March 8, 2018 – A group of prominent Bay Area journalists – including Pulitzer-Prize winners from the East Bay Times – have denounced “the ongoing destruction of our newsrooms” by the company’s owners, Alden Global Capital. Continue reading “Pulitzer-Prize Winners Denounce Alden’s ‘Ongoing Destruction’ of Newsrooms”
By Julie Reynolds
March 8, 2018 – New York hedge fund Alden Global Capital siphoned hundreds of millions of dollars from one of America’s largest news chains, a new lawsuit charges, damaging local news organizations to finance insider investment deals. Continue reading “Hedge Fund Alden Siphoned 100s of Millions from Newspapers in Scheme to Gamble on Other Investments, Suit Says”
SIGN THE PETITION: Tell Duke to cut ties to Alden/Heath Freeman
This article by Julie Reynolds appears on the DFM Workers website.
March 2, 2018 – The NewsGuild-CWA, which represents workers at 12 Digital First Media newspapers, is urging Duke University to sever its ties to hedge fund president Heath Freeman, saying Freeman’s donations “directly contradict” the mission of Duke, home to one of the nation’s most prominent research centers for media and democracy. Continue reading “Guild Urges Duke to Sever Ties with Hedge Fund President”
Feb. 22, 2018 – As negotiations for wage increases get underway, workers at 12 publications owned by Digital First Media (DFM) are escalating their contract campaign against Alden Global Capital, the New York hedge fund that owns the company and that has been systematically stripping newspaper assets since 2012. Continue reading “Campaign for Raises Escalates as DFM Cuts Staff”
UPDATE: Total buyouts in San Jose this week now stand at 15, at least 9 of whom are NewsGuild-represented, bringing total job losses for the Bay Area News Group this week to at least 27.
By Julie Reynolds
Feb. 2, 2018 – Recent company-wide layoffs at Digital First Media newspapers are part of a calculated strategy to extract maximum profits in the next two to three years before shutting down or selling the chain, a prominent news business analyst said Wednesday. Continue reading “Layoffs, buyouts across DFM newspaper chain follow hedge fund’s profit-extraction strategy”
Nov. 21, 2017 – Employees of news organizations owned by Alden Global Capital, a shadowy hedge fund that now controls 200 newspapers across the country, are telling head honchos Randall Smith and Heath Freeman: Stop pillaging our community newspapers to finance your mansion buying sprees!
Sign their petition here.
Nov. 15, 2017 – The NewsGuild joined NABET and CWA to submit more than 3,900 signatures on a petition opposing the FCC’s plan to eliminate longstanding rules governing media ownership – rules that are intended to protect local news coverage and guarantee a diversity of voices. Continue reading “Guild, NABET, CWA Tell FCC: Don’t Crush Local News”
Nov. 6, 2017 – NewsGuild members at papers owned by Digital First Media (DFM) expanded a coordinated campaign in recent weeks by exposing the devastating effect that Alden Global Capital, the hedge fund that controls DFM, has had on local news coverage and journalists’ jobs.
Workers at DFM’s 12 unionized papers recently unleashed two separate two-day Twitter storms to call attention to the corrosive effect of Alden’s management of the papers: Layoffs at twice the industry average. Gutting the papers’ assets by selling buildings and equipment. Entire communities left without news coverage. Continue reading “DFM Workers Expand Coordinated Campaign”
Aug. 21, 2017 – With President Trump’s attacks on journalists as a backdrop, the Guild’s August conference took on a sense of urgency. Delegates discussed the best ways to respond, approved a resolution to Defend the Right to Report, and urged its adoption by the CWA convention that followed. Continue reading “Guild Conference Calls for Action”
By Bernie Lunzer
Last month, while sitting in on a local bargaining session, I asked management’s chief negotiator what the publisher’s plans were for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The employer’s rep was stumped. He had no idea.
But he knew he had to extract millions of dollars from the employees. Continue reading “Why Aren’t Publishers Investing in the Future? Don’t They See One?”
