DOJ v. Daily Gazette - The Bray Cary Connection

As part of an extensive follow-up to the U.S. Justice Department antitrust lawsuit against the Daily Gazette Co., West Virginia Public Broadcasting interviewed Bray Cary.

The president of West Virginia Media Holdings said that DOJ contacted his company as they investigated the 2004 purchase of the Charleston Daily Mail, but "we never had any formal interviews."

The lawsuit alleges that a $55 million bid by "an experienced third-party newspaper company" for the PM newspaper in late 2003 spurred parent company of The Charleston Gazette to match the offer.

DOJ cites a December 2003 letter of intent between the unnamed company and MediaNews Group, the Daily Mail's then-owner and a co-defendant in the lawsuit.

Cary told Public Broadcasting that while he had "preliminary discussions" with MediaNews about buying the Daily Mail, he ultimately ran into the Federal Communication Commission's current ban on cross-ownership of different media in the same market.

"I can unequivocally state that at not time did West Virginia Media Holdings ever make a formal offer for the Charleston Daily Mail," Cary said.

Besides audio of today's piece and a transcript, Public Broadcasting also offers an interview with Dean Corley Dennison of Marshall University's journalism school, who "discusses the history of Justice Department enforcement in the news, and explains how joint operating agreements work."

The links are also available on Public Broadcasting's new blog, while DOJ offers both the lawsuit and a press release on the web pages for its antitrust division.