The Associated Press reported a short time ago that the Justice Department is working on a “preliminary investigation” into the New York Times Company’s acquisition of 49% of Metro Boston. The concern here is that the free daily would “compete” alongside NYTCo’s Boston Globe newspaper with the rival Boston Herald.
Also noted is a Gannett purchase of a “community newspaper publisher in Michigan.” That company appears to be HomeTown Communications, which the publisher announced it would be buying in November of 2004. Less than a week later, on November 24, the Cincinnati Post ran a story [discussed here] where “scrutiny from the U.S. Justice Department” was expected.
It should be pointed out - as it is in the AP item linked above - that the Boston Herald has been on the forefront of the antitrust push in that city. Globe ombudsman Christine Chinlund commented on the situation this morning, coincidentally, before the AP story broke.
Reuters’ Martha Graybow reports that Catherine Mathis, NYT Vice President of Corporate Communications has stated that the “We have not been contacted by the Justice Department, nor to the best of our knowledge have any of our advertisers.”
