The Alameda Times-Star was a newspaper in the city of Alameda, California .
35-550: The Alameda Times-Star began as the Alameda Argus in 1877. It was last owned by Bay Area News Group-East Bay (BANG-EB), a subsidiary of MediaNews Group , who bought the paper in 1986. The newspaper was scheduled to close down, with the last issue of the paper published on November 1, 2011, along with a proposal to end publication of The Oakland Tribune , Hayward Daily Review , Fremont Argus and West County Times . On November 2, subscribers were to get copies of
70-488: A proxy fight . After a failed attempt to place 3 nominees on Gannett's board of directors through a proxy vote on May 16, 2019, DFM reduced their stake to 4.2%. In August 2019, GateHouse Media ultimately announced its intent to acquire Gannett instead. On February 5, 2020, Digital First Media purchased the assets of Minnesota-based Red Wing Publishing/Big Fish Works. The sale included the Hutchinson Leader ,
105-494: A 2008 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission , Alden is a division of Smith Management LLC. The company has its origins in R.D. Smith & Company, a firm founded by Randall Duncan Smith, initially using the $ 20,000 cash prize he and his wife won on the 1968-1970 gameshow Dream House . In 1991, The New York Times described R.D. Smith & Company's business as "profiting from other people's misery by trading
140-535: A hub near a cluster of newspapers. For example, the Alameda Newspaper Group in suburban San Francisco in the mid-1990s had a central newsroom in Pleasanton, California, that did all the copy editing, layout and page makeup for five daily papers. Upon acquiring the diverse group of papers, Singleton consolidated several news sections (such as sports and features) to one local office away from
175-641: A reporter when he was 15, for a small-town Texas newspaper and subsequently became the president of Albritton Communications , a newspaper conglomerate in Texas. Based in Denver, Colorado, Scudder and Singleton purchased their first newspaper in 1983. They incorporated MediaNews Group in 1985, with Singleton as CEO and Scudder as chairman. The company began to purchase small local newspapers that were financially troubled. The company made its first major acquisition in 1987: The Denver Post . Ultimately, it became one of
210-1714: A reputation for cutting costs by reducing the number of journalists working on its newspapers as Singleton had done and March 2018, The Washington Post called Alden "one of the most ruthless of the corporate strip-miners seemingly intent on destroying local journalism." Alden has additionally received critical coverage from its editorial staff of the Denver Post and described Alden Global Capital as "vulture capitalists" after multiple staff layoffs. The company has been criticized for investing its employee pensions in funds managed by its parent company, Alden Global Capital . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 NBC News Wall Street Journal Politico MSNBC / CNBC / Telemundo Bloomberg Government Washington Examiner Boston Globe / Washington Blade Fox News CBS News Radio AP Radio / PBS VOA Time Yahoo! News Daily Caller / EWTN CBS News Bloomberg News McClatchy NY Post / TheGrio Washington Times Salem Radio / CBN Cheddar News / Hearst TV AP NPR Foreign pool The Hill Regionals Newsmax Gray TV / Spectrum News ABC News Washington Post Agence France-Presse Fox Business / Fox News Radio CSM / Roll Call Al Jazeera Nexstar / Scripps News Reuters NY Times LA Times Univision / AURN RealClearPolitics Daily Beast / Dallas Morning News BBC / Newsweek CNN USA Today ABC News Radio Daily Mail National Journal HuffPost Financial Times / The Guardian Alden Global Capital Alden Global Capital
245-608: A share in cash, or about $ 141 million. Lee owns daily newspapers in 77 markets in 26 states, and about 350 weekly and specialty publications. Newspapers in Alden's portfolio include Chicago Tribune , The Denver Post , the St. Paul Pioneer Press , the Boston Herald , The Mercury News , East Bay Times , The Orange County Register , and Orlando Sentinel . Alden has a reputation for sharply cutting costs by reducing
280-559: Is a Denver , Colorado, United States–based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital . As of May 2021, it owns over 100 newspapers and 200 assorted other publications. MediaNews Group was founded by Richard Scudder and William Dean Singleton . Both had experience in the American newspaper industry . Scudder ran the Newark Evening News , a newspaper founded by his grandfather. Singleton had begun his career as
315-526: Is a hedge fund based in Manhattan , New York City. It was founded in 2007 by Randall D. Smith , and is a division of Smith Management LLC. Its managing director is Heath Freeman . By mid-2020, Alden had stakes in roughly two hundred American newspapers. The company added more newspapers to its portfolio in May 2021 when it purchased Tribune Publishing and became the second-largest newspaper publisher in
350-646: The Orange County Register and the Riverside Press-Enterprise to Digital First Media. The papers were integrated into Digital First Media's Los Angeles Newspaper Group, which was renamed the Southern California News Group on the same day. In November 2018, Digital First Media announced plans to lay off 107 staff from its Colorado Springs, Colorado financial services operations, as it outsources
385-809: The Litchfield Independent Review , the International Falls Journal , the Lakeshore Weekly News , the Chanhassen Villager , Chaska Herald , Eden Prairie News , Jordan Independent , Shakopee Valley News , Prior Lake American and the Savage Pacer . In April 2020, two of Minneapolis' west metro newspapers— The Eden Prairie News and Lakeshore Weekly News bought earlier in 2020 by Digital First Media—announced their closure at
