NY -- Standard&Poor's CreditWire 5/21/97 -- Standard&Poor's today has placed its single-'A' senior unsecured debt and corporate credit ratings on E.W. Scripps Co. (formerly named Scripps Howard Inc.) on CreditWatch with negative implications. About $30 million of rated 7.375% notes due 1998 are outstanding. Standard&Poor's also rates the company's $150 million medium term notes series A program, but currently there are no borrowings outstanding. The CreditWatch placement reflects Cincinnati, Ohio-based Scripps' agreement to purchase six newspapers, one television station and one radio station from Harte-Hanks Communications Inc. for between $605 million and $775 million, depending on the financial structure of the deal. The acquisition would increase Scripps' newspaper geographic diversity by adding five mid-sized
