{"id":363457,"date":"2018-05-31T02:31:36","date_gmt":"2018-05-31T01:31:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/their-hedge-fund-wants-these-massive-profits\/"},"modified":"2018-05-31T02:31:36","modified_gmt":"2018-05-31T01:31:36","slug":"their-hedge-fund-wants-these-massive-profits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/their-hedge-fund-wants-these-massive-profits\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Their Hedge Fund Wants These Massive Profits\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Janine Jackson interviewed Corey Hutchins about <strong>Denver Post<\/strong> journalism cutbacks for the <a href=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/home\/kinsey-hasstedt-on-reproductive-health-restrictions-corey-hutchins-on-denver-post-distress\/\">May 25, 2018, episode<\/a> of <strong>CounterSpin<\/strong>. This is a lightly edited transcript.<\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"wrapperMI_0\" class=\"wrap-mjp  \" style=\"padding:5px 0px 40px 0px;margin:0px;width:100%\">\n<div class=\"Eabove-mjp\" id=\"Eabove-mjp_0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"subwrap-MI\">\n<div class=\"jp-innerwrap\">\n<div class=\"innerx\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innerleft\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innerright\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innertab\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"interface-mjp verdana-mjp\" style=\"height:71px\" id=\"interfaceMI_0\">\n<div class=\"MI-image Himg right-mjp\" id=\"MI_image_0\" style=\"width:auto;height:71px;overflow:hidden\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"T_mp3j_0\" class=\"player-track-title left-mjp norm-mjp plain-mjp childNorm-mjp childPlain-mjp\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"bars_holder\">\n<div class=\"loadMI_mp3j\" id=\"load_mp3j_0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"poscolMI_mp3j\" id=\"poscol_mp3j_0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"posbarMI_mp3j\" id=\"posbar_mp3j_0\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"P-Time-MI_0\" class=\"jp-play-time\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"T-Time-MI_0\" class=\"jp-total-time\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"statusMI_0\" class=\"statusMI\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"transport-MI\">\n<div class=\"play-mjp\" id=\"playpause_mp3j_0\">Play<\/div>\n<div class=\"stop-mjp\" id=\"stop_mp3j_0\">Stop<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"buttons-wrap-mjp\" id=\"buttons-wrap-mjp_0\">\n<div class=\"mp3j-popout-MI\" id=\"lpp_mp3j_0\">pop out<\/div>\n<div id=\"download_mp3j_0\" class=\"dloadmp3-MI\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mjp-volwrap\">\n<div class=\"MIsliderVolume\" id=\"vol_mp3j_0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innerExt1\" id=\"innerExt1_0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innerExt2\" id=\"innerExt2_0\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"Ebetween-mjp\" id=\"Ebetween-mjp_0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"listwrap_mp3j\" id=\"L_mp3j_0\">\n<div class=\"wrapper-mjp\">\n<div class=\"playlist-colour\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"wrapper-mjp\">\n<ul class=\"ul-mjp darken1-mjp verdana-mjp med-mjp childNorm-mjp childPlain-mjp left-mjp\" id=\"UL_mp3j_0\">\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div id=\"mp3j_finfo_0\" class=\"mp3j-finfo\">\n<div class=\"mp3j-finfo-sleeve\">\n<div id=\"mp3j_finfo_gif_0\" class=\"mp3j-finfo-gif\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"mp3j_finfo_txt_0\" class=\"mp3j-finfo-txt\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"mp3j-finfo-close\" id=\"mp3j_finfo_close_0\">X<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mp3j_dlf_0\" class=\"mp3j-dlframe\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"mp3j-nosolution\" id=\"mp3j_nosolution_0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"Ebelow-mjp\" id=\"Ebelow-mjp_0\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>MP3jPLAYLISTS.MI_0 = [<br \/>\n\t{ name: &#8220;1. 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The newsroom has gone from 200 or so people to more like 70, with 30 more jobs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverite.com\/denver-post-told-cut-30-newsroom-staff-49591\/\"> slated<\/a> to be cut this summer. Journalists <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/entertainment\/archive\/2018\/05\/denver-post\/560186\/\">have been moved<\/a> to the printing plant to further cut costs for <b>Alden<\/b>, whose founder, Randall Smith, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/how-many-palm-beach-mansions-does-a-wall-street-tycoon-need\/\">describes<\/a> himself as investing in \u201cdistress.