Pottstown Mercury: an Army of One

By Dean Olsen

The article first appeared on Sept. 22 on SaveTheNews.org.

Sept. 23, 2020 – When Evan Brandt began working at The Mercury as a municipal reporter in 1997, his beat focused on one community — Pottstown, Pennsylvania, and the daily paper had 14 reporters, including a few sportswriters.

Twenty-three years later, Brandt, The Mercury’s only municipal reporter, covers nine school districts and 30 communities in and near Pottstown, a town of 23,000 people 40 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

Continue reading “Pottstown Mercury: an Army of One”

Alden Global Capital, known for plundering newspapers, plans to expand ownership of Tribune Publishing

For Immediate Release

Contact: Sally Davidow, sdavidow@cwa-union.org

Move is latest Alden ploy in a larger effort to gut newsrooms across the country, detailed in new, comprehensive report

NewsGuild-CWA Outlines Path for Industry’s Survival


Sept. 11, 2020 – Alden Global Capital, the hedge fund known for pillaging newspapers, plans to expand its ownership stake in Tribune Publishing as soon as Jan. 1 and is shifting its business strategy to focus on digital subscriptions, according to internal company documents obtained by
DFMworkers.org. Alden currently owns a 32 percent stake in the company and its hand-picked directors hold three of Tribune’s seven board seats. One is held by Alden’s patriarch and founder, Randall Smith. Continue reading “Alden Global Capital, known for plundering newspapers, plans to expand ownership of Tribune Publishing”

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”

A joint statement on Tribune Publishing’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders

May 22, 2020 – The NewsGuild-represented units of Tribune Publishing issued a joint statement Friday after shareholders approved two permanent additions to the board of directors that consolidated Alden Global Capital’s power over the company. It appears below. Download the PDF. Continue reading “A joint statement on Tribune Publishing’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders”

Employees Decry the State of Journalism at Tribune Publishing; Call on Shareholders to Reject Alden’s Nominees to Board of Directors

May 19, 2020 – Employees at Tribune Publishing are deeply concerned about the direction of the company, according to a survey of Tribune employees conducted by The NewsGuild-CWA last month. [PDF] Continue reading “Employees Decry the State of Journalism at Tribune Publishing; Call on Shareholders to Reject Alden’s Nominees to Board of Directors”

The State of Journalism at Tribune Publishing

Executive Summary

Tribune Publishing employees are concerned about the direction taken by their company and the future of their individual newspapers. To counter profit-driven cuts to newsrooms, journalists at several Tribune properties have joined a wave of union organizing in the media sector. In the past three years, employees at ten Tribune papers have affiliated with The NewsGuild-CWA to gain a voice in their workplaces. [Download the report] Continue reading “The State of Journalism at Tribune Publishing”

Guild to seek sale of Baltimore Sun to local nonprofits

May 1, 2020 – The Washington-Baltimore News Guild and the NewsGuild-CWA are launching a campaign to support efforts to return The Baltimore Sun to local ownership under a non-profit model, reinvesting profit back into the paper that has been Maryland’s news source for nearly two centuries.
Continue reading “Guild to seek sale of Baltimore Sun to local nonprofits”

Orlando Sentinel journalists join Florida surge, announce union organizing campaign

Feb. 28, 2020 – Inspired by recent union victories in newsrooms across the country, the journalists at the Orlando Sentinel announced Tuesday they too are forming a union, the Sentinel Guild, part of The NewsGuild-CWA.

Union organizers at the Sentinel are part of surge in union organizing among journalists, especially in Florida: The staff at the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald voted overwhelmingly in favor of union in November 2019 and in the space of a week employees at the Palm Beach Post and Palm Beach Daily News announced they are forming the Palm Beach News Guild, and employees of the Naples Daily News, News-Press, Banner and Marco Eagle said they are forming the Southwest Florida News Guild. Continue reading “Orlando Sentinel journalists join Florida surge, announce union organizing campaign”

Hedge fund founder Randall Smith and his wife gave $100,000 to the president’s 2020 joint fundraising committee

This article first appeared on Feb. 4, 2020, on the website of dfmworkers.org.

On a sweltering July afternoon last year, Sen. Elizabeth Warren unveiled proposed legislation aimed at making hedge funds and private equity firms more transparent and accountable. Continue reading “Hedge fund founder Randall Smith and his wife gave $100,000 to the president’s 2020 joint fundraising committee”

Now Alden is circling Lee newspapers

Cash from understaffed DFM papers was used to finance stock purchase

This article first appeared on the website of DFMworkers.org on Jan. 29, 2020

By Julie Reynolds

Jan. 30, 2020 – Alden Global Capital, the New York vulture hedge fund gutting Digital First Media newspapers, has acquired a $9.2 million stake in one of its rivals, Lee Enterprises, siphoning money from Alden’s highly profitable and understaffed papers to finance the stock purchase. Continue reading “Now Alden is circling Lee newspapers”