The uncertain future of the Tucson Citizen will continue for a while longer.
The newspaper will continue its day-to-day operation as negotiations for a potential sale continue, Kate Marymont vice president/news at Gannett, told Jennifer Boice, interim editor, Friday afternoon.
Gannett Co. Inc. had announced in January it would close the Citizen March 21 if no buyer came forward.
March 17, the company announced that the paper would continue day-to-day because potential buyers had shown interest.
Two weeks ago, the company said the Citizen would remain open until at least May 9.
Though Gannett officials have not said who is seeking to purchase the Citizen, a Culver City, Calif., news company posted ads in April on craigslist seeking advertising sales people in Tucson.
A spokesman for the company, David Ganezer, told The Associated Press last month that Gannett had rejected the company’s last offer and that his company was no longer in active negotiations with Gannett.
Gannett is offering the Citizen archives, Internet domain name and lists of subscribers and advertisers to potential buyers, but not the 50 percent share in the joint operating agreement it has with the Arizona Daily Star, owned by Lee Enterprises Inc.
The two companies jointly own Tucson Newspapers, the subsidiary that handles all noneditorial operations for both papers, and share equally in the operating costs and profits.
Each company made $10.5 million in profit in 2008 through the JOA, about $8 million less in profit than they made in 2007, according to Lee’s annual report.
The JOA is allowed under an exemption to federal antitrust laws called the Newspapers Preservation Act. The Department of Justice has said it is investigating Gannett’s action but DOJ spokesmen have repeatedly said they cannot comment on details of the investigation.