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#1732791737553420-569: The March 2022 board elections. This attempt also failed, as shareholders returned both directors to the Lee board despite Alden's opposition. Alden Global Capital includes a real estate division called Twenty Lake Holdings, which primarily buys excess real estate from newspapers. In 2019, Twenty Lake Holdings reported that it had acquired about 180 properties with 2.3 million square feet of real estate in 29 states. In December 2022, Twenty Lake acquired
455-573: The United States. The company operates its media holdings through Digital First Media (DFM), which it acquired in 2010 after DMG's parent company, MediaNews Group , declared bankruptcy. With its acquisition of Tribune Publishing in late May 2021, Alden is collectively the second-largest owner of newspapers in the United States, as calculated by average daily print circulation, second only to Gannett . In November 2021, Alden Global Capital made an offer to purchase Lee Enterprises for $ 24
490-588: The board of Lee Enterprises enacted a shareholder rights plan, colloquially known as a "poison pill" , in order to ward off the purchase attempt. The specific shareholder rights plan adopted by the Lee board forbids Alden from purchasing more than 10% of the company, and will be in force for one year. The rationale offered by the board was, “Consistent with its fiduciary duties, Lee’s Board has taken this action to ensure our shareholders receive fair treatment, full transparency and protection in connection with Alden’s unsolicited proposal to acquire Lee." In early December,
525-482: The board of Lee unanimously rejected the Alden bid, saying that the Alden proposal "grossly undervalues Lee and fails to recognize the strength of our business today." Shortly thereafter, Alden Global, through its operating unit Strategic Investment Opportunities, filed a lawsuit in state court in Delaware against Lee Enterprises. The Alden lawsuit asserts that the members of the Lee board "have every reason to maintain
560-403: The company acquired The Scranton Times-Tribune and three other daily newspapers from Times-Shamrock Communications . The sale included weekly and periodic newspapers and commercial printing operations—Absolute Distribution Inc. and Times-Shamrock Creative Services. In April 2024, Southwest News Media, owned by Digital First Media, announced its weekly newspapers would cease before the end of
595-526: The company was ranked third-largest among the newspaper groups in the country. Alden Global Capital has been accused of "strip mining" its newspaper holdings. In October 2017, the company's CEO, Steve Rossi, stepped down from his position. In February 2018, Digital First Media put in a $ 11.9 million winning bid to purchase the Boston Herald. In March 2016, a bankruptcy judge approved the sale of Freedom Communications and its two major newspapers,
630-488: The end of April 2020 due to a decline in advertising revenue amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 25, 2021, Alden Global Capital acquired Tribune Publishing . With its combined holdings, Alden became the second-largest owner of newspapers in the United States in terms of subscribers, behind only Gannett . On July 10, 2023, Digital First Media acquired The San Diego Union-Tribune for an undisclosed sum. That August,
665-556: The jobs of scores of reporters and editors, and decimated journalism in cities all over the country: Denver, Boston, San Jose, Trenton, etc. Next up: Chicago, Baltimore, and the New York Daily News ." In October 2021, The Atlantic examined the impact of Alden's acquisition of the Chicago Tribune , noting that, "The new owners did not fly to Chicago to address the staff, nor did they bother with paeans to
700-553: The largest newspaper companies in the United States. It operated 56 daily newspapers in 12 states, with combined daily and Sunday circulation of about 2.4 million and 2.7 million, respectively. The company owned KTVA , a CBS affiliate in Anchorage , Alaska , from March 2000 to October 2012, and radio stations in Texas . Singleton was a pioneer in "clustering": cutting jobs at individual newspapers and consolidating functions at
735-531: The loan was the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation . It came out of bankruptcy in March 2010 under the majority ownership of its lenders. The MediaNews creditors then removed Media News president Jody Lodovic and its chairman, William Dean Singleton , was reassigned to the position of "executive chairman of the board." The Singleton-Lodovic appointees to the MediaNews board were replaced by new directors representing
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#1732791737553770-471: The metropolitan area, having a few reporters do the job of many people. Singleton soon earned the nickname "Lean Dean" for his slashing of jobs through clustering. His tight-fisted methods were later adopted as the preferred model by Alden Global Capital and other hedge funds that took over near-bankrupt newspaper companies. In August 2006, Singleton took out around $ 350 million in loans to purchase four newspapers from McClatchy Company . Among those providing
805-495: The month, including: Chaska Herald , Chanhassen Villager , Jordan Independent , the Shakopee Valley News , Prior Lake American and Savage Pacer. Crow River Media, another subsidiary, announced The Hutchinson Leader and Litchfield Independent Review will also close along with its affiliate printing plant. Listed alphabetically by name, daily newspapers owned by MediaNews include the following: Some of
