Tribune Publishing, which owns the Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, New York Daily News, six other newspapers, and a news syndicate, is being taken over for $630 million by hedge fund Alden Global Capital in a reportedly all-cash deal.
In 2019, Alden bought 32 percent of the company, becoming its largest shareholder.
Hundreds of Tribune staffers signed a letter protesting the latest sale, pointing to Alden’s “well-documented history of extracting short-term profits from already-lean operations by cutting newsroom jobs and denying fair wages and benefits.”
Soon after Alden took control, Tribune Publishing began offering buyouts to employees. It also shut down some newsrooms during 2020’s economic collapse.
Alden announced plans to sell the Tribune’s subsidiary Baltimore Sun Media Group to the nonprofit Sunlight for All Institute if two-thirds of shareholders that are not Alden agree. The sale would close in this year’s second quarter.
The Hartford Courant, another Tribune paper, also is seeking nonprofit ownership.
Washington Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan called the Baltimore sale “the one bright spot in the Alden/Tribune development.”
TREND FORECAST: We note this article to further illustrate the sharp decline in journalism as major firms gobble up once-thriving newspapers that have been going down and out since the onset of the digital revolution back in the mid-1990s… when they foolishly put their content online for free.
Thus, as the Bigs get Bigger, fire more staff, and consolidate, not only will there be less fresh content and a lack of reporters covering nations, states, and cities… the messages being sent to the public will be ruled by just a few as they consolidate the profession.
One Sound
Indeed, consolidation comes in all shapes and sizes. IHeartMedia, owner of 850 radio stations in 150 markets across the U.S., will buy E.W. Scripps’ Triton Digital business for $230 million, giving the radio giant advertising and measurement capabilities as it grows its podcast division.
Triton’s technology allows broadcasters to insert ads on the fly, depending on who is listening.
IHeartMedia, the largest radio broadcaster in the U.S., bought Stuff Media in 2018 in a major move into podcasting as it seeks to grow its digital, streaming, and on-demand services.
