View this email in your browser

**FEBRUARY 17, 2021**

Kuttner on TAP

Private Equity Swallows Up Yet Another Newspaper Group

****

One of the last newspaper chains not yet controlled by the private
equity and hedge fund industry, Tribune Publishing, is being bought

by Alden Global Capital. As the

**Prospect** has reported
, Alden
is one of the absolute worst.

The private equity model is to acquire a newspaper property and strip it
to the bone by cutting staff, selling real estate, getting rid of
pension plans where possible, and extracting cash. Sometimes, the plan
includes borrowing against the newspaper, pocketing the proceeds, and
then sticking the debt on the newspaper's balance sheet. Private
equity owners are also notorious union-busters.

The newspaper business was in trouble due to declining ad revenue and
internet competition well before the private equity gang came in to
shoot the wounded. But even so, well-run locally owned newspapers were
able to break even or turn a modest profit.

Of course, there has been so much bad management by traditional chains
that there are few heroes in this saga. The Tribune company is far from
a role model. It had a disastrous period of ownership of the

**L.A. Times**, which it mercifully sold in 2018, and a misadventure in
digital journalism under the clunky name Tronc. The Tribune ownership
has cut the New York

**Daily News** staff in half.

In addition to the flagship

**Chicago Tribune**, Tribune Publishing owns

**The Baltimore Sun**; the Hartford (Connecticut)

**Courant**; the Orlando (Florida)

**Sentinel**; the

**South Florida Sun-Sentinel**; New York

**Daily News**; the

**Capital Gazette** in Annapolis, Maryland;

**The Morning Call** in Allentown, Pennsylvania; the

**Daily Press** in Newport News, Virginia; and

**The Virginian-Pilot** in Norfolk, Virginia.

Alden Global Capital now owns over 200 newspapers. There are several
possible remedies for its brand of abusive, extractive ownership. The
antitrust authorities could investigate and limit its chain ownership.
Congress could get rid of the tax preference for debt-financed
acquisitions and payment of special dividends when the operating company
is running at a loss.

There are a handful of regional papers owned by local publishers with
benign intentions. We need more of them.

~ ROBERT KUTTNER

Follow Robert Kuttner on Twitter

Robert Kuttner's latest book is
The Stakes: 2020 and the Survival of American Democracy
.

[link removed]

THE FUTURE OF ORGANIZING

* Introduction

Prospect co-founder Robert Kuttner introduces a roundtable discussion
about organizing and progressive politics.

* Let's Organize-and Not Scapegoat Leaders

BY MICHAEL PODHORZER

* Focus on the Grassroots
BY MICAH L.
SIFRY

Commission Conundrums

Is a bipartisan commission to investigate the Capitol Riot even possible
in 2021? BY HAROLD MEYERSON

Federal Mask Mandate Is No Defense Against Hostile Riders

The mandate gives transit, passenger rail, and airline employees new
levels of authority. But enforcement remains a major challenge for
anyone dealing with screaming, punching, or worse. BY ALEX J. ROUHANDEH

First 100: Small Business Relief Not Getting Out Quickly

Biden and others are too obsessed with fraud prevention to deliver for
business owners eligible for PPP loans and "Save Our Stages" grants. BY
DAVID DAYEN

To receive this newsletter directly in your inbox, click here to
subscribe. 

[link removed]
Promoted Content

 

[link removed]

 

[link removed]

 

[link removed]

 

[link removed]

 

[link removed]

 

[link removed]

YOUR TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION SUPPORTS INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM

Copyright (c) 2021 The American Prospect. All rights reserved.
_________________

Sent to [email protected]

Unsubscribe:
[link removed]

The American Prospect, Inc., 1225 I Street NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC xxxxxx, United States