As the world watches the tug towards war on the border between Russia and Ukraine, a similar epic battle in the world of the news media is playing out between Lee Enterprises and Alden Global Capital, the owner of the Hartford Courant and all Tribune Publishing papers.
In the latest maneuvering, Lee has won a court fight preventing Alden from seating its own members on the Lee board. The move is a part of Alden’s continuing attempt to take control of Lee and its seventy-seven daily newspapers. For now, the ruling stymies Alden’s efforts, but that does not mean Alden is giving up. It now plans to try to force two existing members of Lee’s board out, perhaps setting the stage for another attempt to seat new members sympathetic to Alden’s takeover bid.
Some might ask, why a company (Alden) that has shown zero interest in the public mission of journalism, so desperately wants to be the largest newspaper publisher in the country?
Related:
Last November, McKay Coppins of The Atlantic wrote a long and much talked about analysis of Alden Global. In this month’s edition, a number of readers write in with their opinions including Courant reader Toni Gold of Hartford.
