Heat City

Randy Miller

The Colorado man who wants to buy the East Valley Tribune newspaper in Mesa has expanded his offer to include its two local sister papers.

The Ahwatukee Foothills News in Phoenix and the Daily News-Sun in Sun City are now part of newspaperman Randy Miller’s offer to buy the Pulitzer Prize-winning Tribune from its bankrupt parent company, according to three sources familiar with the discussions.

Representatives from the parent, Freedom Communications, told employees about the larger deal this morning during simultaneous staff meetings at the papers, the sources said.

Chris Coppola

Though the fate of the struggling East Valley Tribune remains uncertain, one thing became clear on Thursday: Any future the Mesa newspaper has will be without its head editor, Chris Coppola.

The longtime Tribune newsman announced he will step down Jan. 8 to take a job as a suburban editor at the Arizona Republic.

The New Year’s Eve announcement marked the end of an especially turbulent year for the newspaper, one in which it laid off half its staff, brought home a Pulitzer Prize and narrowly staved off closure.

Christmas Eve came and went, but the potential deal to save the East Valley Tribune did not materialize as expected.

Earlier this month, a spokesman for the Mesa newspaper’s parent, Freedom Communications, said Dec. 24 would likely be the day the company would tell a federal bankruptcy court about the deal it hopes to strike with a Colorado businessman wanting to buy the Tribune.

But late Thursday, after nothing had been filed with the court, company spokeswoman Maya Pogoda said attorneys “have not finalized the agreement” with hopeful buyer Randy Miller.

Randy Miller

When Colorado businessman Randy Miller traveled to Mesa last week, he acted very much like the man who would soon be in charge of the Pulitzer Prize-winning East Valley Tribune.

He toured its facilities. He introduced himself to the staff. He even handed out job applications across the building, telling employees to reapply for positions under his Thirteenth Street Media company, which hopes to take over the paper early next year.

But Miller’s plans appear to be presumptuous. The reality is that Miller has a long way to go – and possibly competition to fight off – before he can expect to be called “boss” at the newspaper that was slated to be shut down before he offered to buy it last month.

And in fact, there is still a chance Miller won’t buy the East Valley Tribune at all – because in the end, the decision will be up to someone else entirely.

Randy Miller

Even though no deal has been formalized to save the Pulitzer Prize-winning East Valley Tribune, a potential buyer is already telling its employees to reapply for their jobs.

Staffers of the Mesa newspaper received an email on Friday containing a job application [PDF] for Thirteenth Street Media, the Colorado company reportedly hoping to buy the ailing publication. The company has said it would keep “a significant” number of employees – but not all of them – if it buys the paper.

The email also told employees that Thirteenth Street Media’s owner, Randy Miller, would be in town this week to decide which staffers to keep if the deal goes through.

While those revelations may have been surprising enough for employees since the deal with Miller is nowhere near official, the real shockers came in the job application itself.

Julie Moreno

A deal is in the works to sell the East Valley Tribune and keep the Pultizer Prize-winning newspaper alive after the New Year, according to two sources familiar with conversations within the company.

Publisher Julie Moreno told reporters and editors during a conference call at 1 p.m. today that the parent company, Freedom Communications, has received a “letter of intent” to purchase the printing press and keep a significant number of employees, the sources said.

The Tribune also posted news of the potential deal on its website this afternoon.

Moreno would not name the potential buyer, telling employees only that the deal has “developed very quickly” and that “Freedom considers it serious and is supportive of it,” said one of the sources.

Moreno was at Freedom’s headquarters in Irvine, Calif., when the call took place, both sources said. Taking questions from reporters, she declined to say whether the buyer was an individual, a group of investors or another media company.

Moreno also said it is possible the Tribune’s downtown Mesa building – a property assessed at close to $7 million – will not be part of the deal.

Mark McEachen

One of the top executives of California media giant Freedom Communications told employees of the East Valley Tribune today that the newspaper’s pending demise could be “a good marketing tool” to try to sell it at the last minute.

Chief financial officer Mark McEachen made the comments in a conference call with Freedom’s employees company-wide. They were posted on the Tribune’s website late this afternoon.

But the executive also warned employees not the get their hopes up, saying: “We remain on track to close by the end of the year,”according to the web posting.

McEachen also confirmed rumors that someone made an offer to buy the Mesa newspaper before Freedom declared bankruptcy on Sept. 1. Freedom didn’t bite, though, because the unnamed person wanted the company to pay him to take over the business, McEachen said. The posting offered no other details of the offer.

Paul Giblin

Yes, you read that headline right. Pulitzer Prize-winner Paul Giblin is leaving the Arizona Guardian less than a year after he helped found it to go to Afghanistan in a civilian role with the U.S. Army.

His departure from the political news website has been one of the worst kept secrets in Arizona journalism circles in recent weeks, but Giblin had consistently declined to confirm his new position until it was certain.

Late yesterday, he made it official. In a note on the Guardian’s website, Publisher Bob Grossfeld said Giblin would be spending a year stationed in Afghanistan, though he didn’t say exactly what the prize-winning journalist would be doing there. Grossfeld also said Giblin may occasionally pen a letter from overseas for the Guardian site.

“I hope you’ll join with us in not only wishing Paul the best of luck,” Grossfeld wrote, “but also including him in your prayers every now and then.”

It seems no one at Freedom Communications in Arizona is safe from the chopping block this month.

Publisher Renie Scibona and Managing Editor Brian Johnson have been shown the door at the Ahwatukee Foothills News, one of several newspapers in the Phoenix area owned by the California media chain.

Freedom Vice President Julie Moreno sent a memo to staffers last week announcing the layoffs and wishing the two “the best of luck in their future endeavors.”

Renie Scibona

Len Gutman over at the Valley PR Blog made a pretty amazing discovery when he opened up his copy of the Ahwatukee Foothills News on Saturday.

The little community newspaper that survived recent cutbacks by its parent company, Freedom Communications, had printed a full-page ad in the day’s edition essentially begging for reader donations.

“We too have done more with less!” publisher Renie Scibona wrote in the letter to readers, noting how the newspaper has added videos and photo slide shows to its website. “Your loyalty and voluntary contribution will help us continue to bring you one of Arizona’s best community newspapers for years to come.”

The letter was also posted online along with a link at the bottom, urging readers to give whatever they can. In exchange, the paper will give contributors a free classified ad. (A free classified ad, you say?)