HONOLULU, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- The state of Hawaii likely will not step in to keep Honolulu a two-newspaper town, the state attorney general suggests.
State Attorney General Mark Bennett will be reviewing the sale of the Honolulu Advertiser to the owners of the Star-Bulletin, the (Honolulu) Star Bulletin reported.
The report said when Advertiser owner Gannett Co. tried to buy out and shut down the Start-Bulletin a decade ago, state officials and a citizens group filed a federal suit to stop the deal, and some of those involved in that effort are starting to organize an effort to stop the new deal.
But Bennett said Friday the newspaper business has changed over the last 10 years: "The economics of the newspaper business and the definition of relevant markets is just not the same as it was 10 years ago. The antitrust laws don't require someone to operate a business that can't make money."
