what newspapers does alden global capital own

Hedge fund Alden Global Capital, one of the country's largest newspaper owners with a reputation for intense cost cuts and layoffs, has offered to buy the local newspaper chain Lee Enterprises . So I was more than a little shocked to learn that, according to its tax filings, Knight had invested $13 million with Aldens Distressed Opportunities Fund by 2010 and kept investing through 2014. Inside Alden Global Capital. But there are some clues here and there. Here was one of Americas most storied newspapersa publication that had endorsed Abraham Lincoln and scooped the Treaty of Versailles, that had toppled political bosses and tangled with crooked mayors and collected dozens of Pulitzer Prizesreduced to a newsroom the size of a Chipotle. It seemed reasonable to ask that they answer a few questions. But as long as Alden had made back its money, the investment would be a success. It makes me profoundly sad to think about what the Trib was, what it is, and what its likely to become, says David Axelrod, who was a reporter at the paper before becoming an adviser to Barack Obama. Alden's holdings already spanned the country, including the . Alden Global Capital is a hedge fund based in Manhattan, New York City. Probably not.. This is a subscription-based business.. By 2011, when Aldens Distressed Opportunities Fund lost more than 20 percent of its value, Knights holdings in the fund were valued at $10.7 million. And that has consequences for democracy, as journalist McKay Coppins writes in The Atlantic. But by 2014, it was becoming clear to Aldens executives that Patons approach would be difficult to monetize in the short term, according to people familiar with the firms thinking. In the ensuing exodus, the paper lost the Metro columnist who had championed the occupants of a troubled public-housing complex, and the editor who maintained a homicide database that the police couldnt manipulate, and the photographer who had produced beautiful portraits of the states undocumented immigrants, and the investigative reporter whod helped expose the governors offshore shell companies. Read: Local news is dying, and Americans have no idea, From 2015 to 2017, he presided over staff reductions of 36 percent across Aldens newspapers, according to an analysis by the NewsGuild (a union that also represents employees of The Atlantic). The company has been growing its portfolio and as of May 2021, owns over 100 newspapers and 200 assorted other publications. The Tribune Company (which owns the newspapers mentioned above) was still turning a profit when Alden bought it, but the hedge fund immediately offered aggressive rounds of buyouts and shrunk its newsrooms in the name of increasing profit margins. Have you heard of the hedge fund Alden Global Capital? The model is simple: Gut the staff, sell the real estate, jack up subscription prices, and wring as much cash as possible out of the enterprise until eventually enough readers cancel their subscriptions that the paper folds, or is reduced to a desiccated husk of its former self. A month after he started, one of his fellow reporters left and Glidden was asked to start covering schools in addition to his other responsibilities. A vulture doesnt hold a wounded animals head underwater. Unless the Tribunes trajectory changes, Chicago may soon provide a grim case study. They call Alden a vulture hedge fund, and I think thats honestly a misnomer, Johnson said. This investment strategy does not come without social consequences. Alden Global Capital, the hedge fund that owns The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press in Virginia, has proposed purchasing Lee Enterprises, the Iowa-based owner of the Richmond Times-Dispatch and most other major Virginia newspapers, for approximately $144 million, Alden announced Monday. The new owners did not fly to Chicago to address the staff, nor did they bother with paeans to the vital civic role of journalism. Instead, the money was used to finance the hedge funds other ventures. he asks. When the journalists created a Slack channel to coordinate their efforts across multiple newspapers, they dubbed it Project Mayhem.. It felt important. Meanwhile, reporters fanned out across their respective cities in search of benevolent rich people to buy their newspapers. Its being snuffed out, quarter after quarter after quarter. We were sitting in a coffee shop in Logan Square, and he was still struggling to make sense of what had happened. When The New York Times profiles him in 1991, it notes that he excels at profiting from other peoples misery and quotes a parade of disgruntled clients and partners. Hedge Fund Alden in Hunt for Another Big Newspaper Chain Scott Olson/Getty Images [2] [3] By mid-2020, Alden had stakes in roughly two hundred American newspapers. Meanwhile, in Vallejo, John Glidden went from covering