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Newhouse: 'No' on Times-Picayune sale

Donald Newhouse, an owner of Advance Publications, has rejected a request from some of New Orleans most powerful names to sell the Times-Picayune, following the company's decision to lay off 200 hundred employees and cut publication to three days a week.

"We have read the letter with great respect and concern,” Newhouse said in a statement. “Advance Publications has no intention of selling The Times-Picayune.”

Late last week, the Archidiocese of New Orleans, the presidents of Tulane, Xavier, and Loyala universities, jazz great Wynton Marsalis, and political/media power couples James Carville and Mary Matalin and Steve and Cokie Roberts co-signed a letter on behalf of the Times-Picayune Citizens' Group pleading with Newhouse to sell the struggling paper to an owner that was willing to invest in it.

"Unfortunately and sadly, the considerable goodwill your family enterprise has created in New Orleans in the last 50 years has dissipated in just a few short months because of the decision that took our entire community by surprise," the group, which represents at least 70 local businesses and community organizations, wrote. "Advance Publications and its leadership have lost the trust and credibility of a significant segment of the community."

"If your family does not believe in the future of this great city and its capacity to support a daily newspaper, it is only fair to allow us to find someone who does," the letter concluded. "If you have ever valued the friendship you have shared with our city and your loyal readers, we ask that you sell the Times-Picayune. Our city wants a daily printed paper, needs a daily printed paper and deserves a daily printed paper."