Moscow-Pullman Paper Losing Publisher In Ownership Change

A change in ownership will not mean any changes in publication of four newspapers acquired by Lewiston Morning Tribune Publisher Butch Alford.

But it does mean the departure of Moscow-Pullman Daily News Editor and Publisher Mark Trahant, who announced his resignation Monday.

“I want to give Butch Alford and his management team as much flexibility as possible when he completes his purchase of the Daily News over the next few weeks,” Trahant said Tuesday. “To that end, I am resigning some time in the first half of the year to explore other opportunities.”

Alford acknowledged that a merger of the Lewiston Tribune and the Moscow-Pullman Daily News has been rumored for years, but said Tuesday that “I fail to see the economic advantage of doing that. It certainly doesn’t measure up to the communities.”

Alford’s promise to keep the Lewiston, Moscow, Colfax, Wash., and Sparks, Nev., newspapers open is a relief to at least some Moscow residents. Their fears were fueled by interest in the papers by out-of-town bidders.

“It’s staying local. There’s more commitment to the community,” said Bob Greene, owner of Book People, a Moscow bookstore. “It means making the papers thrive as papers instead of profit centers. That ends up alienating the quality of the product and distancing the newspaper from the community.”

Alford said that’s one reason he decided to step forward and buy the newspapers. “I feel strongly about family ownership versus remote ownership.”

The departure of Trahant is a disappointment to some members of the community.

“I’ve enjoyed his presence at the paper as much as his personal presence in the community,” said Tim Waterman, owner of the Vox Coffee House. “He wrote insightful and thoughtful editorials and seemed to be taking the Daily News in the direction it needed to go.”

Alford said he wishes Trahant would stay. Trahant will head a transition team during the next several months. His departure date has not been set.

Trahant, originally from Fort Hall and a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, replaced R.C. Frisch as editor-publisher of the Daily News on Aug. 19, 1996.

Trahant was an editor at the Salt Lake Tribune, where he coordinated news reports and wrote a column, Points West, that was named as the state’s best by the Utah Society of Professional Journalists.

Before joining the Salt Lake Tribune, Trahant was the national desk reporter for the Arizona Republic, where he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for co-authoring an investigative review of federal Indian policy.

Alford’s grandfather and great-uncle founded the Lewiston Tribune in 1892. The company that owns the Salt Lake Tribune purchased the paper several years ago.

Alford, who remained as publisher, purchased the papers Dec. 31 from cable giant Tele-Communications Inc.

The four papers and the Salt Lake Tribune were bought by TCI in April.

, DataTimes