Daily News Union Rallies for Contract, Decries Hedge Fund Ownership

Dozens of Daily News workers–there aren’t many more than that– and more than 100 friends and allies, including a clutch of local politicians, gathered outside City Hall on the afternoon of July 14 to rally for a new contract.

Among the solons present were Carmen De La Rosa, chair of the City Council Labor Committee; fellow council members Gale Brewer, Julie Menin, Lincoln Restler, and Crystal Hudson; Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine and Comptroller Brad Lander.

Democratic mayoral primary winner Zohran Mamdani posted a message of solidarity with the union on X, while Mayor Adams, who’s presently feuding with News political reporter Chris Sommerfeldt, made neither an appearance at, or comment on, the rally.

The exact location of the event was on Broadway, outside the black iron fence of City Hall Park, between Park Place and Murray Street. This positioning, marked by a podium with a NewsGuild placard attached, didn’t appear to have any political significance on what was Bastille Day, but rather was a matter of logistics, as the rally was scheduled for noon and the actual steps of City Hall—arguably the most “prestigious” protest location—had already been reserved by other groups.

Likewise, the interior of City Hall Park—another common rally location—was occupied by members of PSC-CUNY (Professional Staff Congress City University of New York), who were preparing to voice their opposition to the Trump administration behind a podium with a sign reading “No to New McCarthyism!”

On Broadway, the signs were more specific: “Defend The Daily News”; “Hedge Fund to News: Drop Dead” with a photo of Alden Capital Group Managing Director Heath Freeman on it; and the most journalistic:

“Have you seen this man? We haven’t, and we work for him. ANDREW JULIEN Executive Editor of the Daily News hasn’t held a staff meeting, hasn’t bargained over our contract in more than THREE YEARS.”

The meaning behind this last message takes some unpacking.

The Fall of the “Hometown Paper”

Once America’s largest daily newspaper, and a once-dominant competitor to the New York Post, by the 2010s the Daily News was a paper in distress. In September 2017, the paper was bought by the dystopically named Chicago-based Tronc Inc. for $1 plus liabilities.

In July 2018, Tronc sent shockwaves through the city newspaper racket by dumping half the Daily News’ s staff. That October, Tronc renamed itself Tribune Publishing Company to more accurately reflect its legitimate newspapers heritage.

The arrival of COVID in March 2020 was another blow. Revenues plunged for a time and, though the paper continued to publish, it did so remotely. It had long since moved out of its old landmarked building on East 42nd Street, where the movie Superman was being filmed in 1977.

By August 2020, the Daily News permanently closed its offices at 4 New York Plaza in FiDi, using the phrase “abundance of caution” that would characterize many COVID-era excesses—in this case, using public health concerns as shield for parsimony.

In May 2021, the Tribune Publishing Group—whose storied titles included the Chicago Tribune, the Baltimore Sun, and the Daily News—was sold to the Manhattan-based hedge fund Alden Global Capital. The hedge fund had accumulated a $633-million stake in the firm, which was, up until the sale, a publicly traded company.

While Alden Global Capital has offices in the architecturally notable Lipstick Building at 885 Third Avenue at 53rd Street, the Daily News would remain homeless, save a few desks at a WeWork co-working space at 1412 Broadway, at 39th Street.

By June, then New York Post “Media Ink” reporter Keith J. Kelly [now editor-in-chief of this paper] was filing stories with headlines like “Union Turmoil Erupts at Daily News as Hedge Fund Pushes Buyouts.“

Fourteen months later, another Post headline read, “Daily News union rips owner over work conditions, staff ‘quitting in droves.’ ” Among the gory details: 12 journalists resigned (“about 20 percent of our newsroom”); frequent typos from lack of adequate copy and other editors; and an Alden-installed executive editor, Andrew Julien, who appeared not to care.

Though Julien parried the understaffing accusations, the last three years at the News—all with Julien at the helm—affirm Alden’s industry reputation as “vulture” capitalists. Or, put another way, a company whose priority is stripping assets and aggressively reducing costs, not rewarding—or even much respecting—the workers who made the paper not just valuable but profitable. Yes, profitable!

If You’ve Got the Money, Honey

A one day Daily News walkout on Jan. 25, 2024, highlighted but failed to resolve the union’s issues, including chronic understaffing and overtime restrictions that hamstring the paper’s effectiveness, as well as low pay and low raises, which jeopardize the paper’s future, for as devoted to public service as its reporters are, even idealism has its limits.

The emcee for the City Hall event was News transit reporter Evan Simko-Bednarski, who set a cultural tone by referencing Superman work as a reporter at the fictional Daily Planet.

Speaking first for the solons was City Council Labor Chair Carmen De La Rosa, who praised the Daily News as a “watchdog” and derided Alden Capital as a “predatory hedge fund. Key word: predatory.” She also noted that the newsroom—such as it exists in reporters’ and editors’ apartments—has been reduced to 65 people.

Brad Lander joked that “he wasn’t endorsed by the Daily News” and that union should have a say in endorsements going forward. More seriously, Lander did state that the relationship between the press and politicians, the former holding the latter accountable, is “critical to democracy. If it gets eroded, we will have a weaker democracy.” Oddly, Lander followed up Simko-Bednarski’s Superman reference with an enthused digression about the new Superman movie and its meaning.

NewsGuild President Susan DeCarava took the podium next. Wearing a red “Proud Guild Member” T-shirt and holding the microphone in her right hand, DeCarava spoke with fierce but calm passion, her gold hoop earrings swaying in time to her gesticulating left arm.

“As other people have said, the Daily News is making money. It is not that this is a paper that can’t afford to pay its newsroom, it’s that they’re choosing not to. So the question is, Why? Why won’t Alden Capital support the ‘Hometown Paper’ of the greatest city?” DeCarava asked.

“The reason why is simple. Greed.”

Veteran cop reporter Kerry Burke, a small gold hoop earring in his left lobe contrasting with his austere shaved head, white dress shirt, gray tie and black pants with a long reporter’s notebook poking out of his rear pocket said, “I’m from Boston. I come to the New York and later the Daily News with the love of the immigrant . . . ”

“It was an opportunity to work for an engine of democracy. . . . We’re different than other outlets, we climb the stairs, we knock the doors, we go the places that other outlets don’t begin to touch.

“Alden Capital talks like they’re in the newspaper game, but what they really are is the stripping engine of democracy from hearts. It’s an old story. . . . They’re bleeding us to death.”

Daily News executive editor Andrew Julien referred our call to a company spokesperson, who said the rally “was full of unfounded and inaccurate accusations” and blasted the union organizers.

“For the last several months, the Daily News has made good-faith efforts to speed up negotiations and move these talks toward a conclusion, but the Guild has failed its members by rebuffing us. Good faith demands actually sitting down and bargaining. For reasons that are inexplicable, the Guild shows more interest in posting fliers and staging protests.”