840-692: The new East Bay Tribune , a localized edition of the Mercury News . The plan was modified to no longer have the East Bay Tribune , but to merge the publication of the Times-Star with the Oakland Tribune . This article about a California newspaper is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . MediaNews Group MNG Enterprises, Inc. , doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group ,
875-406: The newspapers are focused on making a profit to the detriment of good journalism. William Dean Singleton was quick to point out MediaNews' commitment to print journalism but resisted efforts to develop online web sites for his newspapers, believing print would remain the format favored by readers. The Berkshire Eagle editor David E. Scribner, two years after MediaNews bought his newspaper, said
910-583: 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" and Vanity Fair dubbed Alden the "grim reaper of American newspapers." Alden received critical coverage from the editorial staff at the Denver Post , who described Alden Global Capital as "vulture capitalists" after multiple staff layoffs. According to
945-820: The remaining 33 bus stations owned by Greyhound Lines . The firm subsequently began selling the properties for real estate development after closing the stations. The company has been criticized for investing money for pensions of newspaper employees in funds it manages itself. Alden Global Capital's management of American newspapers has been heavily criticized. In 2018, Margaret Sullivan of The Washington Post described Alden as "seemingly intent on destroying local newspapers." Writing for Bloomberg , Joe Nocera similarly described Alden and its president, Heath Freeman, as "a destroyer of newspapers." In 2020, Joe Pompeo pilloried Alden in Vanity Fair for reducing newsrooms, writing that "Alden Global Capital has eliminated
980-402: The staff realized Singleton had miscalculated the impact of the internet and attributed the downward spiral of his media properties to his short-sightedness. In recent years similar criticism has been aimed at the new organizational structure under Digital First Media. The Denver Post editorial staff and others have criticized the owners of hedge fund group, Alden Global Capital . Alden has
1015-420: The status quo and their lucrative corporate positions" and that they are "focused more on [their] own power than what's best for the company." In mid-February 2022, the Delaware court found in favor of Lee Enterprises. In the face of that setback, Alden said it would turn to the tactic of filing a proxy statement asking the company's shareholders to vote no on board members Mary Junck and Herbert Moloney during
1050-776: The stock and debt of troubled companies." Under the acquisition plan, MediaNews Group debt fell to $ 165 million from about $ 930 million. Senior lenders under the deal were to swap debt for stock. MediaNews Group came out of bankruptcy in March 2010 under the majority ownership of its lenders. The appointees to the MediaNews board were replaced by new directors representing the stockholders group led by Alden Global Capital. Several interim executive positions were also filled by people related to Alden or its parent, Smith Management LLC. In May 2021, Tribune Publishing finalized its sale to Alden, after having announced in February 2021 that it intended to pursue this path. Alden's purchase price
1085-441: The stockholders group led by Alden Global Capital , a hedge fund firm which has acquired a large, though not controlling, stake. Several interim executive positions were also filled by people related to Alden or its parent, Smith Management LLC. MediaNews became managed by Journal Register 's Digital First Media. As of 2012, the combined newspapers and online media outlets managed by the company had 66.6 million readers. In 2017,
Alameda Times-Star - Misplaced Pages Continue
1120-510: The weeklies owned by the company: Other MediaNews properties include: MediaNews Group is known as a cost-cutter in the newspaper publishing industry. The company has a reputation for buying smaller daily newspapers in a single area (examples include Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area) and consolidating their operations, including sharing staff writers and printing facilities. Some former employees and readers say that
1155-433: The work to Genpact starting December 28. In January 2019, Digital First Media acquired 7.5% of Gannett 's public stock, and made an unsolicited bid to acquire Gannett for $ 1.36 billion. On February 4, 2019, Gannett's board "unanimously rejected" the offer, saying "that MNG does not have a realistic plan to acquire Gannett". On February 11, 2019, Gannett issued a press release accusing Digital First Media of engaging in
1190-720: Was $ 635 million, or $ 17.25 per share. Tribune Publishing published nine major metropolitan dailies. These included the Chicago Tribune , the New York Daily News , and The Baltimore Sun . The Daily News was transferred by Alden into a separate Alden-owned company, Daily News Enterprises, upon the close of the deal. Alden first became involved with Tribune Publishing in 2019, when they paid $ 117.9 million to Michael Ferro for his 25.2-percent stake. Alden sold The Baltimore Sun in January 2024 to David D. Smith , executive chairman of Sinclair Inc. The purchase price
1225-618: Was not immediately disclosed. In 2019, Alden attempted, but failed at, a hostile takeover of Gannett . Alden purchased a 5.9-percent stake in Lee Enterprises in January 2020. Lee Enterprises owns 77 daily newspapers, including the Buffalo News , Omaha World-Herald and the Tulsa World . In November 2021, Alden made an offer to Lee to purchase the company in its entirety for roughly $ 141 million. In response,
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