a blog by Jack Limpert, Editor of The Washingtonian for more than 40 years.
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From a Washington Monthly story by Steve Waldman headlined “The Hedge Fund Takeover of Local News Is Neither Inevitable Nor Unstoppable”:
With the news that Alden Global Capital, notorious for gobbling up newspapers and laying off reporters, is moving to acquire Lee Enterprises, one of the nation’s largest newspaper chains, it feels like the hedge fund takeover of local news is inevitable. Even without this acquisition, half of the daily newspaper circulation in the United States is already owned by hedge funds.
Hedge fund annexation can be stopped, but only if we look at the problem in new ways and accept that it will require government involvement.
From a politico.com story by Hailey Fuchs and Emily Birnbaum headlined “These days, Capitol Hill townhomes aren’t for living in. They’re for lobbying.”:
Just a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol, is a five-bedroom townhouse with an unobtrusive presence on New Jersey Ave S.E. It looks like any other home in this quaint, historic neighborhood in Washington D.C. But this one has a small placard and doormat distinguishing it from the row of other residences.
The house is the property of the Allied Pilots Association….And inside, it’s an airplane fanatic’s dream. Several model planes and a mini-model engine are on display, and the walls are dotted with photos and artistic depictions of various aircrafts….
From a story by Robert Feder on robertfeder.com headlined “BGA forms Illinois Solutions Partnership with $10 million grant from McCormick Foundation”:
Chicago’s Better Government Association, the nonprofit investigation journalism and government watchdog organization, is about to expand dramatically, thanks to the largest gift in its 98-year history — a $10 million grant from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
Over the next five years, the grant will be used to more than double the investigative and enterprise reporting staff of the BGA and broaden its mission to encompass “solutions journalism” across a variety of platforms.
From a New York Times story by Michael M. Grynbaum headlined “Biden’s Low-Key Media Strategy Draws Allies’ Concern”:
As president, Donald J. Trump was a media maximalist whose unavoidable-for-comment style helped generate saturation news coverage, for better or worse.
President Biden has taken a stingier approach to his dealings with the press — and not all his allies believe it’s working out.
After nine months in office, Mr. Biden has conducted roughly a dozen one-on-one interviews with major print and television news outlets. That compares with more than 50 for Mr. Trump, and more than 100 for Barack Obama, in the same period….
From a Wall Street Journal review by Edward Rothstein headlined “Biography of a Biographer”:
If the life of Robert A. Caro ever receives the Caro treatment, that biographer will have his hands full. “The Power Broker,” Mr. Caro’s 1974 biography of Robert Moses, runs to some 1,300 pages and took seven years of work. His still unfolding biography of President Lyndon Johnson comprises some 3,400 pages after about 45 years, with expectations high for what the author has called the “fifth of a projected three volumes.”
From a Washington Post obit by Harrison Smith headlined “Dave Hickey, roguish and erudite art critic, dies at 82”:
From a story on niemanlab.org by Hanaa’ Tameez headlined “Journalism school is broken and expensive. Jessica Huseman will teach you for cheap(er.)”
In the fall of 2014, Jessica Huseman was starting her master’s in investigative journalism at Columbia University. She remembers having dinner with her cohort and “feeling like an idiot.”
“We were all sitting around and [program director Sheila Coronel] was like, ‘Let’s go around and talk about what you’re most excited to learn this year,’” Huseman, now the editorial director of Votebeat, recalled. “The first person goes, ‘I really want to get better at FOIA.’ And I was like, ‘The fuck is a FOIA?’”
From an AP obit by John Rice headlined “Fernando González, AP head of Caribbean news, dies in Cuba”:
Fernando González, who spent decades covering and directing major stories for The Associated Press across Latin America, from papal visits to border skirmishes, hurricanes and hostage standoffs, has died in Havana….
Gregarious and seemingly inexhaustible, González, known for his trademark long gray ponytail, was especially strong and compassionate in crisis situations, both covering the news and tirelessly organizing help when colleagues were ill or injured.
From a New York Times story by Katie Robertson headlined “Alden Global Capital makes an offer for Lee Enterprises, a big newspaper chain”:
Alden Global Capital, the New York hedge fund that bought Tribune Publishing this year, said that it was making an offer for another big American newspaper chain, Lee Enterprises, the publisher of 90 daily newspapers including The Buffalo News, The Richmond Times-Dispatch and The Omaha World-Herald.
In a letter to Lee Enterprise’s board of directors, Alden proposed a cash purchase at $24 a share, about 30 percent more than the company’s closing share price on Nov. 19 of $18.49. The deal values the company at about $141 million.
