New buyer for Stamford Advocate, Greenwich Time

Hearst Corporation will fork over $62.4 million for the 2 papers, but MediaNews Group, Inc. will manage them under an existing joint venture agreement with Hearst. Tribune is selling the real estate separately. The deal is expected to close in a few weeks.

Earlier this year, Gannett offered $73 million for the two newspapers, but the deal was derailed, supposedly because Gannett wouldn't assume the union contracts.

Will the structure of the Hearst deal still the fear of a MediaNews' unfair advantage in southwestern Connecticut?

When this deal is done, MediaNews will be running the day-to-day operations. Check out our MediaNews website at www.medianewsmonitor.org.(end of post)