• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
MENUMENU
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • FlaglerLive Board of Directors
    • Comment Policy
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Values
  • Live Calendar
  • Submit Obituary
  • Submit an Event
  • Support FlaglerLive
  • Advertise on FlaglerLive (386) 503-3808
  • Search Results

FlaglerLive

No Bull, no Fluff, No Smudges

MENUMENU
  • Flagler
    • Flagler County Commission
    • Beverly Beach
    • Economic Development Council
    • Flagler History
    • Mondex/Daytona North
    • The Hammock
    • Tourist Development Council
  • Palm Coast
    • Palm Coast City Council
    • Palm Coast Crime
  • Bunnell
    • Bunnell City Commission
    • Bunnell Crime
  • Flagler Beach
    • Flagler Beach City Commission
    • Flagler Beach Crime
  • Cops/Courts
    • Circuit & County Court
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • Federal Courts
    • Flagler 911
    • Fire House
    • Flagler County Sheriff
    • Flagler Jail Bookings
    • Traffic Accidents
  • Rights & Liberties
    • Fourth Amendment
    • First Amendment
    • Privacy
    • Second Amendment
    • Seventh Amendment
    • Sixth Amendment
    • Sunshine Law
    • Third Amendment
    • Religion & Beliefs
    • Human Rights
    • Immigration
    • Labor Rights
    • 14th Amendment
    • Civil Rights
  • Schools
    • Adult Education
    • Belle Terre Elementary
    • Buddy Taylor Middle
    • Bunnell Elementary
    • Charter Schools
    • Daytona State College
    • Flagler County School Board
    • Flagler Palm Coast High School
    • Higher Education
    • Imagine School
    • Indian Trails Middle
    • Matanzas High School
    • Old Kings Elementary
    • Rymfire Elementary
    • Stetson University
    • Wadsworth Elementary
    • University of Florida/Florida State
  • Economy
    • Jobs & Unemployment
    • Business & Economy
    • Development & Sprawl
    • Leisure & Tourism
    • Local Business
    • Local Media
    • Real Estate & Development
    • Taxes
  • Commentary
    • The Conversation
    • Pierre Tristam
    • Diane Roberts
    • Guest Columns
    • Byblos
    • Editor's Blog
  • Culture
    • African American Cultural Society
    • Arts in Palm Coast & Flagler
    • Books
    • City Repertory Theatre
    • Flagler Auditorium
    • Flagler Playhouse
    • Flagler Youth Orchestra
    • Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
    • Palm Coast Arts Foundation
    • Special Events
  • Elections 2022
    • Amendments and Referendums
    • Presidential Election
    • Campaign Finance
    • City Elections
    • Congressional
    • Constitutionals
    • Courts
    • Governor
    • Polls
    • Voting Rights
  • Florida
    • Federal Politics
    • Florida History
    • Florida Legislature
    • Florida Legislature
    • Ron DeSantis
  • Health & Society
    • Flagler County Health Department
    • Ask the Doctor Column
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Business
    • Covid-19
    • Children and Families
    • Medicaid and Medicare
    • Mental Health
    • Poverty
    • Violence
  • All Else
    • Daily Briefing
    • Americana
    • Obituaries
    • News Briefs
    • Weather and Climate
    • Wildlife

Wall Street Is Killing Newspapers

October 3, 2019 | FlaglerLive | 10 Comments

newspapers dying
Roadkill. (© FlaglerLive)

By Olivia Snow Smith

Though lacking the size and prestige of The New York Times or The Washington Post, The Storm Lake Times is arguably just as important.

Two years ago, the small, bi-weekly Iowa paper (circulation: 3,000) won the coveted Pulitzer Prize for taking on agricultural water pollution in the state. If it weren’t for vibrant local papers, stories like these might never come to light.


Unfortunately, all over the country, private equity and hedge funds have been scooping up these cash-strapped papers — and looting them into irrelevance or bankruptcy.

Here’s how it works.