crime and community news to holding the title of the only hard news reporter in town, filling a legal pad with tips he knew he'd never have time to pursue. The shows premise pits two couples against each other for the chance to win a home. Hedge fund Alden's bid to buy Chicago Tribune, other papers approved by Over the course of seven years, Alden doubled profits in its Bay Area News Group newspapers, another home to cutbacks. He used his own money to pull court records, and went years without going on a vacation. But that would require slow, painstaking workand there are easier ways to make money. His editor cited a supposed journalistic infraction (Glidden had reported the resignation of a school superintendent before an agreed-upon embargo). Lee Enterprises rejects Alden Global Capital's unsolicited proposal Other records turned up from public pension funds and filings of publicly traded companies. City budgets balloon, along with corruption and dysfunction. In budget meetings, according to the former executive, Freeman hectored local publishers, demanding that they produce detailed numbers off the top of their head and then humiliating them when they couldnt. The best architects of the era were invited to submit designs; lofty quotes about the Fourth Estate were selected to adorn the lobby. The scene was somehow even grimmer than Id imagined. How do you know who wins? the boy asks. "[17] and Vanity Fair dubbed Alden the "grim reaper of American newspapers. Bainum envisioned rebuilding the paperwhich, by 2020, was down to a single full-time statehouse reporteras a nonprofit. Heath Freeman in an undated photo provided by Goldin Solutions . Hedge fund Alden Global Capital, one of the country's largest newspaper owners with a reputation for intense cost cuts and layoffs, has offered to buy the local newspaper chain Lee Enterprises for about $141 million. Is this company saving newspapers or profiting from their demise? - The The most promising prospect materialized in Baltimore, where a hotel magnate named Stewart Bainum Jr. expressed interest in the Sun. Newspapers Have Been Struggling And Then Came The Pandemic - Forbes [2][3] By mid-2020, Alden had stakes in roughly two hundred American newspapers. He gained 100 pounds and started grinding his teeth at night. The story of Alden Capital begins on the set of a 1960s TV game show called Dream House. Two veteran journalists from the Chicago Tribune published an op-ed on Sunday challenging one of the paper's principal owners, the New York hedge fund Alden Global Capital. . These papers were in many cases left for dead by local families not willing to make the tough but appropriate decisions to get these news organizations to sustainability. A young man named Randall Duncan SmithRandy for shortstands next to his wife, Kathryn, answering quick-fire trivia questions in front of a live studio audience. The Tribune had been profitable when Alden took over. These papers would have been liquidated if not for us stepping up.. "60 Minutes" correspondent Jon Wertheim did a strong piece that aired Sunday night about the grim state of local newspapers, in part because of how hedge funds, such as Alden Global Capital . He wrote, "Alden Global Capital has eliminated the jobs of scores of reporters and editors, and decimated journalism in cities all over the country: Denver, Boston, San Jose, Trenton, etc. This company that owns us now seems to still be prettyI dont even know how to put it, the editor said, according to a recording of the meeting obtained by The Atlantic. A more honest argument might have claimed, as some economists have, that vulture funds like Alden play a useful role in creative destruction, dismantling outmoded businesses to make room for more innovative insurgents. A reporter at one of his newspapers suggested I try doorstepping Smithshowing up at his home unannounced to ask questions from the porch. My question was did Knight know what Alden was doing to newspapers when it invested with the hedge fund, and does it regret that investment now? This was the core of Freemans argument. When plans for the building were announced in 1922, Colonel Robert R. McCormick, the longtime owner of the Chicago Tribune, said he wanted to erect the worlds most beautiful office building for his beloved newspaper. Glidden, then a mild-mannered 30-year-old, had come to journalism later in life than most and was eager to prove himself. He told me it will begin with an annual operating budget of $15 million, unprecedented for an outfit of this kind. This story originally appeared on the Morning Edition live blog. They want to know who exactly profits when we learn, as Harvard Nieman Labs Ken Doctor recently reported, that the firm netted $160 million last year from its Digital First Media newspapers. Alden Global Capital Is Killing the Newsroom - Common Dreams Hedge fund Alden Global is