“Digital First Media”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

MNG Enterprises, Inc., doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, is a Denver, Colorado-based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital.

History

MediaNews Group was founded by Richard Scudder and William Dean Singleton. Both had experience in the American newspaper industry. Scudder ran the Newark (New Jersey) News, a newspaper founded by his grandfather.^[2] Singleton had begun his career as a reporter when he was 15, for a small-town Texas newspaper and subsequently became the president of Albritton Communications, a newspaper conglomerate in Texas.^[3]

Based in Denver, Colorado, Scudder and Singleton purchased their first newspaper in 1983. They incorporated MediaNews Group in 1985, with Singleton as CEO and Scudder as chairman.^[4] The company began to purchase small local newspapers that were undergoing financial troubles. In 1987, the company made its first major acquisition: the Denver Post. Ultimately, it became one of the largest newspaper companies in the United States. It operated 56 daily newspapers in 12 states, with combined daily and Sunday circulation of about 2.4 million and 2.7 million, respectively.^[5]^[6] The company owned KTVA, a CBS affiliate in Anchorage, Alaska, from March 2000 to October 2012, and radio stations in Texas.

Singleton was a pioneer in "clustering": developing groups of newspapers that centralized a variety of functions, including production, ad sales, business operations and, in some cases, editorial. For example, the Alameda Newspaper Group in suburban San Francisco in the mid-1990s had a central newsroom in Pleasanton, California, that did all the copy editing, layout and page makeup for five daily papers.^[7] Upon acquiring the diverse group of papers, Singleton consolidated several news sections (such as sports and features) to one local office away from the metropolitan area, having a few reporters do the job of many people.

In August 2006, the company took out around $350 million in loans to purchase four newspapers from McClatchy Company. Among those providing the loan was the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.^[8] It came out of bankruptcy in March 2010 under the majority ownership of its lenders.^[9] The MediaNews creditors then removed Media News president Joseph Lodovic and its chairman, William Dean Singleton, was reassigned to the position of “executive chairman of the board." The Singleton-Lodovic appointees to the MediaNews board were replaced by new directors representing the stockholders group led by Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund firm which has acquired a large, though not controlling, stake. Several interim executive positions were also filled by people related to Alden or its parent, Smith Management LLC.^[10] MediaNews became managed by Journal Register's Digital First Media.^[11]

In March 2016, a bankruptcy judge approved the sale of Freedom Communications and its two major newspapers, the Orange County Register and the Riverside Press-Enterprise to Digital First Media. The papers were integrated into Digital First Media's Los Angeles Newspaper Group, which was renamed the Southern California News Group on the same day.^[17]^[18]

In November 2018, DFM announced plans to lay off 107 staff from its Colorado Springs, Colorado financial services operations, as it outsources the work to Genpact starting December 28.^[19]^[20]

In January 2019, Digital First Media acquired 7.5% of Gannett's public stock,^[21] and made an unsolicited bid to acquire Gannett for $1.36 billion. The offer was rejected by Gannett's board for undervaluing the company.^[22] On February 11, 2019, Gannett issued a press release accusing Digital First Media of engaging in a proxy fight.^[23]

Newspapers

Daily newspapers

Daily newspapers owned by MediaNews, alphabetically by state and hometown, include:^[24]

Weekly newspapers

Other properties

Former properties

Controversy

MediaNews Group is known as a cost-cutter in the newspaper publishing industry. The company has a reputation for buying smaller daily newspapers in a single area (examples include Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area) and consolidating their operations, including sharing staff writers and printing facilities. As a result of the cost-cutting, some former employees say that the newspapers are focused on making a profit to the detriment of good journalism.^[27]

Former owner William Dean Singleton was quick to point out MediaNews's commitment to print journalism, not diversification into other media. The Berkshire Eagle editor David E. Scribner, two years after MediaNews bought his newspaper, said the staff respected Singleton despite layoffs because of his hands-on leadership and "traditional emphasis on good writing."^[28]

However, in recent years similar criticism has been aimed at the new organizational structure under Digital First Media. The Denver Post editorial staff and others have criticized the owners of hedge fund group, Alden Global Capital. Alden has a reputation for cutting costs by reducing the number of journalists working on its newspapers, and March 2018, The Washington Post called Alden "one of the most ruthless of the corporate strip-miners seemingly intent on destroying local journalism."^[29]^[30] Alden has additionally received critical coverage from its editorial staff of the Denver Post and described Alden Global Capital as "vulture capitalists" after multiple staff layoffs.^[31]

Antitrust allegations

On July 14, 2006, San Francisco businessman and real estate investor Clint Reilly filed a lawsuit against MediaNews Group and San Francisco Chronicle parent Hearst Communications, alleging that the two companies have been conspiring to control advertising rates, a violation of antitrust laws. In November 2006, Reilly's attorney presented to U.S. District Judge Susan Illston a letter from Hearst senior vice president James Asher to MediaNews President Jody Lodovic that said the two companies agreed to "offer national advertising and internet advertising sales for their San Francisco Bay Area newspapers on a joint basis, and to consolidate the San Francisco Bay Area distribution networks of such newspapers ...." Illston, suggesting she had been misled by the companies when they said they had not been collaborating, issued a 14-page ruling^[32] forbidding Hearst and MediaNews from working together on national advertising sales or distribution.