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b>Denver Post <\/b>workers protesting the unceremonious gutting of their newspaper were <a href=\"https:\/\/dfmworkers.org\/speaking-truth-to-alden-photos\/\">joined<\/a> recently by journalists from some of the other 90-odd papers <b>Alden<\/b> controls, via ownership of <b>Digital First Media, <\/b>at a rally at the vulture fund\u2019s HQ in New York City. In a <b>New York Times <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/04\/07\/business\/media\/denver-post-opinion-owner.html\">account<\/a>, the <b>Denver Post<\/b>\u2019s Elizabeth Hernandez says, as reporters do, that she doesn\u2019t like being the story, but, she adds, \u201cIf we don\u2019t tell our own story now, I don\u2019t know how long we\u2019ll be able to tell our community\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Corey Hutchins is a journalist for the <b>Colorado Independent<\/b>, as well as a correspondent for <b>Columbia Journalism Review<\/b>\u2019s<b> United States Project<\/b>. He joins us now by phone from Denver. Welcome to <b>CounterSpin<\/b>, Corey Hutchins.<\/p>\n<p><b>Corey Hutchins: <\/b>Hi. Thanks for having me.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> Well, the story of the <b>Denver Post <\/b>has not been front-page news, if I can say it that way, around the country. A few national pieces have appeared, like that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/05\/03\/business\/media\/denver-post-editor-resigns.html\">one<\/a> in the <b>New York Times<\/b>, but I wonder if people maybe see it as a local story, which it is and it isn\u2019t, right? How would you put what is happening at the <b>Post <\/b>in context for people outside Colorado?<\/p>\n<p><b>CH: <\/b>I think right now what\u2019s happening in Denver, and what\u2019s happening at the <b>Denver Post <\/b>and a lot of its sister papers throughout Colorado\u2014which there are about a dozen smaller daily and smaller weekly papers also owned by <b>Digital First Media <\/b>in Colorado\u2014what\u2019s happening, though, in Denver, I think, is becoming a national story.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I write about the media for <b>CJR, <\/b>for the <b>Colorado Independent. <\/b>So I\u2019m seeking out these stories, and I write a weekly newsletter about the media in Colorado, and the past three weeks, it\u2019s been a lot more work, because I\u2019m actually reading tons of stories in larger magazines on both coasts and in other states about what\u2019s going on at the <b>Denver Post.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m sure a lot of the media about this is being consumed by people who pay very close attention to media and media criticism, but I do think that there\u2019s going to be some spillover into the mainstream population and mainstream news consumers. One of the things that\u2019s pushing that is the public activism that the journalists and their allies are creating, protesting outside of their newsrooms, they\u2019re getting the TV coverage locally and nationally on that. Here in Denver, the community is aware of what\u2019s going on. How broad that becomes across the country is a big question.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ: <\/b>You <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cjr.org\/united_states_project\/digital-first-alden-newsmatters.php\">interviewed<\/a> Julie Reynolds, the independent reporter who\u2019s really tracked the story of <b>Alden Global Capital<\/b> and its CEO Randall Smith, and traced where it\u2019s taking money from and where that money\u2019s going, and I was struck by her description of what it was like working for a <b>DFM <\/b>paper, the <b>Monterrey Herald<\/b>\u2014and I\u2019m not saying it\u2019s unique to <b>DFM<\/b> \u2014 but she talked about not being able to get a manila folder, you know, and reporters buying their own pens.<\/p>\n<p>But then I was struck, particularly, by\u2014she mentioned demands that reporters all of a sudden need to get out three stories a day with their name on them, \u201ceven if you rewrote a press release.\u201d So there\u2019s a direct line\u2014we\u2019re talking about how to keep the public interested\u2014there\u2019s a direct line between cost-cutting in the newsroom and, you know, crap in the newspaper, isn\u2019t there? That\u2019s a relationship.<\/p>\n<p><b>CH: <\/b>Beyond just the pressure on reporters to have to do more \u2014 and, at the <b>Denver Post, <\/b>I wrote a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cjr.org\/united_states_project\/denver_post_story_counts_union_talks.php\">story<\/a> for <b>CJR<\/b> about how at one point, there were basically byline quotas \u2014 it\u2019s this whole thing that we\u2019ve got to do more with less. I will say the <b>Denver Pos<\/b>t still does really quality journalism, and they should be really proud of that.