Killing the news: Sadly, the newspaper where I first wrote about 60 years ago became one of the latest victims of a vulture hedge fund. The Litchfield Independent Review will end its almost-150-year run this month, alone with the Hutchinson Leader and seven other Minnesota local newspapers. They are not alone. Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism reports on the devastating losses of small-town newspapers over the past two decades:
“Since 2005, the country has lost almost a third of its newspapers — 2,886 — and today has only 6,005 survivors, including 4,792 weeklies, or nondailies, that are often the sole source of news and information in their communities. North and South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota lost the most newspapers per capita between 2005 and 2023. All but a handful were weeklies.”
NPR reported a couple of years ago on what happens when hedge fund “investors” buy newspapers. Alden is the hedge fund that acquired and is now closing these nine Minnesota newspapers, and also owns the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Continue reading“Research shows that when local newspapers disappear or are dramatically gutted, communities tend to see lower voter turnout, increased polarization, a general erosion of civic engagement and an environment in which misinformation and conspiracy theories can spread more easily. …
“Coppins describes Alden as a specific type of firm: a “vulture hedge fund.” It has figured out how to make a profit by driving newspapers into the ground, he says, since Alden’s aim is not to make them into long-term sustainable businesses but rather maximize profits quickly to show it has made a winning investment.”
Mary Turck