Alden Global Capital, Known for Plundering Newspapers, Plans to Expand Ownership of Tribune Publishing

Alden Global Capital, the hedge fund known for pillaging newspapers, plans to expand its ownership stake in Tribune Publishing as soon as January 1, and is shifting its business strategy to focus on digital subscriptions, according to internal company documents obtained by DFMworkers.org. The news of Alden's planned expansion comes on the heels of a new Hedge Clippers report that details Alden’s long history of gutting newsrooms in communities across the country.

As the report makes clear, throughout the last decade, Alden and its president, Heath Freeman, have engaged in a sustained campaign of gutting newsrooms, cutting employment by more than 75%, while lining investors' pockets.

"Private equity's tenure in journalism has been disastrous," NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss said. "The obsessive focus on short-term profits has put countless journalists out of work and left millions of Americans without access to quality local news. We need a bold new vision for funding news organizations. We can't afford to wait any longer to revitalize local news."

The NewsGuild-CWA, as a part of its broader #SaveTheNews campaign for federal support of newsrooms, has proposed a slate of policy solutions that would allow newspapers to remain independent, help them survive the current economic downturn and enable them to provide quality news coverage in the future. Learn more here.