Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard Tuesday dropped his attempt to keep the printed version of the Tucson Citizen alive.
Goddard filed the suit May 15, claiming Gannett Co. Inc., owner of the Tucson Citizen, and Lee Enterprises, publisher of the Arizona Daily Star, were attempting to silence a news voice in a community in violation of the Newspaper Preservation Act.
Gannett announced that day that it would no longer publish a print version of the Tucson Citizen but would continue a modified Web site of daily commentary and opinion with a weekly insert of editorial content appearing in the Arizona Daily Star.
Goddard had sought a temporary restraining order to keep the Citizen printing and force Gannett to sell it but U.S. District Judge Raner Collins denied the request May 19, saying it was unlikely the AG’s case could succeed.
Collins left the door open for Goddard to refile the case but Tuesday’s action closes it.
“At this point, it was highly unlikely that any outcome of the litigation could lead to the reopening of the Tucson Citizen, elimination of anti-competitive activity or a reestablishment of competitive voices in the Tucson newspaper market,” Goddard spokeswoman Anne Hilby said in a news release Wednesday.