May 16, 2019 – Alden Global Capital, the hedge fund known as “the destroyer of newspapers,” suffered a stinging defeat on Thursday when Gannett shareholders rejected its hostile takeover bid.
The NewsGuild-CWA, which called had called on Gannett shareholders to reject Alden’s take-over efforts, was thrilled with the news. Continue reading “Alden Suffers Stinging Defeat in Effort to Take Over Gannett”
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?”
By Julie Reynolds
This is a reprint of an article that appeared on Jan. 17 on DFMworkers.org.
Jan. 17, 2019 – Picture this: Hundreds of U.S. newspapers – essential to our democracy – are controlled by one secretive New York hedge fund, with no obligation to disclose its small group of wealthy investors, hundreds of millions of dollars hidden in offshore tax havens, and a history of ethically questionable investments. Continue reading “What would a DFM takeover of Gannett mean for the news industry?”
By Julie Reynolds
This is a reprint of an article that appeared on Jan. 15 on DFMworkers.org.
Jan. 15, 2019 – Billing itself as a savior of newspapers, vulture hedge fund Alden Global Capital has made a $1.36 billion hostile takeover bid to acquire Gannett’s chain of more than 100 local papers.
If successful, the move would make Alden’s Digital First Media the largest newspaper chain in the country (in terms of circulation), while extending Alden’s heavily criticized slash-and-burn strategy to hundreds of U.S. communities. Continue reading “Hedge fund Alden attempts takeover of Gannett newspaper chain”
