Over the weekend The Denver Post, the 125 year old newspaper, winner of multiple Pulitzers, basically revolted against its ownership after yet another round of layoffs came down the line. The New York Times reports:
Angry and frustrated journalists at the 125-year-old newspaper took the extraordinary step this weekend of publicly blasting its New York-based hedge-fund owner and making the case for its own survival in several articles that went online Friday and are scheduled to run in The Post’s Sunday opinion section.
“News matters,” the main headline reads. “Colo. should demand the newspaper it deserves.”
The owners are Alden Global Capital, and you just have to wonder what they’re thinking. My suspicion is not that they don’t understand the business they’re screwing into the ground, although more conservative readers might think so. It’s that they don’t understand the sector with which they’ve foolishly encumbered themselves.
I think the Mayor, probably unconsciously, gets it as well:
“Denver is so proud of our flagship newspaper for speaking out,” Mayor Michael B. Hancock said in a statement. “The Denver Post said it best — they are necessary to this ‘grand democratic experiment,’ especially at a time when the press and facts are under constant attack by the White House. For a New York hedge fund to treat our paper like any old business and not a critical member of our community is offensive. We urge the owners to rethink their business strategy or get out of the news business. Denver stands with our paper and stands ready to be part of the solution that supports local journalism and saves the 125-year-old Voice of the Rocky Mountain Empire.”
Right, “… or get out of the news business.” Alden is not going to revive The Denver Post by downsizing or rightsizing. All they’re doing is throwing away talented members of the reporting staff, and at some point the qualities of the newspaper that made it great will be gone – and they’ll be out their investment.
I’m not a knowledgeable member of the free press sector, so the strongest prescription I can give is that the Post needs more knowledgeable, loyal subscribers who understand that having a talented, dedicated staff requires more than a willingness to look at, or around, ads – but to actually pay up front.
Whether that will actually happen is up in the air for me.
