Dec. 20, 2019 – The NewsGuild-CWA is demanding answers from two members of the Board of Directors of Tribune Publishing – directors who were appointed on the recommendation of Alden Global Capital, a New York hedge fund known as “the destroyer of newspapers.” Continue reading “NewsGuild demands answers from Alden-backed members on Tribune’s board”
This article first appeared on the DFMworkers.org on Dec. 5, 2019.
By Julie Reynolds
Dec. 5, 2019 – One week after Alden Global Capital announced it took a nearly one-third stake in Tribune Publishing, the New York hedge fund appears positioned for a full takeover of Tribune newspapers by next summer. Continue reading “Real estate sell-off and increased debt are possible outcomes of an Alden takeover”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 20, 2019
Washington, D.C. – The purchase by Alden Global Capital of a 25.2 percent stake in Tribune Publishing is a source of deep concern for NewsGuild-CWA members.
“Alden has single-handedly hollowed out the news organization it controls,” said NewsGuild President Bernie Lunzer. “It has liquidated assets – both real estate and employees – solely for its own benefit and without regard to the effects of its policies on news reporting in towns and cities across the country,” he said. Between 2012 and 2019, Alden cut 71 percent of Guild-represented jobs at MediaNews Group newspapers (aka Digital First Media) it controls. Continue reading “NewsGuild-CWA Denounces Alden Stake in Tribune Publishing”
Nov. 18, 2019 – NewsGuild-CWA President Bernie Lunzer submitted written testimony to the House Financial Services Committee for its Nov. 19 hearing titled, “American for Sale? An Examination of the Practices of Private Funds.”
The testimony exposes the destructive role of Alden Global Capital, which controls Digital First Media.
“The hollowing out of local news is no mere inconvenience,” Lunzer notes. “Because of the draconian cuts, many local newspapers can no longer cover city meetings, community events, school board votes or high school sports. Recent research from the University of Illinois–Chicago and the University of Notre Dame found that communities that have become “news deserts” pay higher taxes and bond rates and are at greater risk of political corruption. Other studies show lower voter turnout and increased partisanship. In other words, when the watchdogs are gone, democracy dies. Private equity has helped kill the watchdogs.”
This article first appeared on June 24, 2019, on the website of DFMworkers.org.
By Julie Reynolds
Almost every crime movie these days has a crazy wall. It’s one of those bulletin boards detectives put together while they’re trying to solve a crime, and they usually have lots of strings connecting people, places, companies and crime families.
You know, like the Avon Barksdale wall in The Wire
This article first appeared on June 6, 2019, on the website of DFMworkers.org.
By Julie Reynolds
June 6, 2019 – The secretive business practices of Alden Global Capital, owner of the Digital First Media newspaper chain, will soon face scrutiny in a federal bankruptcy court, just weeks after Alden’s failed attempt to take over Gannett Co. Continue reading “Alden President Heath Freeman and others may face subpoenas, depositions”
This article first appeared on June 3, 2019, on DFMworkers.org.
By Julie Reynolds
June 4, 2019 – Legislative efforts to save local news continue in Washington after New York hedge fund Alden Global Capital’s failed takeover of the Gannett newspaper chain.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) has vowed to “continue watching Alden closely.” Continue reading “Congress Dives Into Local News Crisis”
Check out photos of NewsGuild-CWA members fighting to Save Local News on World Press Freedom Day, May 3.
May 7, 2019 – NewsGuild members at DFM and Gannett newspapers marked the day with rallies in Denver and Detroit and lit up the Twittersphere using the hashtag #SaveLocalNews. Continue reading “On World Press Freedom Day, NewsGuild members say, ‘Save Local News’”
This article first appeared on April 25, 2019, on the website of DFMworkers.org.
By Julie Reynolds
April 26, 2019 – It’s been a tough week for Alden Global Capital, the hedge fund trying to take over the nation’s largest newspaper chain, as senators, shareholders, creditors and federal agencies are all looking into a slew of self-dealing allegations.
First, the Washington Post reported last week that the Labor Department is interested in the roughly $250 million of news workers’ pension monies that Alden quietly shifted into its own Cayman-Island-based accounts. Continue reading “Under federal investigation, Alden pulls half its proposed Gannett takeover slate”
By Julie Reynolds
This is a reprint of an article that appeared on www.dfmworkers.org on March 19, 2019.
March 19, 2019 – One year ago, a handful of Denver Post current and former staff shocked the paper’s readers, their news chain’s owners and the nation. After yet another round of devastating layoffs — this one leaving its newsroom slashed by a third — they quietly wrote, edited and designed a six-page section that appeared in the Sunday paper on April 8. Continue reading “The Denver Rebellion: A year after reporters at the Denver Post cried out for help, what’s changed?”
