An Angel for the News

But Joe Allbritton could be a devil for its unions

When Chicago's Tribune Co. put the New York Daily News up for sale last December, many journalists and businessmen doubted that a buyer would come forward. Even though it ranks as the nation's largest general-interest paper, the News (circ. 1.5 million) lost at least $ 12.6 million last year and expects to lose anywhere from $25 million to $50 million this year. Indeed, several potential purchasers* seemed more interested in its 1930 Art Deco office tower in midtown Manhattan than in the paper.

Last week the Tribune Co. confirmed the bidders' judgment: it decided to keep the building and give the paper away. The prospective new owner is Joe L. Allbritton, 57, a compact (5 ft. 4 in.), Mississippi-born wheeler-dealer whose properties have included Texas banks, California mortuaries, British hotel stock, several TV and radio stations and, from 1974 until he sold it to Time Inc. in 1978, the Washington Star, which ceased publication in August 1981.

Allbritton will not have to put up a cent to acquire the News. What is more, he has 30 days to back out, without obligation, if he cannot reach "satisfactory" payroll-cutting agreements with the eleven unions at the News. Further, the Tribune Co. will have to cover potential tens of millions of dollars in pension and severance obligations for all employees who are laid off during the 30-day transfer period, though that will cost less than an outright closure. As part of the deal, Allbritton will get the News's presses, trucks and two printing plants, one in Brooklyn, the other on a prime stretch of riverfront in Queens. (He will lease the News's offices from the Tribune Co.) In exchange, Allbritton will become responsible for the operating losses of the paper and for pensions and severance for all employees who remain. He also faces the prospect of replacing $60 million worth of obsolete equipment.

Most of the 3,800 News employees were relieved that their jobs might be saved, if uneasy about the austerity likely to follow. George E. McDonald, president of the Allied Printing Trades Council, which represents all eleven News unions, said they were "ready to cooperate to restore profitability."

But the bargaining hurdles are daunting, and there is a significant chance that the deal could fail. Allbritton must achieve concessions from each union individually--eleven negotiations in 30 days. Moreover, for every job the unions agree to sacrifice at the News, they could lose two more. Under existing contracts, the New York Post and the New York Times have the right to concessions matching whatever relief is granted to the News. The management of the Post, which reported losses of $12 million last year, says it will exercise its option; the Times has indicated that if the Post gets concessions, it will ask for them as well.

Allbritton has been at the center of a debate about editorial integrity since buying the Trenton Times last year from the Washington Post Co. On his first day he fired 24 of the 80 editorial employees. In February, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the Trenton Times "agreed to publish a news story in exchange for a $400 advertisement" from an auto-parts company. Less than a week later, the Times fired Reporter John Chester for disobeying orders to process a local department store's press release, word for word, as a news story. Allbritton later apologized in an editorial, but the reporter was not rehired.

Allbritton is no champion of editorial independence, but he may be the hard bargainer the News needs to survive. Says Jim Bellows, editor of the Star until he and Allbritton parted company over the dwindling editorial budget: "At the Star, he went right to the cliffside a number of times by threatening to close it. The unions finally came to believe he meant what he said." Allbritton has expressed his view of life by recalling that as a young man he passed the Texas bar exam with a score of 75: "One less and I would not have got a license. One more would have been a waste." -

* Among those who expressed interest: Warner Communications Inc.; New York Real Estate Developer Donald Trump; American Stock Exchange Chairman Arthur Levitt Jr.; New York State Power Authority Chairman John Dyson.

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