buying newspaper chain Tribune Publishing The editor in chief mysteriously resigned, and managers scrambled to deal with the cuts. Or to nearby Monterey, where the former Herald reporter Julie Reynolds says staffers were pushed to stop writing investigative features so they could produce multiple stories a day. Hellman and BNP together own 46.4 per cent of Allfunds' shares. The practical effect of the death of local journalism is that you get what weve had, he told me, which is a halcyon time for corruption and mismanagement and basically misrule.. She was writing about Aldens growing newspaper empire, and wanted to know what it was like to be the last news reporter in town. Another ex-publisher told me Freeman believed that local newspapers should be treated like any other commodity in an extractive business. "[28], In mid-February 2022, the Delaware court found in favor of Lee Enterprises. They were very tight. Freeman has resisted elaborating on his relationship with Smith, saying simply that they were family friends before going into business together. Alden, which has built a reputation as one of the newspaper industry's most aggressive cost-cutters, became Tribune Publishing's largest shareholder in November 2019 and owns a 31.3% stake. When the city-hall reporter left a few months later, he picked up that beat too. It has figured out how to make a profit by driving newspapers into the ground, he says, since Alden's aim is not to make them into long-term sustainable businesses but rather maximize profits quickly to show it has made a winning investment. It was like watching a slow-motion disaster, says Gregory Pratt, a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. A look at Alden Global Capital is the cover story of the latest . He had spoken on this issue before, and it was easy to see why. Traditional newspaper business model says you make 95% of your money off ad sales and the rest off subscriptions. Alden Global Capital owns 56 dailies under Digital First Media (Alden also owns 32% of Tribune 10 dailies in Column C.) Tribune Media owns 10 dailies. Hedge fund Alden in hunt for another big newspaper chain - WKMG The hollowing-out of the Chicago Tribune was noted in the national press, of course. ), Crucially, the profits generated by Aldens newspapers did not go toward rebuilding newsrooms. Some publications, such as the Minneapolis Star Tribune, have developed successful long-term models that Aldens papers might try to follow. "[34], In October 2021, The Atlantic examined the impact of Alden's acquisition of the Chicago Tribune, noting that, "The new owners did not fly to Chicago to address the staff, nor did they bother with paeans to the vital civic role of journalism. In Orlando, the Sentinel ran an editorial pleading with the community to deliver us from Alden and comparing the hedge fund to a biblical plague of locusts. In Allentown, Pennsylvania, reporters held reader forums where they tried to instill a sense of urgency about the threat Alden posed to The Morning Call. It was clear that they didnt care about this being a business in the future. Even in a declining industry, the newspapers still generated hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenues; many of them were turning profits. [29] This attempt also failed, as shareholders returned both directors to the Lee board despite Alden's opposition. Smith & Company. After weeks of back-and-forth, he agreed to a phone call, but only if parts of the conversation could be on background (which is to say, I could use the information generally but not attribute it to him). Shareholders of Tribune Publishing, one of the country's largest newspaper chains, on Friday approved a takeover by hedge fund Alden Global Capital. * Edited from 'independent . Alden Global Capital makes offer for Lee Enterprises, owner of Winston Digital First Media - Wikipedia Smith & Company, a firm founded by Randall Duncan Smith, initially using the $20,000 cash prize he and his wife won on the 1968-1970 gameshow Dream House. It turned out that those ownersNew York hedge funders whom Glidden took to calling the lizard peoplewere laser-focused on increasing the papers profit margins. Most responded with variations on the same question: Which recent stories from your newspapers have you especially appreciated? How this 'vulture' hedge fund's gutting of local newsrooms could hurt If you want to know what its like when Alden Capital buys your local newspaper, you could look to Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, where coverage of local elections in more than a dozen communities falls to a single reporter working out of his attic and emailing questionnaires to candidates. [10][19][20], The company has its origins in R.D. The purchase represents the culmination of Alden's years-long drive to take over the company and its storied titles . Controversial