East Valley Tribune Announces Potential Buyer Two Weeks After Announcing it Would Be Shutting Down December 31

​The East Valley Tribune may have a new lease on life, just two weeks after the failing publication announced it would be closing its doors on December 31.

At the time of the closure, Trib CFO Mark McEachen told employees that the closing might be "a good marketing tool" to lure potential buyers, and he may have been right.

Trib publisher Julie Moreno announced Friday that the paper's parent company, Freedom Communications, had received a letter of intent from someone interested in buying the paper, the Tribune reports today.

Heat City reports that "Freedom considers [the deal] serious and is supportive of it."

The potential buyer has not been identified, but Moreno says the buyer plans to keep a "substantial number" of the paper's current employees.

Freedom is operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy, so the company will have to bring the offer to a judge before any deal is approved.