DALLAS, Aug. 12 -- Belo Corp. (NYSE: BLC) and A. H.
Belo Corporation (NYSE: AHC) announced today that the U. S. Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a U. S. District Court's denial of class
certification sought by the plaintiffs in litigation filed in 2004 related to
circulation matters at The Dallas Morning News. The Fifth Circuit's decision
in Fener v. Belo, No. 08-10576, held that the plaintiffs had not presented
sufficient evidence for the case to proceed as a class action. The Company
and the other defendants will now seek to dismiss the litigation.
Robert W. Decherd, Non-Executive Chairman of Belo Corp. and Chief
Executive Officer of A. H. Belo said, "This is a very important victory for
Belo. From the outset, we believed that there was no evidence that the
conduct of the Company or any of its officers caused harm to the Company's
shareholders, and the opinion definitively holds that the plaintiffs did not
provide any meaningful evidence supporting that allegation. All along, we
said we would vigorously defend against the allegations in this litigation,
and we are gratified by the Court of Appeals' decision."
In addition to Belo Corp., defendants in the litigation include Decherd;
James M. Moroney III, Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of The Morning
News; and, Barry T. Peckham, a former officer of The News.
About Belo Corp.
Belo Corp. (BLC) is one of the nation's largest pure-play, publicly-traded
television companies, with 2008 annual revenue of $733 million. The Company
owns and operates 20 television stations (nine in the top 25 markets) and
their associated Web sites. Belo stations, which include affiliations with
ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW and MyNetwork TV, reach more than 14 percent of U.S.
television households in 15 highly-attractive markets. Belo stations rank
first or second in nearly all of their local markets. Additional information
is available at www.belo.com or by contacting Paul Fry, vice
president/Investor Relations & Corporate Communications, at 214-977-6835.
About A. H. Belo Corporation
A. H. Belo Corporation (NYSE: AHC), headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is a
distinguished newspaper publishing and local news and information company that
owns and operates four daily newspapers and a diverse group of Web sites. A.
H. Belo publishes The Dallas Morning News, Texas' leading newspaper and
winner of eight Pulitzer Prizes since 1986; The Providence Journal, the
oldest continuously-published daily newspaper in the U.S. and winner of four
Pulitzer Prizes; The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA), serving southern
California's Inland Empire region and winner of one Pulitzer Prize; and the
Denton Record-Chronicle. The Company publishes various specialty publications
targeting niche audiences, and its partnerships and/or investments include the
Yahoo! Newspaper Consortium and Classified Ventures, owner of cars.com. A. H.
Belo also owns direct mail and commercial printing businesses. Additional
information is available at www.ahbelo.com or by contacting Alison K. Engel,
senior vice president/Chief Financial Officer, at 214-977-2248.