hedge fund Alden Global wins bidding for Chicago Tribune What happens next? It wasn't the first newspaper acquisition for this hedge fund firm, nor is it the only firm of its kind eyeing the nation's newspapers. The pay was terrible and the work was not glamorous, but Glidden loved his job. It emphasizes supporting the emergence of new, sustainable models for local news, through both grantmaking and research, Sherry told me, including grant programs for nonprofit news organizations. The Tribune Tower rises above the streets of downtown Chicago in a majestic snarl of Gothic spires and flying buttresses that were designed to exude power and prestige. Reading these stories now has a certain horror-movie quality: You want to somehow warn the unwitting victims of whats about to happen. It is a subsidiary of Alden Global Capital, the New York City hedge fund that backed the purchase of and dramatic cost-cutting at more than 100 newspapers causing more than 1,000 lost jobs. Tribune shareholders approve takeover by Alden Global Capital But he couldnt help feeling that the police scandal would have been exposed much sooner if the Sun were operating at full force. You could look to Oakland, California, where the East Bay Times laid off 20 people one week after the paper won a Pulitzer. Denver Post reporters vs 'vulture capitalist' hedge fund Alden - CNBC The vulture is hungry again: Alden Global Capital wants to buy a few In legal filings, Alden has acknowledged diverting hundreds of millions of dollars from its newspapers into risky bets on commercial real estate, a bankrupt pharmacy chain, and Greek debt bonds. Others pointed to Bainums financing partner, who pulled out of the deal at the 11th hour. He started as a general-assignment reporter, covering local crime and community events. Freeman was more animated when he turned to the prospect of extracting money from Big Tech. Maybe this obscure hedge fund had a plan. 'Sobs, gasps, expletives' over latest Denver Post layoffs", "The Hedge Fund Vampire That Bleeds Newspapers Dry Now Has the Chicago Tribune by the Throat", "How Massive Cuts Have Remade The Denver Post", "Newsonomics: By selling to Americas worst newspaper owners, Michael Ferro ushers the vultures into Tribune", "A Secretive Hedge Fund Is Gutting Newsrooms", "Affiliated Media Files for Bankruptcy to Restructure (Update2)", "The shakeup at MediaNews: Why it could be the leadup to a massive newspaper consolidation", "Alden Global Capital to buy Tribune in deal valued at $630 million", "Lee Enterprises Enacts Poison Pill to Guard Against Alden Takeover", "Lee Enterprises Board Rejects Alden's Acquisition Offer", "Alden Global Capital takes Lee Enterprises to court over failed board nominations", "Alden Global Capital sues Lee Enterprises after rejected takeover bid", "Alden Global Capital loses lawsuit to nominate its slate of candidates for Lee Enterprises' board", "Lee Enterprises shareholders reelect three directors amid hedge fund fight", "Tampa Bay Times sells printing plant to developer for $21 million", "A hedge fund's 'mercenary' strategy: Buy newspapers, slash jobs, sell the buildings", "The hedge fund trying to buy Gannett faces federal probe after investing newspaper workers' pensions in its own funds", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alden_Global_Capital&oldid=1130942589, This page was last edited on 1 January 2023, at 19:27. The Tribune Tower rises above the streets of downtown Chicago in a majestic snarl of . This is the story weve been telling for decades about the dying local-news industry, and its not without truth. October 14, 2021. Heath Freeman, president of Alden Global Capital, is known for pushing big cost reductions, which he says help to save newspapers. Much of the Knight family's once-grand newspaper empire was ultimately acquired by Alden Global Capital, while the family foundation invested in Alden funds. Three days later, Bainumstill smarting from his experience with Alden, but worried about the Suns fatesent a pride-swallowing email to Freeman. The bid by Alden Global Capital, which already owns about 200 local newspapers, had faced resistance from Tribune staff and last-ditch competition. Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link. I asked Knight about those investments and whether the Foundations officers had any regrets, knowing what we now do about Aldens devastating effect on its own newspapers. Freeman was clearly aware of his reputation for ruthlessness, but he seemed to regard Aldens commitment to cost-cutting as a badge of honorthe thing that distinguished him from the saps and cowards who made up Americas previous generation of newspaper owners. Knight began selling off its Alden holdings in 2012, and got completely out in 2014. and our desire to support local newspapers over the long term." Alden said it wants to work Lee's board of . On March 9, 2020, a small group of Baltimore Sun reporters convened a secret meeting at the downtown Hyatt Regency. With his own money, he helps his brother launch the New York Press, a free alt-weekly in Manhattan. With Alden in control, he believes the Sun is now a prisoner that stands little chance of escape. For those who cared about the future of local news, it was hard to imagine a better outcomewhich made it all the more devastating when the bid fell through. When lawmakers pressed for details last year on who funds Alden, the company replied that there may be certain legal entities and organizational structures formed outside of the United States.. NPR's A Martnez talks to McKay Coppins of The Atlantic about how a hedge fund, Alden Global Capital, is buying and then gutting newspapers and the implications for democracy. Im worried the worst is yet to come. [6][7][8][9], The company operates its media holdings through Digital First Media (DFM), which it acquired in 2010 after DMG's parent company, MediaNews Group, declared bankruptcy. Hedge fund Alden in hunt for another big newspaper chain To David Simon, the whimpering end of The Baltimore Sun feels both inevitable and infuriating. It played with my mind a little bit, Glidden told me. Alden Global Capital had recently purchased a nearly one-third stake in the Suns parent company, Tribune Publishing, and the firm was signaling that it would soon come for the rest. Randy claims no editorial role in the Press, and his investment in the projectwhich has little chance of producing the kind of return hes accustomed tocould be chalked up to brotherly loyalty. Shares of Lee Enterprises Inc. rose sharply Monday after hedge fund Alden Global Capital LLC offered to buy the newspaper publisher for about $141 million. If they did it right, Venetoulis said, they just might be able to line up a local, civic-minded owner for the paper. Knight spokesman Andrew Sherry declined to answer any of those questions, saying instead, Our endowment investments support our grantmaking., We invested approximately one half of one percent of our endowment in an Alden fund between late 2009 and early 2014, he said via email. When a local newspaper vanishes, research shows, it tends to correspond with lower voter turnout, increased polarization, and a general erosion of civic engagement. Theyre being targeted by investors who have figured out how to get rich by strip-mining local-news outfits. Below are highlights from his conversation with Morning Edition's A Martnez. It will rely initially on philanthropic donations, but he aims to sell enough subscriptions to make it self-sustaining within five years. At the time, the Sun had a bustling bureau in Annapolis, and he marveled at the reporters ability to sort the honest politicians from the political whores by exposing abuses of power. The show draws from a book written by a Sun reporter, and Simon was quick to point out that the paper still has good journalists covering important stories. Neither man will ever be the guest of honor at the annual dinner for the Committee to Protect Journalistsand thats probably fine by them. He took particular pride in finding novel ways to give away his family fortune, funding child-poverty initiatives in Baltimore and prenatal care for women in Liberia. They want to know who exactly profits when we learn, as Harvard Nieman Lab's Ken Doctor recently reported, that the firm netted $160 million last year from its Digital First Media . On the appointed afternoon, I dialed the number provided by his spokesperson and found myself talking to the most feared man in American newspapers. G ARY MARX and David Jackson, two veteran investigative reporters at the Chicago Tribune, spent most of last year seeking potential buyers who might save their newspaper from Alden Global Capital . That's because the fund is stepping in to buy and then gut newsrooms across the country. Alden Global Capital has currently bid to buy all of Tribune. Alden Global Capital seeks to buy Lee Enterprises for $144M Iowa-based Lee Enterprises asks investors to help fight off hedge fund Alden Global Capital. [33], Alden Global Capital's management of American newspapers has been criticized. Lee Enterprises owns 77 daily newspapers, including the Buffalo News, Omaha World-Herald and the Tulsa World. ", "Denver Post Rebels Against Its Hedge-Fund Ownership", "Tribune Says Sale to Alden Wins Approval Amid Confusion Over Key Shareholder's Vote", "Lee Enterprises Shares Jump on Takeover Offer From Alden", "The vulture is hungry again: Alden Global Capital wants to buy a few hundred more newspapers", "Colorado Group Pushes to Buy Embattled Denver Post From New York Hedge Fund", "The battle for Tribune: Inside the campaign to find new owners for a legendary group of newspapers", "Is this strip-mining or journalism?

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