“Our commitment to ensuring the sustainability of robust local journalism is well established, and this is part of that effort,” the statement said. Those who know anything about local journalism in America are in general agreement: Being bought by Alden is the worst possible fate for the newspapers and the communities involved. ADI’ve been covering Alden’s moves for years, in part for my book published last summer, “Ghosting the News: Local Journalism and the Crisis of American Democracy.”ADWhen Alden comes in, it’s slash-and-burn time. The few success stories are those papers lucky enough to have relatively enlightened and well-intentioned — often local — owners who understand the value of journalism. The one potentially bright spot in this week’s announcement was that the Baltimore Sun, one of the Tribune papers, is likely to be sold to a nonprofit formed by Stewart Bainum Jr., a Maryland hotel executive.

Source: Washington Post February 17, 2021 16:13 UTC