AP: Judge Bars Newspaper Consolidation

From the Associated Press:

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Suspicious about possible alliance among competitors, a federal judge barred The San Francisco Chronicle from consolidating some of its business operations with newspapers owned by MediaNews Group Inc.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston issued the temporary restraining order Tuesday, upon seeing a previously undisclosed memo saying that the Chronicle's parent company, Hearst Corp., intended to collaborate with the newspaper's rivals on Bay Area distribution and national advertising sales.

The judge ruled the deal would possibly violate antitrust laws.