Journalists are wary of Alden because of its cut-to-the-bone management strategy. In 2018, a group of writers and editors at the Alden-owned Denver Post published a special package devoted to attacking the company, which had enacted deep staff cuts at the paper.

…Their attempts to woo new investors are unusual in an industry that has traditionally tried to keep business and journalism separate.

…After having bought up roughly 32 percent of Tribune Publishing in recent years, Alden is the company’s largest shareholder. It can buy more Tribune Publishing stock as soon as July. This month, the company asked journalists at newspapers across the country to volunteer for buyouts.

…In 2018, Tribune Publishing cut the newsroom staff of The Daily News in New York in half. The layoffs at the formerly brawny tabloid, which once had the highest circulation of any daily newspaper in the country, came a year after Tribune Publishing bought it.

…“The days of journalism being held publicly by Wall Street should be over,” said Rebekah L. Sanders, the consumer protection reporter at The Republic who helped lead the union drive. “We have a public service mission, which used to be propped up by crazy ad margins. That’s all gone, so we need to make a transition in our business model.”

Worried Reporters Make a Plea: Please Buy Our Paper – The New York Times

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