The proposed sale of the Mercury News, Contra Costa Times and other Knight Ridder papers to Dean Singleton’s MediaNews Group should be put on hold so that its ramifications can be closely examined, the Bay Guardian says in an editorial in today’s issue.

The alt-weekly owned by Bruce Brugmann (pictured left) says San Francisco businessman Clint Reilly (right) has done the public a service by suing to stop the deal. The paper urges the court to grant Reilly’s request for a temporary restraining order “so the whole thing can be examined in detail, in public, before a judge.”

The editorial makes other points — like why are top officials such as Attorney General candidate Jerry Brown and Attorney General Bill Lockyer silent about the deal? And why didn’t the Chronicle report that the SF Board of Supervisors pass a resolution opposing the deal?

The Guardian has posted Reilly’s 13-page lawsuit on its Web site.

In the interest of fair play, if other newspapers print editorials, columns or op-eds on the MediaNews deal, the PPC will provide links to those articles as well.