what newspapers does alden global capital own

Former Knight-Ridder headquarters. The best architects of the era were invited to submit designs; lofty quotes about the Fourth Estate were selected to adorn the lobby. Lee, which owns the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the Omaha World-Herald and many other daily newspapers throughout the region, is staving off a takeover attempt by Alden Global Capital, a New-York . Another ex-publisher told me Freeman believed that local newspapers should be treated like any other commodity in an extractive business. The Alden Global Capital . But this acquisition was profound, making Alden Global . When a reporter asked if their work was still valued, the editor sounded deflated. Shareholders of Tribune Publishing, one of the country's largest newspaper chains, on Friday approved a takeover by hedge fund Alden Global Capital. 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. But there are some clues here and there. Over the course of seven years, Alden doubled profits in its Bay Area News Group newspapers, another home to cutbacks. He started as a general-assignment reporter, covering local crime and community events. Since Alden's . Alden's holdings already spanned the country, including the . This is the story weve been telling for decades about the dying local-news industry, and its not without truth. But for that to happen, the Big Tech money would need to flow to underfunded newsrooms, not into the pockets of Aldens investors. 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. These include the Chicago Tribune, the New York Daily News, and The Baltimore Sun. Hes impressed by their journalism, he told me, but his clearest takeaway is that theyre not nearly well funded enough. If you went into a lab to create the perfect bro, Heath would be that creation, says one former executive at an Alden-owned company, who, like others in this story, requested anonymity to speak candidly. Below are highlights from his conversation with Morning Edition's A Martnez. He scores big with a bankrupt aerospace manufacturer, and again with a Dallas-based drilling company. After a long walk down a windowless hallway lined with cinder-block walls, I got in an elevator, which deposited me near a modest bank of desks near the printing press. In addition to the constant layoffs, our buildings were being sold, basic office supplies became scarce and the hot water stopped working. The hollowing-out of the Chicago Tribune was noted in the national press, of course. But while its true that Alden entered the industry by purchasing floundering newspapers, not all of them were necessarily doomed to liquidation. 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. The New York-based hedge fund Alden Global Capital - known for slashing its newspapers' budgets to extract escalated profits - won shareholder approval Friday for its $633 million bid to acquire the Tribune Publishing newspaper chain.. Alden Global Capital is a hedge fund based in Manhattan, New York City. Other records turned up from public pension funds and filings of publicly traded companies. Next up: Chicago, Baltimore, and the New York Daily News. Why Chicago Tribune Staffers Are Terrified Of Their Hedge Fund - Forbes They call Alden a vulture hedge fund, and I think thats honestly a misnomer, Johnson said. Lee Enterprises, the owner of daily newspapers in Winston-Salem and Greensboro, this morning rejected a hedge fund's proposal to take over the company. Alden Capital's gutting of the Denver Post is the most discussed example of this, but there are many others. Digital First Media - Wikipedia Instead, they gutted the place. (Freeman has, in the past, disputed Bainums account of the negotiations.) Alden Global Capital, the hedge fund that owns the Chicago Tribune and New York Daily News, offered to buy Lee Enterprises Inc. for about $142 million, seeking a larger share of the . By the time the FBI caught them, in 2017, the conspiracy had resulted in one dead civilian and a rash of wrongful arrests and convictions. Live news updates from February 28: Tesla to build Mexico - ft.com The Tribune Tower, the iconic former home of the Chicago Tribune, seen in Chicago, Illinois in 2015. Hedge fund Alden's bid to buy Chicago Tribune, other papers approved by At one point, I tracked down the photographer whod taken the only existing picture of Smith on the internet. How do you know who wins? the boy asks. When hed agreed to the interview, Id expected him to say the things he was supposed to saythat the layoffs and buyouts were necessary but tragic; that he held local journalism in the highest esteem; that he felt a sacred responsibility to steer these newspapers toward a robust future. But whats happening in Chicago is different. Meanwhile, reporters fanned out across their respective cities in search of benevolent rich people to buy their newspapers. A spokesman took issue with the entirety of the story, and laid out a long list of questions attacking the integrity of the reporter, The Atlantic and some of his sources without addressing some of the more specific claims within the report. "[18], Alden received critical coverage from the editorial staff at the Denver Post, who described Alden Global Capital as "vulture capitalists" after multiple staff layoffs. Since they bought their first newspapers a decade ago, no one has been more mercenary or less interested in pretending to care about their publications long-term health. The Ubiquity - The student news site of Quartz Hill High School Tribune Publishing last month approved a $630m takeover deal with Alden Global Capital. Freeman was more animated when he turned to the prospect of extracting money from Big Tech. Updated May 21, 2021 at 2:13 PM ET. Hes acutely aware of the risksI may end up with egg on my face, he saidbut he believes its worth trying to develop a successful model that could be replicated in other markets. A look at Alden Global Capital is the cover story of the latest . Next year, Bainum will launch The Baltimore Banner, an all-digital, nonprofit news outlet. 