Jimi Rose owned a business, first known as Hollywood Nights and then as Goodfellas, which he wanted to advertise in the Morning Call, a local newspaper. He alleged that space and layout restrictions were placed on his ads and that on several occasions, his ads were not run at all, while white competitors in similar businesses faced no such restrictions. He alleged that he was told by the Morning Call that his ads were prurient and inferior to those of his white competitors, yet the Morning Call accepted prurient and sexually suggestive ads from those competitors. He further alleged that the Morning Call refused to accept his ads for over a year and that the ban extended to the classified want ads, which prevented him from seeking new employees. Finally, Rose alleged that the ban on his advertising cost him valuable business, as hotel guests and convention participants did not know that his business existed. Rose contended that the Morning Call’s behavior toward him was racially motivated.
Rose sued the Morning Call, alleging that the Morning Call enjoyed monopoly power over an essential facility, newspaper advertising, and that its use of that power to exclude Rose from advertising his business and from placing classified ads had an anticompetitive effect. Rose described the relevant geographic market as the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania and the relevant product market as advertising in the Morning Call. He alleged that the Morning Call’s actions diminished his ability to compete in the marketplace and caused “serious and permanent damage” to him and his business.
Is the Morning Call an essential facility? Has Rose defined the relevant markets correctly? If you were the judge, how would you rule on this claim, and why?