Description
Alden Global Capital is a hedge fund based in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 2007 by Randall D. Smith. Its managing director is Heath Freeman. It owns 50.1% of Digital First Media, which in turns owns more than 50 daily newspapers throughout the United States.
Through its subsidiary MNG Enterprises (DBA) Digital First Media, Alden owns newspapers including The Denver Post, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Boston Herald, The Mercury News of San Jose, the East Bay Times, and The Orange County Register. The company acquired Digital First Media in 2010 after its parent company, MediaNews Group, declared bankruptcy. In December 2019, Alden Global Capital acquired a 32% stake in shares of Tribune Publishing Company, owner of the Chicago Tribune.
Alden has a reputation for cutting costs by reducing the number of journalists working on its newspapers. In March 2018, Margaret Sullivan, the media columnist for The Washington Post, called Alden "one of the most ruthless of the corporate strip-miners seemingly intent on destroying local journalism." Alden has received critical coverage from the editorial staff at the Denver Post, who described Alden Global Capital as "vulture capitalists" after multiple staff layoffs.
