A serious threat to journalism in Colorado and across the country is growing stronger. Papers owned by Alden Global Capital and operated by Digital First Media suffer not just from neglect but outright censorship.
Early last month, we called on Alden to reform its business practices or sell to more responsible owners. Now developments suggest our management not only didn’t get the message, it is trying to silence the messengers.
On April 25, the editorial page editor of Boulder’s Daily Camera – Dave Krieger – was fired, and so far there is no word on whether his position will be refilled. While there are legitimate questions about whether Krieger’s actions warranted his dismissal, the relevant answers are complex and can easily be seen from his perspective.
Meanwhile, The Denver Post’s sister paper remains without an independent editorial board, and the city it seeks to cover and serve is outraged. Boulder’s City Council decried Krieger’s ouster this week and requested that the editorial pages be restored.
They deserve immediate assurances – and action.
The Camera is operated by Digital First Media, the same parent company that manages the Post, the Longmont Times-Call and many other local papers. Digital First Media’s controlling owner, the New York City hedge fund Alden Global Capital, appears intent on reaping outsized profits while its newsrooms wither.
Reporters from many non-Alden newsrooms have continued to shed light on the company’s controversial practices. Last week, the national media expert Ken Doctor published a blockbuster account titled “Alden Global Capital is making so much money wrecking local journalism it might not want to stop anytime soon.”
Doctor relied on insiders who said the privately held Alden made 19 percent profit in Colorado. Company-wide, its operating margin of 17 percent represented a haul of almost $160 million and surpassed its industry peers.
While we cheer economic success, we note that such profits suggest many local papers shouldn’t be in such dire straits and that the communities in which their journalists toil are being underserved. In Denver, the cuts have been so draconian – the Post now employs roughly 70 journalists to cover a city of more than 700,000 – we must shake our heads in shame and agree with those critics who say readers are being badly underserved.
Krieger meant to call attention to this dynamic for Boulder readers. He worked through proper channels to write an editorial that sought more responsible management but was rebuffed by the paper’s publisher, who, of course, reports to Digital First Media. Though the Camera’s editor voted with its editorial page editor to publish the editorial, the publisher nixed it. He did so on orders from Digital First Media chief Guy Gilmore.
Krieger published the editorial anyway, on the blog Boulder Free Press.
Normally, we would view such an action as insubordination. A newspaper’s owner has the right to reject any of its offerings, and should be able to expect its staff will follow orders.
But our industry demands transparency and responsible behavior from the entities and people its newsrooms cover, and best practices dictate that journalists don’t shirk their duties even when the story turns to management or their own.
Also, two weeks ago we learned that Digital First Media has demanded at some of its papers (i.e., likely all of them) that any mention of the company or of Alden must be screened by top editors before publication.
Journalism’s mission is too important for such atrocious apostasy.
We renew our call for Alden to reinvest in its newsrooms or release them to better ownership.
Chuck Plunkett served as editorial page editor of The Denver Post until his resignation on May 3.
