Alden Global Capital announced their plans this week to buy the Chicago Tribune alongside several other major newspapers. They released a statement in which they assured the public of their “commitment to ensuring the sustainability of robust local journalism.” However, anyone familiar with the hedge funds “hack and slash” business model knows this stands as a death sentence to these affected newspapers’ ability to continue to publish meaningful, well-researched articles. Alden’s purchase of newspapers almost always comes with cutting staff, even to the point where the end product – the published paper – suffers immensely, sometimes becoming unrecognizable to the previously dedicated newspaper supporters. With hedge funds such as Alden continuing to absorb and effectively diminish more and more local newspapers, it seems there is no end in sight to its reign of terror.
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