Newsday, Advertisers Spar Over Paper’s Response to Scandal

MELVILLE, N.Y. -- Lawyers for Newsday and two groups of advertisers skirmished Thursday over the newspaper's response to its ongoing circulation scandal, the paper reported

The attorney for 50 automobile dealers asked a federal judge to order Newsday to resume publishing their ads, which it stopped doing July 30 when the dealers filed a lawsuit. After 25 minutes of arguments, U.S. District Judge Leonard Wexler decided to hold a hearing on Aug. 24 before ruling on the dealers' request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the paper.

The dealers' lawyer, Leonard Bellavia of Mineola, said their "banishment" by Newsday was "crippling" because "there is no other meaningful place for my clients to go to advertise."

Bellavia estimated his clients, as a group, spent $1 million a month for display and classified ads to sell vehicles and hire workers. The paper's rejection of these accounts, he said, "is proof it is a monopoly on Long Island" that has violated antitrust laws by charging different rates to dealers based on how often they advertise.

Newsday spokesman Stu Vincent said, "We don't discuss what advertisers spend with us, but the actual amount is significantly less than his latest claim."

-- NYSSCPA.org News Staff

Posted on 8/13/04