what newspapers does alden global capital own

So who is investing with them? "[26] Shortly thereafter, Alden Global, through its operating unit Strategic Investment Opportunities, filed a lawsuit in state court in Delaware against Lee Enterprises. Heath hopes the well never runs dry, but hes going to keep pumping until it does. 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. . Another ex-publisher told me Freeman believed that local newspapers should be treated like any other commodity in an extractive business. What exactly went wrong would become a point of bitter debate among the journalists involved in the campaigns. Financially, it was a raw deal. So what is this Distressed Opportunities fund? Joe Pompeo pilloried Alden in Vanity Fair for reducing newsrooms. . Alden Capital's gutting of the Denver Post is the most discussed example of this, but there are many others. It seemed reasonable to ask that they answer a few questions. 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. One conclusions even these reporters are hesitant to make is that we are all dealing within a capitalist system which has none, or few, principles to guide itself, apart from making a profit, no matter how. But as long as Alden had made back its money, the investment would be a success. You could look to Oakland, California, where the East Bay Times laid off 20 people one week after the paper won a Pulitzer. This is a subscription-based business.. 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. "[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. He gained 100 pounds and started grinding his teeth at night. In the face of that setback, Alden said it would turn to the tactic of filing a proxy statement asking the company's shareholders to vote no on board members Mary Junck and Herbert Moloney during the March 2022 board elections. 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. Clearly, for Smith and Freeman, chop-shopping their newspapers paid off. He said that he still appreciated their journalism, but that he couldnt speak for his corporate bosses. But it turned out that Smith had so many doorsteps16 mansions in Palm Beach alone, as of a few years ago, some of them behind gatesthat the plan proved impractical. According to its 990s, Knight ended up making $185,000 over five years on its initial $13.4 million investment. Smith, a reclusive Palm Beach septuagenarian, hasnt granted a press interview since the 1980s. If accepted, the $24 per share purchase price would . Some publications, such as the Minneapolis Star Tribune, have developed successful long-term models that Aldens papers might try to follow. Am I going to win against capitalism in America? A quarter of the newsroom (including many big-name reporters, columnists and photographers) took the buyouts Alden offered, and while some great reporters remain on staff, it's nearly impossible for them to fill those gaps, Coppins says. The Tribune Tower, the iconic former home of the Chicago Tribune, seen in Chicago, Illinois in 2015. 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. Some of these papers likely would have been liquidated if the fund had not stepped in to buy them, as Alden's president told Coppins. Feb 16, 2021 at 8:05 pm. 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 . At the time, even savvy media insiders like Martin Langeveld wistfully predicted Alden would keep newspapers future in mind: Smith knows that the only way to win his big bet on the future of newspapers is to turn them into nimble, modern digital news enterprises.. Freeman, meanwhile, would later gloat to colleagues that Bainum was never serious about buying the newspapers and just wanted to bask in the worshipful media coverage his bid generated. But as an organization that believes that quality information is essential for individuals and communities to make their own bestchoices, it was disappointing that the foundation couldnt simply own up to its error in judgment when it came to Alden. Two days after the deal was finalized, Alden announced an aggressive round of buyouts. Freeman never responded. Some have even suggested that this represents Americas last chance to save its local-news industry. [2] [3] By mid-2020, Alden had stakes in roughly two hundred American newspapers. But that's not true for all of them. Earnest and unpolished, with a perpetually mussed mop of hair, Bainum presented himself as a contrast to the cutthroat capitalists at Alden. In May 2021, Tribune Publishing finalized its sale to Alden, after having announced in February 2021 that it intended to pursue this path. They had a father-figure relationship, one told me. Bainum told me hed come to appreciate local journalism in the 1970s while serving in the Maryland state legislature. Even in a declining industry, the newspapers still generated hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenues; many of them were turning profits. Several interim executive positions were also filled by people related to Alden or its parent, Smith Management LLC.[23]. Other large shareholders include Californian asset manager Capital Group and UK fund manager Jupiter Asset Management. . Have you heard of the hedge fund Alden Global Capital? 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. Its a game, Randy explains to his son. In early 2011, Alden was still considered a non-controlling investor, but by the end of the year, that would change. Reading these stories now has a certain horror-movie quality: You want to somehow warn the unwitting victims of whats about to happen. Its not as if the Tribune is just withering on the vine despite the best efforts of the gardeners, Charlie Johnson, a former Metro reporter, told me after the latest round of buyouts this summer. It has filed a lawsuit in its bid to buy out news publisher Lee Enterprises. 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. It feels like were going up against capitalism now, Lillian Reed, the reporter who helped launch the Save Our Sun campaign, told me. Orders for non-defence capital goods excluding aircraft a closely watched proxy for business investment, rose 0.8 per cent in January from a month earlier, comfortably above economists . My answer is its hard to know. 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. Updated May 21, 2021 at 2:13 PM ET. After all, it has a long and venerable history of supporting local news. There were sober op-eds and lamentations on Twitter and expressions of disappointment by professors of journalism. Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you . "Local newspaper brands and operations are the engines that power trusted local news in communities across the United States," Heath Freeman, president of Alden Global Capital, said in a . A vulture doesnt hold a wounded animals head underwater. When Alden first got into the news business, Freeman seemed willing to indulge some innovation. 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. We dont hear from them Theyre, like, nameless, faceless people., In the months that followed, the Sun did not immediately experience the same deep staff cuts that other papers did. The company has been growing its portfolio and as of May 2021, owns over 100 newspapers and 200 assorted other publications. The pitch had a certain romantic appeal to the reporters in the room. A look at Alden Global Capital is the cover story of the latest . The Tampa Bay Times has sold its printing plant at 1301 34th St. N to a real estate arm of Alden Global Capital, a New York hedge fund that is the second-largest newspaper owner in the country. New York hedge fund and U.S. newspaper consolidator Alden Global Capital LLC has made a proposal to take Lee Enterprises Inc. private in a deal that values the company at around $141 million. Alden, which owns more than 200 newspapers across the country, has developed a reputation for using extensive layoffs and severe cost cuts at the newspapers it owns. One known investor, however, is the Randall and Barbara Smith Foundation, named for Alden founder Smith and his wife. He was fired after criticizing Alden in a Washington Post interview. [4] [5] The company added more newspapers to its portfolio in May 2021 when it purchased Tribune . Russ Smith is a puckish libertarian whose self-described contempt for the journalistic class animates the pages of the publication. Tribune Publishing last month approved a $630m takeover deal with Alden Global Capital. When the city-hall reporter left a few months later, he picked up that beat too. The movement gained traction in some markets, with local politicians and celebrities expressing solidarity. As a reporter whos covered Alden Global Capital for more than two years, people often ask me who are the investors behind the hedge fund that owns one of Americas largest newspaper chains? Scott Olson/Getty Images . At the Pioneer Press , where its staff is down to 60, the paper produced a . But in the meantime, there isn't really anything that can fill the hole these newspapers will leave if they're shut down. But we dont know, because they arent saying. 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. 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.

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