Money & Media

Is there some other definition of 'locally owned' we don't know about? [Updated]

By Nick R. Martin | March 24th, 2010 | 7:53 pm | 12 Comments »

The new owner of the East Valley Tribune had some surprising news for readers this morning: “We’re back to being a locally owned newspaper.”

Publisher Randy Miller wrote the line in a front-page message printed just a day after he finally closed a deal to buy the Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper from media giant Freedom Communications.

Problem is, Miller isn’t local. He’s from Colorado. And the company he partnered with to buy the Tribune, 1013 Communications, is headquartered in Reno, Nev.

So what, exactly, was Miller talking about?

Heat City left a message for him today, hoping to give the proud new owner a chance to explain. But just like the other messages left for him over the past five months, this one went unreturned.

Doing the math, Miller’s purchase actually moves ownership of the newspaper further away. The former owners were headquartered in Irvine, Calif. – about 375 miles from the Mesa newspaper.

Reno, on the other hand, is a 750-mile drive.

Update (March 25): Former Tribune dining critic Jess Harter, who was among those cut from the newspaper in the most recent downsizing, says Randy Miller is probably living in the area temporarily as he gets things situated with his new businesses. But if that’s what Miller is calling “locally owned,” it sounds like it won’t last.

Harter said he asked Miller about his plans late last year. “I asked him if he intended to move to AZ to oversee operations of the Tribune,” Harter wrote in an email to Heat City. “He said he’d probably rent a house here for a few months while he took a hands-on approach to the transition, but that he’d never live anywhere but Boulder, Colo., because he loved that city so much.”

[Full disclosure: I am a former staff reporter at the Tribune.]


  • But it was in print, so it must be true.

    And he said it twice, so it must be double-true.

  • But it was in print, so it must be true.

    And he said it twice, so it must be double-true.

  • Anonymous

    Mr. Miller currently lives in Mesa, walking distance to the Tribune. He also owns a Tucson newspaper that has been printed by the Tribune’s own presses for a while. Considering the former owners of the Tribune was a whole bunch of people in California who didn’t know squat about “East Valley”, let alone Arizona, I’d say that he is local.

  • looloosam

    Mr. Miller currently lives in Mesa, walking distance to the Tribune. He also owns a Tucson newspaper that has been printed by the Tribune's own presses for a while. Considering the former owners of the Tribune was a whole bunch of people in California who didn't know squat about “East Valley”, let alone Arizona, I'd say that he is local.

  • @looloosam: I’ve heard — but not substantiated — that Miller might have gotten a second home, perhaps a temporary rental, as he gets things situated in Mesa. But the company that actually owns the place is still located in Reno, and Miller plans to leave once he finds a full-time publisher. Is that correct? Do you have any more specifics, and would you be willing to reveal your name, maybe? Feel free to email me at nick@heatcity.org

    Update: It has since been substantiated. See the update above.

  • @looloosam: I've heard — but not substantiated — that Miller might have gotten a second home, perhaps a temporary rental, as he gets things situated in Mesa. But the company that actually owns the place is still located in Reno, and Miller plans to leave once he finds a full-time publisher. Is that correct? Do you have any more specifics, and would you be willing to reveal your name, maybe? Feel free to email me at nick@heatcity.org

  • Anonymous

    I think Mr. Miller took several liberties with his Page One letter today. The main thing I noticed was his pledge to cover East Valley news … something that will be difficult with a newsroom staff the size of my immediate family. Maybe “local coverage” means waiting for AP rewrites of azcentral stories … along with a daily dose of Capital Media Services stories from Howard Fischer. Oh yeah, and the Public Notices section, which is half the paper now.

  • daryljames

    I think Mr. Miller took several liberties with his Page One letter today. The main thing I noticed was his pledge to cover East Valley news … something that will be difficult with a newsroom staff the size of my immediate family. Maybe “local coverage” means waiting for AP rewrites of azcentral stories … along with a daily dose of Capital Media Services stories from Howard Fischer. Oh yeah, and the Public Notices section, which is half the paper now.

  • Anonymous

    Still say someone smart could open a new Arizona paper called the Scottsdale Progress. Weekend, 3 times a week, wouldn’t matter. Old timers like me would greet it with joy.

  • Still say someone smart could open a new Arizona paper called the Scottsdale Progress. Weekend, 3 times a week, wouldn't matter. Old timers like me would greet it with joy.

  • I will admit that I too was taken aback by the claim that the East Valley Tribune is now locally owned, for the reasons Nick alluded to. And I also wonder how vastly the new team in place can cover the expansive East Valley metro area, considering there will only be 15 people in the newsroom – roughly one-tenth the size of what used to exist.

    But I will say that I applaud Randy Miller’s attempt to resuscitate a newspaper that was literally left for dead by the previous ownership group and was slated to be shut down. Obviously he must be confident in his business plan to invest a considerable amount of money into rebuilding the Tribune, so I wish him well in his attempt to elevate the paper’s stature to what it once was.

    Miller by many accounts has a successful track record in the industry, so good luck to him and the employees who still remain there.

    – Philip Tortora

  • Phil in CT

    I will admit that I too was taken aback by the claim that the East Valley Tribune is now locally owned, for the reasons Nick alluded to. And I also wonder how vastly the new team in place can cover the expansive East Valley metro, considering there will only be 15 people in the newsroom – roughly 1/10 the size of what used to exist.

    But will say that I applaud Randy Miller's attempt to resuscitate a newspaper that was literally left for dead by the previous ownership group and was slated to be shut. Obviously he must be confident in his business plan to invest a considerable amount of money into rebuilding the Tribune, so I wish him well in his attempt to rebuild the paper's stature.

    Miller by many accounts has a successful track record in the industry, so good luck to him and the employees who still remain there.