Inquirer owners to Guild: Expect a long battle

The co-owners wrestling for control of the The Inquirer and its parent company told leaders of the newsroom union on Wednesday to expect a protracted legal fight.

In nearly four hours of separate closed-door talks at the newspaper's Center City offices, George Norcross and Lewis Katz accused each other of interfering in the editorial affairs of the paper, according to attendees at the meeting.

Both also vowed they would not give in.

"Trust me, this is not going to be pretty," Norcross said, according to two people present.

The meetings with leaders of The Newspaper Guild, which represents more than 500 reporters, photographers, editors and other staffers, came as the men prepared for a court showdown over the fate of the newspaper, its publisher and former editor.

Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Patricia A. McInerney ordered the lawyers to come to her courtroom Tuesday to discuss the lawsuit Katz and another co-owner, H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest, filed last week against publisher Robert J. Hall and Interstate General Media, the partnership that owns the newspaper, The Philadelphia Daily News and Philly.com.

The lawsuit, which grew from a long-boiling feud between Norcross and Katz over the direction of the paper, was filed after Hall fired Inquirer Editor William K. Marimow last week. Katz opposed the firing, which he said violated their partnership, and he and Lenfest want the judge to reinstate Marimow and remove Hall.

A spokesman for Norcross and other owners said Katz had violated an agreement not to interfere with the newspaper's editorial operations.

The men took their dispute to a third-floor conference room Wednesday at the 801 Market St. headquarters of Interstate General Media. Lenfest accompanied Katz. Associate Publisher Mike Lorenca also attended both meetings.

An Inquirer reporter was barred from attending the private gatherings. But other attendees later described what they heard.

They said each of the owners explained their positions to nine officers of The Newspaper Guild, while the union officials urged both sides to settle their conflict quickly and peacefully.

One observer said it became apparent that neither owner would give in, short of "complete annihilation" of the other.

At one point, several participants said, Norcross said that Katz was interested in The Inquirer and in protecting the editor only because Katz's companion, Nancy Phillips - a veteran investigative journalist - is the paper's city editor and a Marimow ally.

Norcross did not identify Phillips by name, several participants said, but the reference was clear.

Contacted later, Phillips declined to comment.

Norcross, a South Jersey insurance tycoon and Democratic Party boss, also told the union leaders that he would ultimately prove Katz's interference in the newspaper, attendees said.

Approached after the meeting, Norcross declined to comment.

The attendees said that Katz, a real estate mogul and former New Jersey Nets owner, and Lenfest, a philanthropist and cable television pioneer, said that they were interested only in upholding the integrity of The Inquirer and good journalism.

Contacted later, Katz would say only that their meeting was "low-key and courteous," and an "open exchange of views on where this thing is going."

He said neither he nor Lenfest asked the union for public support.

Guild leaders, who have endured four ownership changes in less than a decade, left the meeting perplexed and concerned over the fate of the company.

"It's always a pleasure to hear from our owners - except when they say the exact opposite things," said Howard Gensler, a Daily News columnist and Guild president. "During 3 ½ hours of discussion, we could count on one hand the number of facts they agreed on. It looks like the courts will have to sort it out."

Katz and Lenfest told the group that they are paying for lawyers out of their own pockets, several attendees at the meeting said. Norcross told them it could cost at least $1 million to defend IGM from the lawsuit.

The company employs an estimated 1,800 people at the two newspapers and Philly.com.

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