Julie Reynolds | The NewsGuild

Pittsburgh newspaper workers are making history

Online “strike paper” is part of an esteemed tradition

It’s rare for private-sector union members to go on strike these days. But it’s even rarer for journalists to walk off the job.

I remember occasionally bringing up the idea of a strike with fellow NewsGuild members when I was a reporter at The Monterey Herald from 2004 to 2014, but it always seemed like no one had the will or ability to make it happen. We had rent payments, mortgages, medical expenses, kids in college and so many other reasons that made the few dollars we’d receive in strike pay seem untenable.

Boundless Greed: Alden walks away from bills, gathers wealth and guts news organizations

The founders of Alden Global Capital — the infamous ‘destroyer of newspapers’ — are walking away from unpaid bills as they amass ever more personal wealth (and continue to gut news organizations)

Editor’s Note: The article first appeared on the website Save Local News on Sept. 23.

Randall Smith, cofounder of the hedge fund Alden Global Capital, is infamous for two things: gutting local newspapers and a voracious acquisition of pricey real estate.

NewsGuild urges public pension funds to divest from Cerberus

The shadow bank’s legacy includes controversial investments, lawsuits and financing the destruction of local news

Editor’s Note: This story first appeared on SaveLocalNews.org on March 31, 2022.

Citing a New York shadow bank’s dual track record of “funding gun violence and death” and the destruction of local news, the NewsGuild-CWA is urging two of the nation’s largest public pension funds to divest from Cerberus Capital Management.

When a hedge fund’s shell game backfires: Lee strikes back at Alden after courtroom victory

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on SaveLocalNews.org on Feb. 18, 2022.

In a stunning Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Lee Enterprises took a big swing at Alden Global Capital, the hedge fund attempting a hostile takeover of the news chain.

NewsGuild speaks out against pension funds investing in Cerberus, the ‘shadow banker’ behind Alden Global Capital

Editor’s Note: The article first appeared on SaveLocalNews.org on Dec. 22, 2021.

Members of The NewsGuild are speaking out to public pension funds about their support of a company that has financed the destruction of local news.

Alden’s sleight-of-hand bid demands a closer look

Editor’s note: This article first appeared on the website of DFMworkers.org on Nov. 23, 2021.

The executives at Florida-based hedge fund Alden Global Capital must be restless.

No longer content with extracting the lifeblood from two of the nation’s largest local newspaper chains, it’s now stalking Lee Enterprises.

Alden announced, via a Monday-morning press release, that it wants to buy all of Lee Enterprises for $24 a share, in cash.

NewsGuild urges public pension funds to divest from Cerberus, citing the firm’s role in the destruction of local news

This article first appeared on dfmworkers.org on Sept. 23, 2021.

Saying their investments are “enabling the destruction of local news,” The NewsGuild-CWA is calling on two of the nation’s largest public pension plans to consider divesting from the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management.

The ‘shadow bank’ that — with the help of public pension funds — is aiding the destruction of local news

Editor’s Note: This article appears in full on Nieman Lab.org.

To the ancient Greeks, Cerberus was the hound of Hades, a multi-headed dog with a serpent’s tail who kept souls from escaping the underworld. His eyes burned with fiery lava and he vomited bile.

The canine’s namesake, Cerberus Capital Management, is a private equity firm that, like Alden Global Capital, specializes in acquiring distressed businesses — and, alongside Alden, it is now in the business of devouring newsrooms in the name of profit.

Cerberus was Alden’s financial backer for its recent takeover of Tribune Publishing, but the two secretive companies have a shared history that goes back to at least 2015.

NewsGuild-CWA issues letter to Tribune shareholders urging a NO vote on Alden takeover

The NewsGuild-CWA filed a letter to shareholders with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, urging a “no” vote on hedge fund Alden Global Capital’s attempted takeover of Tribune Publishing.

Instead of seeking the best value for Tribune shareholders, the Guild’s letter states, Tribune’s board “excessively focused on a rapid approval of Alden’s proposal, even though a potentially superior offer as well as continuing independent operation present higher value alternatives.”

Tribune could take on massive debt to finance its own takeover

Cash-strapped and banished from its luxury offices, Alden Global Capital has crafted a Faustian bargain to buy the publisher

This article first appeared on DFM.workers.org on April 28, 2021.

Alden Global Capital says it can buy Tribune Publishing with surplus cash on hand, but the former New York hedge fund’s merger agreement with Tribune appears to contradict the claim.

Doubts about Alden’s ability to purchase Tribune with cash are reinforced by a costly U.S. Department of Labor investigation, mounting lawsuits over broken lease agreements, and a stealthy exit from the top floor of Manhattan’s glamorous Lipstick Building to an unmarked virtual office in South Florida.