Sept. 24, 2020 – NewsGuild-CWA members at Tribune publications across the country were “aghast at the blatant insensitivity” of a management decision to email employees promising bonuses of $5,000 to $10,000.
Why? Because the employees weren’t about to get bonuses; the email was a stunt to test their susceptibility to phishing scams. Instead of money, the employees were notified they would have to take training on avoiding suspicious links. More
For Immediate Release
Contact: Sally Davidow, sdavidow@cwa-union.org; 202-368-3324
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. More
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. More
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. More
June 30, 2020 – NewsGuild journalists representing 10 Tribune Publishing Co. publications across the country are launching a collective campaign to return these institutions to local ownership. More
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. More
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] More
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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.
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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. More