Realty company accuses newspaper of circulation fraud

MILWAUKEE (AP) _ A real estate firm has sued Journal Sentinel Inc., alleging circulation fraud at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin's top-selling newspaper. <br/><br/>The lawsuit filed by Shorewest

Wednesday, April 27th 2005, 12:47 pm

By: News On 6

MILWAUKEE (AP) _ A real estate firm has sued Journal Sentinel Inc., alleging circulation fraud at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin's top-selling newspaper.

The lawsuit filed by Shorewest Realtors this week in Milwaukee County Circuit Court contends the newspaper deliberately overstated circulation since 1996 and used the ``artificially inflated rates to surreptitiously overcharge'' the home-seller for advertising.

It asks that any money wrongfully collected during that period be refunded to Shorewest, its agents and other advertisers, but it does not specify an amount. The Brookfield-based firm is seeking class-action status for the suit.

Robert Dye, a spokesman for the newspaper's corporate parent, Journal Communications Inc., referred questions about the lawsuit Wednesday to Journal Sentinel publisher Elizabeth Brenner.

Brenner did not immediately return a call Wednesday from The Associated Press. But the newspaper on Wednesday printed a statement by Brenner saying: ``The Journal Sentinel values and supports all of our advertisers, and we work hard to deliver a quality newspaper that reaches their customers.''

The lawsuit claims the Journal Sentinel counted as circulation papers that were distributed free to homes, businesses, on the street and at large gatherings; thrown into trash bins without ever having been distributed; donated to schools; and distributed to apartment tenants as part of a scheme in which the subscription cost was included in the rent, then kicked back to the apartment complex manager.

The suit contended the company, seeking ``to cover up its own misconduct ... recently terminated two employees and demoted another as a result of their participation in the pervasive scheme to overstate circulation rates.''

Brenner, who became publisher in January, said in an interview with the newspaper about four weeks ago that the circulation department needs better leadership.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations, a nonprofit organization comprised of both publishers and advertisers, said that during the period the suit describes, the paper's Monday-through-Friday circulation declined from nearly 290,000 to about 240,000.

The Journal Sentinel began publication in 1995 after The Milwaukee Journal and Milwaukee Sentinel, which were both owned by the company, merged.