Category: Featured

Company documents show Alden is overhauling its newspaper strategy after pandemic brings surprise windfall

With plans to own more shares of Tribune by January, hedge fund says the relationship between two chains is “deepening”

By Julie Reynolds

Editor’s note: This article first appeared on DFMworkers.org on Sept. 11, 2020. 

Sept. 11, 2020 – In an abrupt strategy change, hedge fund Alden Global Capital appears committed to staying in the news business, after the pandemic created an unexpected new profit stream, internal company reports show.

The reports, which describe the financial picture of the Alden-owned newspaper chain MNG Enterprises, were obtained by DFMworkers.org after they were distributed at an internal staff meeting last month. Continue reading “Company documents show Alden is overhauling its newspaper strategy after pandemic brings surprise windfall”

In historic move, Packet/Gazette Guild wins voluntary union recognition from McClatchy

Sept. 11, 2020 – Journalists at The Hilton Head Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette newspapers made history Thursday evening, when President and Editor Brian Tolley announced the company would voluntarily recognize their union — The Packet/Gazette Guild. This is the first voluntary recognition by a McClatchy publication in recent years. Continue reading “In historic move, Packet/Gazette Guild wins voluntary union recognition from McClatchy”

There’s no shortage of news in Springfield, Ill., but they are running low on reporters.

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, Sept. 4, 2020 – The daily newspaper in this capital city of 115,000 is one of the go-to places for political coverage in a state where consecutive governors went to federal prison, the state’s finances are precarious and the longtime speaker of the Illinois House may be in the crosshairs of a federal investigation. Continue reading “There’s no shortage of news in Springfield, Ill., but they are running low on reporters.”

Hartford among growing rank of cities demanding answers from Alden Global Capital, ‘destroyer of newspapers’

This article by Julie Reynolds first appeared on the website DFMworkers.org on Aug. 14, 2020.

Aug. 17, 2020 – The City Council in Hartford, Connecticut, has joined Chicago, Denver and other cities by announcing that it is crafting a resolution condemning Alden Global Capital, the vulture hedge fund that has decimated local newspapers across the country. Continue reading “Hartford among growing rank of cities demanding answers from Alden Global Capital, ‘destroyer of newspapers’”

Watchdogs on furlough: A thwarted secret deal, an intensely local story

By Dean Olsen

Aug. 6, 2020 – Readers called and emailed the Florida Times-Union over the past year with appreciation for the newspaper’s commitment to uncovering apparent secret deals behind the now-canceled attempt to sell the city of Jacksonville’s municipally-owned utility to a private entity. Continue reading “Watchdogs on furlough: A thwarted secret deal, an intensely local story”