Scripps to Seek Buyer for Rocky Mountain News

CINCINNATI, Dec. 4 /PRNewswire/ — The E.W. Scripps Company has decided to
offer for sale its Denver-based daily newspaper, The Rocky Mountain News, as
well as the newspaper’s 50-percent interest in the Denver Newspaper Agency,
which publishes the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post under a joint
operating agreement (JOA).

Scripps bought the Rocky Mountain News, which is Colorado’s first
newspaper and the state’s oldest continuously operated business, in 1926.
After a decades-long circulation war, the newspaper in 2001 entered into the
JOA with The Denver Post, which is owned by MediaNews Group.

The Denver Newspaper Agency manages the business and production operations
of the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post. Through subsidiaries, Scripps
and MediaNews Group each have a 50-percent stake in DNA but maintain separate
and independent editorial operations.

“The decision to seek a buyer for The Rocky would have been unthinkable
until very recently,” said Rich Boehne, president and chief executive officer
of Scripps, “but the operating conditions have become increasingly difficult
in Denver, as is the case in all major metropolitan newspaper markets. Our 50
percent share of the cash flow generated by the Denver Newspaper Agency is no
longer enough to support The Rocky, leaving us with no choice but to seek an
exit.”

The Scripps paper’s share of the operating income (accounted for as
“equity earnings”) from the Denver Newspaper Agency fell more than 50 percent
to $5 million in the first nine months of 2008 (excluding the one-time gain of
$4.4 million from the sale of property). Rocky Mountain News editorial
expenses in the same period approached $16 million.

In addition to the challenge of funding the two daily newspapers, the
Denver Newspaper Agency also has approximately $130 million in long-term debt
resulting from a recently completed consolidation of production facilities.

Scripps is working with New York-based Broadwater & Associates in the
search for a buyer. The company intends to entertain offers through
mid-January 2009. If no acceptable offers emerge in the course of that period,
the company will examine its other options for the future of the Rocky
Mountain News and its interest in the Denver Newspaper Agency.

“Some will be tempted to immediately write the obituary of The Rocky, but
we’re hoping this step will open the way for a creative solution to the
financial challenges faced by Denver’s great newspapers,” said Boehne. “The
loyal readers and advertisers of Denver deserve the very best and we’ll work
hard to find a solution that benefits this great city.”

Scripps will continue to support The Rocky financially while a buyer is
being sought. No changes are anticipated in the daily paper or its digital
service, rockymountainnews.com.

Prairie Mountain Publishing, another partnership between Scripps and
MediaNews Group entities involving newspapers elsewhere in Colorado, and
YourHub.com, a print and online initiative of the Denver Newspaper Agency
providing hyperlocal news content for communities in Colorado and elsewhere,
are unaffected by today’s announcement.

About Scripps

The E.W. Scripps Company is a diverse, 130-year-old media enterprise with
interests in television stations, newspapers, local news and information web
sites, and licensing and syndication. The company’s portfolio of locally
focused media properties includes: 10 TV stations (six ABC affiliates, three
NBC affiliates and one independent); daily and community newspapers in 15
markets and the Washington, D.C.-based Scripps Media Center, home of the
Scripps Howard News Service; and United Media, the licensor and syndicator of
Peanuts, Dilbert and approximately 150 other features and comics. For a full
listing of Scripps media companies and their associated Web sites, visit
www.scripps.com.

SOURCE The E.W. Scripps Company