This study explores the antecedents of the Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 (a provision which allowed for limited exemption from federal antitrust laws), including the case of "United States vs. Citizen Publishing Company" and the failing-company doctrine as enunciated in "International Shoe Company vs. Federal Trade Commission" and as applied in the Citizen Publishing case. Congress's meaning of the term "failing newspaper" is analyzed through a study of congressional records and the Bank Merger Act of 1966. Finally, the limited application and interpretation that the act has undergone since its passage are studied with the goal of locating criteria for defining newspaper failure. The study concludes that the Newspaper Preservation Act was a congressional effort to reverse the court decisions in the Citizen Publishing Case and to protect from Justice Department prosecution other newspapers engaged in joint arrangements. While the Justice Department has adopted regulations for administering the act, no guidelines to the meaning of newspaper failure have been developed. (Author/KS)