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. [15][16] In March 2018, Margaret Sullivan, the media columnist for The Washington Post, called Alden "one of the most ruthless of the corporate strip-miners seemingly intent on destroying local journalism. Smith. To be sure, the Knight Foundation does much to help promote and sustain local news. NPR reached out to Alden for a response. The pitch had a certain romantic appeal to the reporters in the room. [31], In 2019, Twenty Lake Holdings reported that it had acquired about 180 properties with 2.3 million square feet of real estate in 29 states. hide caption. Many in the journalism industry, watching lawsuits play out in Australia and Europe, have held out hope in recent years that Google and Facebook will be compelled to share their advertising revenue with the local outlets whose content populates their platforms. The purchase represents the culmination of Alden's years-long drive to take over the company and its storied titles . But beneath all the recriminations and infighting was a cruel reality: When faced with the likely decimation of the countrys largest local newspapers, most Americans didnt seem to care very much. For Baltimore to avoid a similar fate, Simon told me, something new would have to come alonga spiritual heir to the Sun: A newspaper is its contents and the people who make it. In the for-profit news arena, Knight is spurring the digital transformation of local newsrooms through the Knight-Lenfest Newsroom Initiative, Sherry said. Knight first reported its investment in Alden in 2010, noting the fair market value of its Alden holdings was $13.4 million. Freeman was only slightly more accessible. 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. Baltimore is an underdog town, Liz Bowie, a Sun reporter who was at the meeting, told me. After a contentious presidential race and amid a still-raging pandemic, there was a limited supply of outrage and sympathy to spare for local reporters. Hedge fund reaches $630m deal to buy remaining Tribune Publishing But Glidden felt sure he knew the real reason: Alden wanted him gone. Who Profits From Alden Global Capital? You'd be surprised. Well, he told me, they have some very good reporters., This article appears in the November 2021 print edition with the headline The Men Who Are Killing Americas Newspapers., A Secretive Hedge Fund Is Gutting Newsrooms, I Dont Know That I Would Even Call It Meth Anymore, W. G. Sebald Ransacked Jewish Lives for His Fictions. [13], Newspapers in Alden's portfolio include Chicago Tribune, The Denver Post, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Boston Herald, The Mercury News, East Bay Times, The Orange County Register, and Orlando Sentinel. Its not the name or the flag., He may get his wish. Located in the same Manhattan office building as Alden, it funds stem-cell research, health-related charities, arts and culture and Duke University, alma mater of Smiths protg Heath Freeman. Alden currently owns 32%. As a privately held hedge fund, Alden doesnt have to reveal much to the public. Iowa's Lee Enterprises seeks help to fight Alden's takeover bid [7][8] Alden's purchase price was $635 million, or $17.25 per share. When I asked Freeman what he thought was broken about the newspaper industry, he launched into a monologue that was laden with jargon and light on insightsummarizing what has been the conventional wisdom for a decade as though it were Aldens discovery. They are also defined by an obsessive secrecy. Lee Enterprises owns 77 daily newspapers, including the Buffalo News, Omaha World-Herald and the Tulsa World. 'Vulture' Fund Alden Global, Known For Slashing Newsrooms, Buys - NPR But in the case of local news, nothing comparable is ready to replace these papers when they die. So what is this Distressed Opportunities fund? The Tribune had been profitable when Alden took over. When the sale failed to attract a sufficiently high offer, Freeman turned his attention to squeezing as much cash out of the newspapers as possible. 'Vulture' Fund Alden Global, Known For Slashing Newsrooms, Buys Tribune Papers, Stop The Presses! Alden Global Capital already owns 200 publications and a 6% stake in Lee Enterprises. '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. Hedge fund Alden Global Capital will acquire the rest of what it does not already own of Tribune Publishing, owner of the Chicago Tribune, the New York Daily News and other local newspapers, in a . The 5 global Trends in Journalism: 1 We've moved from a world where media organizations were gatekeepers to a world where media still creates the news agenda, but platform companies control access to audiences 2 this move to digital media generally does not generate filter bubbles Instead automated Serendipity + incidental exposure drive people . He told me it will begin with an annual operating budget of $15 million, unprecedented for an outfit of this kind. Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you . It's newspaper-endorsement season again, and that means it's Should newspapers do endorsements?season again. One early article, in the trade publication Poynter, suggested that Aldens interest in the local-news business could be seen as flattering and quoted the owner of The Denver Post as saying he had enormous respect for the firm. Several interim executive positions were also filled by people related to Alden or its parent, Smith Management LLC.[23]. With Alden in control, he believes the Sun is now a prisoner that stands little chance of escape. I knew they almost never talked to reporters, but Randall Smith and Heath Freeman were now two of the most powerful figures in the news industry, and theyd gotten there by dismantling local journalism.

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