UPDATE 1-Potential Hartford Courant buyer's interest cools

(Adds comments from Chase, background)

By Robert MacMillan

NEW YORK, May 15 (Reuters) - The one potential buyer for the Hartford Courant said on Thursday she is no longer interested in buying the daily newspaper from Tribune Co, unless there were some signs of financial growth.

"If there is no growth potential, we are absolutely not going to be interested," said Cheryl Chase, executive vice president of Chase Enterprises, a Hartford-based real estate company.

Chase's decision casts doubt on whether the popular notion that wealthy businesspeople could be persuaded to step in and save ailing newspapers because of the vanity value that comes with owning the local paper.

Her comments came after Chicago-based Tribune said it would sell the Newsday daily newspaper on Long Island to Cablevision Systems Corp (CVC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) for $650 million. That offer beat bids of $580 million made by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (NWSa.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and New York Daily News owner Mortimer Zuckerman.

Chase was one of several potential buyers who surfaced for Tribune properties when the company was considering whether to sell some of its assets or seek a buyer for the whole company.

She said she never made an offer because Tribune never offered Chase Enterprises a look at the Courant's financial information.

"We made it very clear in writing that we were interested in purchasing the Courant," she said.