KPBS
U-T San Diego offered discounts to some political candidates in 2012, potentially violating federal, state and local laws, Ryann Grochowski and Amita Sharma report.

U-T CEO John Lynch told the reporters the ads were sold "as part of a bundle option used to attract political advertising and consistent with how we sell generally" and was offered to all campaigns. California and San Diego laws require discounts to political campaigns to be reported as in-kind contributions, something Grochowski and Sharma say the U-T didn't do. U.S. law prohibits discounts to federal candidates period, former FEC Chairman Trevor Potter tells the reporters. (more...)

U-T San Diego
A San Diego group that hired an investigative journalist to collect negative information about a mayoral candidate filed a "financial disclosure to settle a joint investigation by the San Diego Ethics Commission and the state Fair Political Practices Commission," Craig Gustafson reports in U-T San Diego.

Spotlight San Diego paid former San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Caitlin Rother "nearly $23,000" to produce a dossier on Carl DeMaio that it distributed anonymously to media outlets, Gustafson writes. The investment paid off only modestly, however:

The information dredged up went largely unreported because many in the media considered it old, irrelevant and an untoward attempt to draw attention to DeMaio’s homosexuality during the race. The records focused mainly on legal problems involving his partner — San Diego Gay & Lesbian News Publisher Johnathan Hale.

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The Wrap | The Associated Press
U-T San Diego's leadership now says it "is not interested in entering an auction for the L.A. Times," company CEO John Lynch told The Wrap's Alexander C. Kaufman.

"The Times is a great asset, everyone related to the newspaper or media business is rumored to be interested in buying, including William Randolph Hearst and Horace Greely," he said in an email to TheWrap.

Hearst and Greeley (correct spelling) have been dead for a combined total of about 201 years, so perhaps Lynch was referencing modern-day media baron Rupert Murdoch, who is reportedly interested in the Times, as is new Orange County Register owner Aaron Kushner. (more...)

North County Times | KPBS | Voice of San Diego
U-T San Diego notified the California Employment Development Department Monday it plans to lay off 80 people at the North County Times. "One-third of the total North County Times' staff, including 24 from the newsroom, were told Monday that they will be laid off," the Times' Elizabeth Aguilera reports.

Times Editor Kent Davy will leave the paper, KPBS' Alison St John reports.

Davy said he was informed he would not be moving forward with the new management that takes over the paper today, though he was asked to be on a transition team for an indeterminate period.

U-T owner Doug Manchester announced he would purchase the Times from Lee Enterprises on Sept. 11, and the sale closed Monday. "The fact is our obvious areas of duplication will yield some cutbacks," U-T CEO John Lynch told Aguilera. "We are going to try to keep as many as possible but it's inevitable there will be some consolidation. We have been able to keep the total amount of layoffs to under 100 employees." (more...)

North County Times
Eric Wolff reports that John Lynch, publisher of U-T San Diego, said in a speech Wednesday that his company is in "final talks" to buy the Orange County Register from Freedom Communications. KPBS' Joanne Faryon reports that Doug Manchester, who bought The San Diego Union-Tribune in December and renamed the paper, told her there's "no deal yet" for the Register, but an announcement could come next week. However, Wolff reported that when he asked Lynch to confirm his comments, "he responded with a terse email: 'Not true.' " Manchester expressed interest in the Register and the North County Times in March, as well as the Los Angeles Times and The Press-Enterprise in Riverside. "I'm interested in all possibilities of extending or acquiring additional media." || Related: New owners in Philadelphia, San Diego mark the return of the media barons (The New York Times) || Earlier: New Union Tribune owners stumbling out of the gate (Poynter)