• Editor & Publisher, Thursday, May 21, 2009 9:30 AM

The Tucson Citizen can remain dead as a print newspaper, a federal judge ruled this week, saying the Arizona attorney general's office had not shown that folding the daily was a violation of antitrust law. U.S. District Court Judge Raner Collins says there is no evidence that there is a "ready and willing buyer to pay the fair and reasonable liquidation value of the paper's assets."

On Saturday, when the Gannett-owned Tucson Citizen published its last print edition, Gannett terminated its joint operating agreement with Lee Enterprises' Arizona Daily Star. But Gannett said the two would remain partners, sharing profits and expenses in Tucson.

Arizona's attorney general argued the move violated terms of the Newspaper Preservation Act and antitrust law generally, and that Stephen Hadland, a newspaper publisher in California, had offered $400,000 for the assets of the Tucson Citizen, not including a stake in the JOA. Gannett's lawyer argued the offer was too low, and that the company could not be compelled to sell at just any price.

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