SALT LAKE CITY?A federal judge has dismissed AT&T Corp. as a defendant in a lawsuit over ownership of The Salt Lake Tribune.

AT&T sold The Tribune to MediaNews in January 2001.

Salt Lake Tribune Publishing Co. sued to reverse the sale, accusing AT&T of conspiring with the Deseret News and MediaNews to deprive Tribune Publishing of its option to buy The Tribune next August.

In a ruling released late Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Ted Stewart said there was no evidence AT&T had a commitment to sell The Tribune to the managers or negotiated with them in bad faith.