Thread by @mckaycoppins

Alden Capital just announced an offer to buy Lee Enterprises, which operates local newspapers in Buffalo, Omaha, St. Louis, and many other cities. What will happen to those papers if Alden takes over? Look to their record.

My recent cover story: theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…

In its letter to Lee's board, Alden touts its "commitment to the newspaper industry" & "desire to support local newspapers over the long term." union-bulletin.com/alden-global-c…

Read on to see what Alden's "desire to support local newspapers over the long term" looks like in practice.

From 2015 to 2017, Alden presided over staff reductions of 36 percent across all of its newspapers, according to an analysis by the NewsGuild. theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…

"In legal filings, Alden has acknowledged diverting hundreds of millions of dollars from its newspapers into risky bets on commercial real estate, a bankrupt pharmacy chain, and Greek debt bonds." theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…

Here's what happened when Alden got its hands on the Chicago Tribune: theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…

Here's the president of Alden: theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…

“They call Alden a vulture hedge fund, and I think that’s honestly a misnomer,” one former Chicago Tribune reporter told me. “A vulture doesn’t hold a wounded animal’s head underwater. This is predatory.” theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…

Will Lee's board of directors sell to Alden? I have no idea. If past is precedent, there will be lots of pressure from their journalists not to sell to the hedge fund. Whether those journalists get support from other people in their communities remains to be seen.

What we do know is that Alden has a well documented track record at this point. You can read about it here: theatlantic.com/magazine/archi… Consider subscribing to your local newspapers. (And if you appreciate this kind of longform journalism, subscribe to The Atlantic, too!)