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8926564\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8926564\" src=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Politico-Newspaper-Dies.png\" alt=\"Politico: This Is How a Newspaper Dies\" width=\"350\" height=\"295\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em><strong>Politico<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/magazine\/story\/2018\/05\/13\/denver-post-profits-newspaper-industry-218360\">5\/13\/18<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>JJ: <\/b>Industry-watcher Jack Shafer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/magazine\/story\/2018\/05\/13\/denver-post-profits-newspaper-industry-218360\"> says<\/a> it\u2019s kind of silly to be mad at <b>Alden<\/b>. They\u2019re a money-making company making money, and, anyway, it\u2019s readers who are responsible for the death of newspapers, because they don\u2019t buy them anymore. In his words:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Smith may be a rapacious fellow, but his primary crime is recognizing that print is approaching its expiration date and is acting on the fact that more value can be extracted by sucking the marrow than by investing more deeply or selling.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Is that cynical? Is that true? Is that both? What do you make of that attitude as we go forward?<\/p>\n<p><b>CH: <\/b>That argument is kind of the one that is being pushed by corporate people at <b>Digital First Media <\/b>and the editor of the <b>Denver Post<\/b>, who basically says, hey, it\u2019s not so much that a hedge fund owns the newspaper. The reason we\u2019re downsizing and laying off reporters is really only because of market forces. It\u2019s because our subscription rates are shrinking, and so is our advertising revenue.<\/p>\n<p>Now that is true. The subscription rates probably are shrinking and their advertising revenue is declining. Now the other side of that is folks who say, well, that\u2019s happening at other newspapers, too, but those papers are willing to accept a lower profit margin than the newspapers owned by <b>Digital First Media<\/b>, who, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.niemanlab.org\/2018\/05\/newsonomics-alden-global-capital-is-making-so-much-money-wrecking-local-journalism-it-might-not-want-to-stop-anytime-soon\/\">according<\/a> to national newspaper analyst Ken Doctor, have really high, double-digit profits that he says are better than their peers. You do have this nationwide problem of print declining because of ad revenue and less people subscribing, and I think it\u2019s exacerbated at the papers owned by <b>Digital First Media, <\/b>because their hedge fund wants these massive profits. That kind of creates a perfect storm if you\u2019re working for a paper like that.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8926567\" style=\"width: 275px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8926567 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Corey-Hutchins.jpg\" alt=\"Corey Hutchins (image: Next 9News)\" width=\"265\" height=\"440\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Corey Hutchins: &#8220;If the <b>Denver Post <\/b>goes away, it will be the first major city of its size without a local newspaper, and I think that would be disastrous.&#8221; (image: <strong>Next 9News<\/strong>)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>JJ: <\/b>Absolutely. People say it\u2019s OK that newspapers are dying, because the internet. I just wonder, what do you think would be lost if, for example, the <b>Denver Pos<\/b><strong>t<\/strong> were to be starved into nonexistence, eventually. What gets lost when we lose papers?<\/p>\n<p><b>CH: <\/b>Bottom line: information. If the <b>Denver Post <\/b>goes away, it will be the first major city of its size without a local newspaper, and I think that would be disastrous. There was a lawmaker who was quoted by a public radio station reporter, who was going around and asking for reactions at the legislature, &#8220;What do you think about all of this stuff at the <b>Denver Post<\/b>?&#8221; She overheard some lawmaker joke, \u201cWell, I guess it means we\u2019ll be able to do whatever we want now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That may have been a joke, but I think that\u2019s a pretty sad commentary, and capitalizes the worst of the worst of what would happen. You\u2019ve got less people doing journalism in a city like this, then the truth is we don\u2019t know what we don\u2019t know, and that thought\u2019s pretty scary.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ: <\/b>We\u2019ve been speaking with Corey Hutchins, reporter for the <b>Colorado Independent <\/b>and <b>Columbia Journalism Review<\/b>. Thank you so much, Corey Hutchins, for joining us this week on <b>CounterSpin<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p><b>CH:<\/b> Thank you. Anytime.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"et_bloom_bottom_trigger\"><\/span><br \/>\nThis piece was reprinted by <a href=\"http:\/\/rinf.com\">RINF Alternative News<\/a> with permission from <a href=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/home\/their-hedge-fund-wants-these-massive-profits\/\">FAIR<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Janine Jackson interviewed Corey Hutchins about Denver Post journalism cutbacks for the May 25, 2018, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. 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