Tribune shareholders vote to approve takeover by cost-cutting hedge fund Alden
21 May 2021
Shareholders for Tribune Publishing voted to approve a roughly $630 million takeover of its newspaper company by Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund known for cutting journalists at local papers to maximize profits.
Why it matters: A takeover almost certainly means job cuts at many of America’s most storied local papers, including The Chicago Tribune and The New York Daily News.
Between the lines: Journalists have been pleading with their communities to find a buyer to save the papers.
- A last-minute bid from a hotel magnate almost derailed the Alden deal, but ultimately fell apart when the suitor couldn’t pull together enough cash to compete with Alden.
- Unions representing journalists at many of Tribune's newspapers issued a statement on Friday expressing frustration that the shareholders had "voted to put profit and greed over local news in our country."
The big picture: Local newspapers have struggled to find their footing in the internet era, leading to dramatic consolidation. Hedge firms and private equity companies are increasingly consolidating local titles to cut costs for profit.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.