E&P publishing Ridder trial transcript

Editor & Publisher has obtained a full transcript from the trial in a lawsuit brought by Northwest Publications LLC, which runs the St. Paul Pioneer Press, against The Star Tribune Co., held in late June, and is publishing excerpts

The lawsuit was sparked when Pioneer Press Publisher Par Ridder signed on to become the publisher of the Star Tribune in March of this year. The Pioneer Press contends, among other things, that Ridder violated a non-compete agreement and stole Pioneer Press financial information and disclosed it to some executives at the Star Tribune.

The trial took place over a three-day period starting June 25 in a Ramsey County district courthouse in St. Paul. Judge David C. Higgs said he will announce his decision at the end of the summer. Meanwhile, Ridder continues to serve as publisher of the Star Tribune.

Among those testifying at the hearing: Par Ridder, his father Tony Ridder, MediaNews Group chief William Dean Singleton, McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt, analyst John Morton.

Some of the many interesting things to come out of the trial are the inner workings of the newspaper industry. Ridder testifies about how newspaper publishers share financial information in order to benchmark their progress.

Click on the headline to read Part 1 of the transcript series by Jennifer Saba, an associate editor at E&P.