NY Daily News left with just four national writers – Business News
The proprietor of the New York Daily News fired 16 people this week – a “Valentine’s Day massacre” that leaves the paper with a skeleton employees as layoffs proceed to wreak havoc throughout the information industry.
Notorious vulture fund Alden Global Capital on Thursday axed six people from the paper’s national desk – leaving just four writers to cowl US and worldwide information – and fired seven print manufacturing staffers, two people within the photograph division and one metro reporter, in line with a source with information of the matter.
“Alden Global Capital — the nation’s most predatory newspaper proprietor — has again lived up to its repute because the parasitic ‘destroyer of newspapers,’” the Daily News Union said in a statement, with their X account dubbing the layoffs a “Valentine’s Day Massacre.”
The Daily information union dubbed the layoffs a “Valentine’s Day Massacre.” X/@NYDNUnion
“These layoffs, which are the direct result of the repellent corporate greed that Alden Global Capital is known for, are being done without any concern for the future of The Daily News,” the union added, noting it’s dropping 28% of its members by the “egregious layoffs.”
After two veteran reporters just lately exited voluntarily, there at the moment are solely about 16 journos masking metro tales for the Daily News.
The paper’s government editor Andrew Julien instructed staffers the publication will concentrate on “what happens here,” and fewer on “breaking crime news coverage outside of the NYC area.”
“Against the backdrop of a highly competitive media landscape, the Daily News remains committed to our mission as New York’s Hometown Newspaper to shed light on the critical issues facing our community,” Julien stated in a message he shared on X.
He added that metro and sports activities protection wouldn’t be impacted, although these sections had been beforehand devastated by repeated rounds of cuts and voluntary exits by employees.
Daily News staff picketing in 2024. Matthew McDermott
Julien didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. The Post additionally sought remark from Alden Global Capital.
Staff had been left seething over the most recent layoffs.
“The vampiric owners of The News are seeking to drain the lifeblood of the paper,” a staffer instructed The Post on Friday.
“The cowards running the show refuse to face their staff to answer questions as to why there’s no metro editor, no statehouse reporter and just one person covering City Hall,” the individual added. “It’s an embarrassment.”
“The vampiric owners of The News are seeking to drain the lifeblood of the paper,” a staffer instructed The Post on Friday. CQ-Roll Call, Inc by way of Getty Images
The 106-year-old tabloid Daily News, which payments itself as “New York’s Hometown Newspaper,” was scooped up by Alden Global Capital, which owns more than 200 newspapers, as half of a $633 million acquisition of Tribune Publishing in May 2021.
Under Alden’s thumb, Daily News staff have “quit in droves,” with 20% of the newsroom leaving over just three months in 2022, in line with the union. Meanwhile, new insurance policies have required the remaining employees to get pre-approval for additional time pay.
In 2024, staffers walked off the job within the paper’s first work stoppage in three many years to protest “chronic cuts” by its hedge fund house owners that “shrink the budget to fill their pockets.”
To save money, Alden outsourced the Daily News’ printing operations and bought off the state-of-the-art presses at its former plant in Jersey City, NJ.
During the pandemic, the paper completely closed its places of work at 4 New York Plaza in FiDi in one other cost-cutting measure.
While Alden Global Capital has had places of work within the architecturally notable Lipstick Building at 885 Third Ave., the Daily News has remained homeless — apart from a few desks at a shared workspace in Midtown.
The Post sought remark from Alden Capital.
The Daily News cuts come because the information industry as a complete stays in turmoil. The Washington Post fired about a third of its employees earlier this month, and CBS News is within the center of layoffs below new management.
