The details of how Smith got to know him are opaque, but the resulting loyalty was evident. he asks. While some finance reporters noted that Smiths newspaper investments were all losing value, none seemed to notice that Smith and Aldens president Heath Freeman would soon start strip mining their news companies real estate and other assets. [4], Alden purchased a 5.9-percent stake in Lee Enterprises in January 2020. It was clear that they didnt care about this being a business in the future. 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. 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. by Magnus Shaw..An enormous advertising company (Leo Burnett) and a small creative film company (Asylum) have had a difficult couple of weeks. "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 month after he started, one of his fellow reporters left and Glidden was asked to start covering schools in addition to his other responsibilities. But within weeks, Bainum said, Alden tried to tack on a five-year licensing deal that would have cost him tens of millions more. 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. Alden's holdings already spanned the country, including the . The $633 million sale made Alden the nation's second largest newspaper owner in terms of circulation, with more than 200 newspapers. Im repulsed by the incestuous world of New York journalism, he tells New York magazine. Several years later, when Heath was still in his mid-20s, Smith co-founded Alden Global Capital with him, and eventually put him in charge of the firm. To him, its the same as oil, the publisher said. . Plus how Facebook is a hostile foreign power, the engineers daughter, the collapse of music genres, Dostoyevsky, W. G. Sebald, nasty return logistics, and more. Aldens Distressed Opportunities Fund was launched in 2008 and saw astounding success in its first few months, showing returns of more than 30 percent a big rescue for Alden, whose investments in Russia the year before had lost more than 61 percent of their value. He gained 100 pounds and started grinding his teeth at night. Yes, today, it's a newspaper without a newsroom. . [21], Under the acquisition plan, MediaNews Group debt fell to $165 million from about $930 million. By Julie Reynolds. 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. Youd be surprised. Tuesday, 23 November 2021 07:46 PM EST. 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. "[26] Shortly thereafter, Alden Global, through its operating unit Strategic Investment Opportunities, filed a lawsuit in state court in Delaware against Lee Enterprises. In May, The Alden Global Capital a hedge fund, acquired Tribune Publishing TPCO for $633 million. Margaret Sullivan: The Constitution doesnt work without local news. To be sure, the Knight Foundation does much to help promote and sustain local news. 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. It has filed a lawsuit in its bid to buy out news publisher Lee Enterprises. On the surface, the answer might seem obvious. There were sober op-eds and lamentations on Twitter and expressions of disappointment by professors of journalism. He was fired after criticizing Alden in a Washington Post interview. In a news release Monday, Alden said it sent Lee's board a letter with the offer. Coppins notes that there's even some research indicating that city budgets increase as a result, because corruption and dysfunction can take hold without a newspaper to hold powerful people to account. The 21st century has seen many of these generational owners flee the industry, to devastating effect. [10][19][20], The company has its origins in R.D. Three days later, Bainumstill smarting from his experience with Alden, but worried about the Suns fatesent a pride-swallowing email to Freeman. In its bid to acquire Tribune Publishing, the hedge fund Alden Global Capital vowed to provide $375 million in cash to the owner of the Chicago Tribune, the Baltimore Sun and other titles a . Maybe theyd cancel their subscriptions eventually; maybe the papers would fold altogether. 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.. One known investor, however, is the Randall and Barbara Smith Foundation, named for Alden founder Smith and his wife. Reading these stories now has a certain horror-movie quality: You want to somehow warn the unwitting victims of whats about to happen. Vallejo deserves better. A few weeks after the story came out, he was fired. The shows premise pits two couples against each other for the chance to win a home. 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 pay was terrible and the work was not glamorous, but Glidden loved his job. [13], In response, the board of Lee Enterprises enacted a shareholder rights plan, colloquially known as a "poison pill", in order to ward off the purchase attempt. 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. Below are highlights from his conversation with Morning Edition's A Martnez. And two, by at least 2013, those of us who worked at Alden-controlled papers (like me) were already experiencing the slashing and burning. Alden Global Capital already owns 200 publications and a 6% stake in Lee Enterprises. Meanwhile, with few newsroom jobs left to eliminate, Alden continued to find creative ways to cut costs. In addition to the constant layoffs, our buildings were being sold, basic office supplies became scarce and the hot water stopped working. 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 . [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. What exactly went wrong would become a point of bitter debate among the journalists involved in the campaigns. The final product, completed in 1925, was an architectural spectacle unlike anything the city had seen beforeromance in stone and steel, as one writer described it. When he did, he exhibited a casual contempt for the journalists who worked there. 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. "[17] and Vanity Fair dubbed Alden the "grim reaper of American newspapers. Smith, a reclusive Palm Beach septuagenarian, hasnt granted a press interview since the 1980s. Next up: Chicago, Baltimore, and the New York Daily News. 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 . Maybe this obscure hedge fund had a plan. Hedge fund Alden Global Capital, known for making deep newsroom cuts, won approval to acquire Tribune Publishing, which includes the Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun and New York Daily News. His editor cited a supposed journalistic infraction (Glidden had reported the resignation of a school superintendent before an agreed-upon embargo). Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link. The bid by Alden Global Capital, which already owns about 200 local newspapers, had faced resistance from Tribune staff and last-ditch competition. Alden is in the business of making money, not journalism. In the past 15 years, more than a quarter of American newspapers have gone out of business. My request for an interview with Smith was dismissed by his spokesperson before I finished asking. Am I going to win against capitalism in America? But I had underestimated how little Aldens founders care about their standing in the journalism world. When a reporter asked if their work was still valued, the editor sounded deflated. Some publications, such as the Minneapolis Star Tribune, have developed successful long-term models that Aldens papers might try to follow. I sort of bully people around to get stuff done, he boasted to The Washington Post in 1985. Tribune Publishing, publisher of the Chicago Tribune and other major newspapers, has agreed to be acquired by Alden Global Capital in a deal valued at $630 million . If accepted, the $24 per share purchase price would . ", "The most feared owner in American journalism looks set to take some of its greatest assets", "Minority shareholder sues Denver Post parent and NY hedge fund over 'breaches of fiduciary duty', "What does the Chicago Tribune sale mean for the future of newsrooms? The most promising prospect materialized in Baltimore, where a hotel magnate named Stewart Bainum Jr. expressed interest in the Sun. Over the course of seven years, Alden doubled profits in its Bay Area News Group newspapers, another home to cutbacks. What threatens local newspapers now is not just digital disruption or abstract market forces. Coppins describes Alden as a specific type of firm: a "vulture hedge fund." The purchase represents the culmination of Alden's years-long drive to take over the company and its storied titles . Spend some time around the shell-shocked journalists at the Tribune these days, and youll hear the same question over and over: How did it come to this? That may well be the future of local news, he says. This is the story weve been telling for decades about the dying local-news industry, and its not without truth. Or to Denver, where the Posts staff was cut by two-thirds, evicted from its newsroom, and relocated to a plant in an area with poor air quality, where some employees developed breathing problems. Even as Aldens portfolio grew, Freeman rarely visited his newspapers. Two days after the deal was finalized, Alden announced an aggressive round of buyouts. 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. 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. hide caption. 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. In 2016 (year of the most recent 990 available), the foundation invested $17 million in Alden funds. Reinventing their papers could require years of false starts and fine-tuningand, most important, a delayed payday for Aldens investors. Heath Freeman, president of Alden Global Capital, is known for pushing big cost reductions, which he says help to save newspapers. A vulture doesnt hold a wounded animals head underwater. The audio for this interview was produced by Ryan Benk and edited by Scott Saloway. It played with my mind a little bit, Glidden told me. 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. He had spoken on this issue before, and it was easy to see why. 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.. 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. On the appointed afternoon, I dialed the number provided by his spokesperson and found myself talking to the most feared man in American newspapers. 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. 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.. Caleb will later recall, in an interview with D Magazine, asking his dad why he works so hard. But there are some clues here and there. 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 . The newsroom was moved to a single room rented from the local chamber of commerce. When Alden first started buying newspapers, at the tail end of the Great Recession, the industry responded with cautious optimism. 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. Lee Enterprises owns 77 daily newspapers, including the Buffalo News, Omaha World-Herald and the Tulsa World. 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.. 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). But for Simon, that paper exists entirely in the past. Senior lenders under the deal were to swap debt for stock. At the time, finalternatives.com reported that the Global Distress Opportunities fund would focus on financial firms as well as homebuilding, gaming and auto-related names.. Nov. 22, 2021. The editor in chief mysteriously resigned, and managers scrambled to deal with the cuts. This story originally appeared on the Morning Edition live blog. The newspaper lost a quarter of its staff to buyouts after it was acquired by Alden Global Capital in May. 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. "[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. The new owners had announced a round of buyouts, some beloved staffers were leaving, and those who remained were worried about the future. To industry observers, Aldens brazen model set it apart even from chains like Gannett, known for its aggressive cost-cutting. They are also defined by an obsessive secrecy. I felt like a terrible reporter because I couldnt get to everything.. As the months passed, things kept getting worse. People who know him described Freemanwith his shellacked curls, perma-stubble, and omnipresent smirkas the archetypal Wall Street frat boy. * Edited from 'independent . It hurts to see the paper like this, he told her. Instead, they gutted the place. After serving in the Carter administrations Treasury Department, Brian became widely knownand fearedin the 80s for his hard-line negotiating style. [4][13], In November 2021, Alden made an offer to Lee to purchase the company in its entirety for roughly $141 million. It's traded in a prestigious downtown newsroom for a "Chipotle-sized office" near the printing press. [12] Lee owns daily newspapers in 77 markets in 26 states, and about 350 weekly and specialty publications. Prior to the buildings completion, McCormick directed his foreign correspondents to collect fragments of various historical sitesa brick from the Great Wall of China, an emblem from St. Peters Basilicaand send them back to be embedded in the towers facade. Alden currently owns 32%. 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. The question was how. We were in collective revolt, Lillian Reed, a Sun reporter who helped organize the campaign, told me. He used his own money to pull court records, and went years without going on a vacation. Morale tanked; reporters burned out. [32], The company has been criticized for investing money for pensions of newspaper employees in funds it manages itself. Its a hedge that went and bought up some titles that it milks for cash.. It . So what is this Distressed Opportunities fund? These included several Cayman Island-based funds and another profiting from Greek debt stemming from that countrys financial crisis.
Sacramento Police Department Salary, What Is Hilton's Business Strategy?, Eagle Pass Bridge Cameras, World Population Before And After Ww2, Articles W