Investors put down a fraction of the purchase price and borrow the rest — and then saddle the company with that debt. Layoffs and cutbacks follow, which leads to a shabbier product. Circulation and revenue decline, then more cuts, and the cycle accelerates.

Eventually the paper is a shadow of its former self, or turned to ashes completely. Wall Street wins, the public loses.

Perhaps the most infamous recent example was the breakdown of the 127-year-old Denver Post. Since private equity firm Alden Global acquired the paper, it has cut two out of every three staff positions — twice the industry rate for downsizing.

To add insult to injury, the firm has been using staff pension funds as its own personal piggy bank. In total, they’ve moved nearly $250 million into investment accounts in the Cayman Islands.

Employees who remain grapple with censorship. Last April, Dave Krieger — editorial page editor of Alden’s Boulder Daily Camera — was fired after self-publishing an opinion piece headlined “Private Equity Owners Endanger Daily Camera’s Future.”

other-wordsIn solidarity, Denver Post editorial page editor Chuck Plunkett resigned, complaining that his publishers were also censoring stories that might offend Alden.

Alden’s Digital First Media runs many other big papers, putting hundreds of newsroom staff at risk of censorship and layoffs. Millions of readers, in turn, may learn only what Alden deems fit for them.

It’s not a new pattern. In 2008, a year after billionaire Sam Zell bought the Tribune Co. — publisher of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and other venerable publications — the company filed for bankruptcy, saddled with $13 billion in debt in what’s been called “the deal from hell.”

After it emerged from bankruptcy, the company was left in the hands of — you guessed it — private equity.

The march of these buyout barons continues. This summer, New Media Investment Group (owner of GateHouse Media) announced plans to buy Gannett. The $1.38 billion deal would unite one-sixth of all daily newspapers across the country, affecting 9 million print readers.

New Media anticipates cutting $300 million in costs each year, suggesting layoffs comparable to those at The Denver Post are in the offing — even as the company and its investor owners harvest profits.

This is a crisis. This country lost more than a fifth of its local newspapers between 2004 and 2018, while newspapers lost almost half of their newsroom employees between 2008 and 2018.

A few lawmakers are catching on.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) recently introduced the Stop Wall Street Looting Act to curb these abuses, with Warren specifically calling out private equity firms for decimating local newspapers.

Senator Bernie Sanders recently introduced an ambitious plan of his own, calling for a moratorium on major media mergers and encouraging newsrooms to unionize nationwide.

Newspapers have been critical to American democracy since its founding. By allowing huge corporations to gut newspapers in the name of making a buck, we’re putting a price tag on that democracy when we need it most.

Olivia Snow Smith is a recent graduate of Bard College and the communications intern for Take On Wall Street. This op-ed was adapted from TakeOnWallSt.com.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
You and your neighbors collectively read our articles about 25,000 times each day (that's not a typo) with up to 65,000 daily reads during emergencies like hurricanes. Flagler County residents rely on FlaglerLive for essential, bold and analytical journalism that cannot be found anywhere else. But we depend on your support. Please join our December fund drive! If you donate the cost of a scoop of ice cream, you will be helping us continue to provide comprehensive local news and honest, serious journalism for our community. If you can donate more or become a monthly donor, even better. Donations are tax deductible since FlaglerLive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit news organization. Donate by clicking anywhere in this box. Think of it as buying a scoop, in every sense of the term!  
All donors' identities are kept confidential and anonymous.
   

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gary R says

    October 3, 2019 at 10:54 pm

    Being employed back in the 70’s and 80’s in newspapers was a great place to work. You could get 70 to 80 hours per week and it was stable employment (never laid off). Then the Internet came out and hence the end of the newspaper industry. The Daytona News- Journal isn’t even printed on Sixth Street in Daytona Beach anymore.

    Reply
  2. Rick G says

    October 3, 2019 at 11:57 pm

    For all intents and purposes the News-Journal is just a former shadow of itself. Sorry comment on current journalism.

