On Thursday, The Atlantic published McKay Coppins’ excellent expose of Alden Global Capital, a secretive hedge fund that has bought newspapers across the country and made devastating cuts in the interest of short-term profits.
“They call Alden a vulture hedge fund, and I think that’s honestly a misnomer,” one reporter who works at at Alden-owned publication told Coppins. “A vulture doesn’t hold a wounded animal’s head underwater. This is predatory.”
In Coppins’ telling, Alden is one of the main reasons that local news is dying in America. He reports:
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. To industry observers, Alden’s brazen model set it apart even from chains like Gannett, known for its aggressive cost-cutting. Alden “is not a newspaper company,” says Ann Marie Lipinski, a former editor in chief of the Chicago Tribune. “It’s a hedge that went and bought up some titles that it milks for cash.”
Alden is now the second-largest newspaper owner in the country, holding storied outlets like The New York Daily News, The Baltimore Sun, and The Chicago Tribune. Yet the leaders of the company have consistently expressed disdain for journalism.
Coppins’ piece has too many jaw-dropping details to adequately summarize, so we encourage you to read the whole thing.
And if possible, please consider supporting local, independent outlets.
