a CBS affiliate in Anchorage, Alaska and four radio stations in Texas. MediaNews Group maintains 74 websites for its daily newspapers and an umbrella site, newschoice.com.