    Reply
    • Mary Fusco says

      October 4, 2019 at 10:02 am

      Rick G, Absolutely which is why I cancelled my subscription after 20 years. In all of my adult life, I have never not read the newspaper daily.

      Reply
  3. Bill says

    October 4, 2019 at 9:19 am

    Its because of “new” technology they are failing. Radio TV the 24 hour “news ” networks on pay TV and now the internet. one has many more options to gather information then a paper that tells you what happend yesterday.

    Reply
  4. Bill says

    October 4, 2019 at 12:49 pm

    Today’s “news??”papers are not news (unless you consider 36-48 hour old stuff as news), but are mostly biased reports especially those offered by the Associated Press. Newspapers today have gotten exactly wheat they earned and promoted.

    Reply
  5. Born and Raised Here says

    October 4, 2019 at 4:26 pm

    Who actually reads a newspaper ? I can get more info through my cell phone or lap top just at the touch or stroke of the keys, and it’s current, too.

    Reply
  6. mark101 says

    October 6, 2019 at 6:57 pm

    Technology killed newspapers not Wall Street

    Reply
  7. TeddyBallGame says

    October 6, 2019 at 10:14 pm

    Young people Don’t read or care about “news” because they know it’s become corrupted. They were raised being forced fed political correctness in school, that they all recognized as laughable and a lie, but a lie that charges a heavy price for questioning. So, the so called news, does not matter, never mind how honest or well intentioned. It does not matter.

    The PC mainstream press has shat their own bed. And their profession.

    Reply
  8. 2Dogs says

    October 9, 2019 at 11:27 am

    Today the news is still important but not the newspaper unless you like the way a certain paper cooks the news otherwise you have to read more than you should to get the full story.

    Name the newspaper that does not spin the news to a liberal or conservative agenda and I’ll name you a successful newspaper

    Reply
    • Roy says

      October 18, 2019 at 6:42 pm

      Name one that spins right. WSJ maybe, name another.

      Reply
  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Advertisers

  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Recent Comments

  • Laurel on DeSantis from Governor’s Mansion to Presidential Run
  • Mrs. M on Flagler Sheriff’s Sgt. Breckwoldt, In Charge of Narcotics Unit, at Center of Abuse of Power Allegation
  • Michael Cocchiola on Palm Coast’s Darryl Boyer, Running for Renner’s Seat, Appears on Fox & Friends to Talk Trump/DeSantis
  • Laurel on Palm Coast Fines Waste Pro $125 For Every Recycling Bins It’s Taking Back and Threatens Litigation
  • Laurel on The Supreme Court Just Plundered Wetlands Protection
  • Jim on Palm Coast Fines Waste Pro $125 For Every Recycling Bins It’s Taking Back and Threatens Litigation
  • Atwp on Palm Coast’s Darryl Boyer, Running for Renner’s Seat, Appears on Fox & Friends to Talk Trump/DeSantis
  • Laurel on Palm Coast’s Darryl Boyer, Running for Renner’s Seat, Appears on Fox & Friends to Talk Trump/DeSantis
  • Laurel on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, May 27, 2023
  • Laurel on He Was Convinced the School Board Was Pushing “Transgender BS.” He Was Arrested. And Emboldened.
  • Brian on Palm Coast Fines Waste Pro $125 For Every Recycling Bins It’s Taking Back and Threatens Litigation
  • Brian on Palm Coast Fines Waste Pro $125 For Every Recycling Bins It’s Taking Back and Threatens Litigation
  • JimBob on He Was Convinced the School Board Was Pushing “Transgender BS.” He Was Arrested. And Emboldened.
  • Deborah Coffey on The Supreme Court Just Plundered Wetlands Protection
  • Deborah Coffey on The Supreme Court Just Plundered Wetlands Protection
  • JOE D on He Was Convinced the School Board Was Pushing “Transgender BS.” He Was Arrested. And Emboldened.

Log in