+1 for this man’s message.

The byline is the entire editorial board, the editors of the newspaper, the same editors who decide what stories to run, and what angles to take. While it may not be your personal endorsement, in Colorado, Alden news editors have been compromised by Alden’s control. Wondering if it’s the same here.

@simko-bednarski.bsky.social @nydnunion.bsky.social spill the beans. Is that really you behind this endorsement or is this Alden Global Capital interfering with the editorial?

Money is being wasted by them on this case. It should have never escalated to a suit but the Denver Post has become so underfunded, they’re opening themselves up to liabilities that they can’t handle anymore. Paying rent is just one. Complaints are likely to start coming out of the woodworks. /11

As demonstrated in my consumer protection claims, when I filed a complaint against Alden, Heath Freeman & Randall Smith only for consumer fraud, they pleaded they were not the correct defendants, but that DP Media & MediaNews Group would be. The defense lawyers are in fact Denver Post’s lawyers. /10

Clearly Alden Global Capital sold off the assets and dumped the liabilities into a subsidiary. Now there’s $2 million in debt the parent company doesn’t have to care about, safely isolated in a business they’ve already gutted: the news business. /9

Another interesting question that I haven’t seen reported on is why DP Media can’t pay rent anymore. My guess is because their revenue has plummeted over the last couple of years & they can no longer bring in enough to sustain. Without a crazy payment % to Alden it’s likely they could pay /8

Alden then extracted all that money to distribute to themselves & left the subsidiary (the publisher that actually runs the newspaper) to pay from future revenue. Alden reportedly takes an ongoing 20% f/the publishing biz & the publisher has to pay this ginormous rent. /7

When Alden sold the building many years ago, by agreeing to lease the building as a sale leaseback, they were able to get a much higher sales price. Ie, by merely “agreeing” to pay future rent, the new purchaser was incentivized to pay full price for the sale. /6

You might be wondering why Alden would sell the building but keep a lease. Especially because they kicked the newspaper operations out of the building years ago, moving them to the outskirts of town. It was a trick. /5

Many outside journalism don’t realize how severe the conflict is when editorial and ad sales overlap. They’re supposed to be separate. Paying an editor extra for ad revenue crosses an ethical line and perfectly captures Alden’s newsroom culture.

“Looking at the numbers, that $2 million could pay to restore the city’s STAR Program ($500,000), Denver Day Works ($550,000), WorkReady Program ($600,000), and Crisis Response Team positions within the Denver Sheriff’s Department ($286,000).” /4

Hutchins’ opinion:

“Hopefully, intellectually honest city leaders can separate those ownership issues from the work of the paper’s on-the-ground journalists as they continue to cover the city.”

But those who remain are compromised by Alden’s operational & editorial control #copolitics #coleg 3/

I discovered this story via Corey Hutchins’ newsletter 2/

Here are a couple of comments on the announcement posted to Instagram. www.instagram.com/p/DPpFwcREbZl/

This decision risks damaging Duke’s reputation. Why would anyone who values democracy, journalism, transportation, or housing choose to attend or support Duke after this? #duke
3/

Took some time for this news story to sink in. I just know this will be a scene in a movie one day. Democracy became too significantly degraded in a single moment of understanding to leave it out. The viewers will understand exactly what is happening.

Here’s Heath Freeman’s quote celebrating @dukeathletics.bsky.social @dukepress.bsky.social and their new “spirit,” aligning Duke’s students, faculty, and alumni with the selling-off of American journalism, transportation, and affordable housing to undisclosed foreign investors. 2/