60 Minutes episode tonight was about the decline of local newspapers (gazettes, tribunes and journals) due in part to ruthless hedge funds buying them up.
Hedge fund, Alden Global Capital, has been called a “vulture,” bleeding newspapers dry. This secretive hedge fund — their website shows a single photo — started building its print empire over the last decade and now owns more than 200 newspapers, making it the country’s second largest newspaper owner behind Gannett.
Alden has sort of a playbook of going into a distressed newsroom and selling off the real estate and property, equipment, things like that and immediately fire 50% or more employees.
Leaked company financials show in 2017 Alden built in profit margins as high as 30% at certain papers– more than double industry standard. In recent filings the New York Times company reported 10% profit margins.
Alden’s rapid takeover and cuts have alarmed U.S. lawmakers. In 2019, 21 senators wrote to Heath Freeman, Alden’s owner, asking him to abandon his “newspaper-killing business model.”
Greedy hedge fund. Hedge funds own the news’ narrative as well. But we knew that.
Here’s the story: www.cbsnews.com/news/local-news-financial-firms-60-minutes-video-2022-02-27/
h/t QuarterBackground