On December 21, 2006, the San Francisco Bay Guardian and nonprofit Media Alliance filed suit to make the details of Reilly's lawsuit—and MediaNews and the Chronicle's response—public.^[33] As a result of the filing, many documents in the case were voluntarily disclosed by the defendants. The judge allowed redacted versions of two more documents to be released. She kept 17 others under seal. One of the documents unsealed was the deposition of Hearst's Asher, who says that as of September 2006, his company had recorded cumulative losses of $330 million on its investment in the Chronicle,^[34] which it acquired in mid-2000. He said Hearst proposed selling the Chronicle to MediaNews, but MediaNews didn't offer enough money. Asher also said Hearst and MediaNews have discussed working together for years. Although the trial was scheduled to start Monday, April 30, 2007 in U.S. District Court in San Francisco,^[35] the parties announced Wednesday, April 25, 2007 that a settlement had been reached.^[36]

References

1. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalfirstmedia.com/leadership/ | title=digitalfirstmedia.com Leadership |accessdate= Dec 14, 2016}}
2. ^{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Timothy |title=Governing With the News, Second Edition: The News Media as a Political Institution (Studies in Communication, Media, and Public Opinion) |date=15 August 2005 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0226115016}}
3. ^{{cite book |last1=Charles |first1=Rivers |title=America’s Most Influential Editors: The History of the Newspaper Publishers Who Changed American Journalism and Politics}}
4. ^{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/16/business/richard-b-scudder-co-founder-of-medianews-group-dies-at-99.html|title=Richard B. Scudder, Co-Founder of MediaNews Group, Dies at 99|last=Hevesi|first=Dennis|date=2012-11-15|work=New York Times|accessdate=2012-08-10}}
5. ^http://www.medianewsgroup.com/about/ Blurb from the corporate website
6. ^http://www.medianewsgroup.com/about/ MediaNews Group About Page
7. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.colepapers.net/TCP.archive/Cole_Papers_91-94/TCP9402.html#3|title=ALAMEDA: FIVE NEWSPAPERS PAGINATE 2300 PAGES PER WEEK|date=Feb 6, 1994|work=The Cole Papers|accessdate=April 1, 2013}}
8. ^"[https://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1156197009514&call_pageid=968350072197&col=969048863851 "Gates Foundation Makes MediaNews Loan"], Toronto Star. August 22, 2006.
9. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-22/affiliated-media-files-for-bankruptcy-to-restructure-update1-.html|title=Affiliated Media Files for Bankruptcy to Restructure (Update2)|last=McCarty|first=Dawn|last2=Bensinger|first2=Greg|date=2010-01-22|website=BusinessWeek|publisher=Bloomberg|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|accessdate=2011-02-22}}
10. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.niemanlab.org/2011/01/the-shakeup-at-medianews-why-it-could-be-the-leadup-to-a-massive-newspaper-consolidation/|title=The shakeup at MediaNews: Why it could be the leadup to a massive newspaper consolidation|last=Langeveld|first=Martin|date=2011-01-20|website=Nieman Journalism Lab|publisher=The Nieman Foundation for Journalism (Harvard University)|accessdate=2011-02-22}}
11. ^{{Cite web|url=https://stevebuttry.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/journal-registers-digital-first-media-will-manage-medianews/|title=Journal Register’s Digital First Media will manage MediaNews|last=Buttry|first=Steve|date=2011-09-07|website=The Buttry Diary|language=en|access-date=2019-01-15}}
12. ^{{Cite news|url=http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_20551738/digital-first-medias-chief-says-newspapers-have-key|title=Digital First Media's chief says newspapers have key advantages in the struggle for readers and advertising|last=Carey|first=Pete|date=May 4, 2012|work=San Jose Mercury News|access-date=}}
13. ^¹{{Cite news|url=https://www.thestreet.com/story/14355328/1/digital-first-media-s-ceo-steps-down-what-may-lie-ahead-for-dfm.html|title=Digital First Media's CEO steps down; what may lie ahead for the company?|last=Doctor|first=Ken|date=2017-10-23|work=TheStreet|access-date=2018-02-03|language=en-US}}
14. ^{{Cite web|url=http://aldenexposed.com/petition/|title=Petition {{!}} Alden|website=aldenexposed.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-01-13}}
15. ^{{Cite web|url=https://dfmworkers.org/|title=DFM Workers|website=DFM Workers|language=en-US|access-date=2018-01-13}}
16. ^{{cite news|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2018/02/13/denver-chain-wins-bidding-for-boston-herald-with-package/mqWbop45lnZfO67ExBsBHI/story.html|title=Digital First Media wins bidding for Herald with $12m package|last=Chesto|first=Jon|date=2018-02-13|work=Boston Globe|access-date=2018-02-15|language=en-US}}
17. ^{{Cite web|url=http://www.talkingnewmedia.com/2016/03/21/bankruptcy-judge-approves-digital-first-media-purchase-of-freedom-communications-assets/|title=Bankruptcy judge approves Digital First Media purchase of Freedom Communications assets|last=Hebbard|first=D.B.|date=2016-03-21|website=Talking New Media|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-15}}
18. ^{{Cite web|url=http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2016/03/memo_la_news_group_now_so.php|title=Memo: LA News Group now So Cal News Group|last=Roderick|first=Kevin|date=2016-03-21|website=LA Observed|access-date=2019-01-15}}
19. ^{{Cite news|url=https://www.westword.com/news/how-107-digital-first-media-colorado-springs-layoffs-will-impact-denver-post-96-sister-papers-10966129|title=How 107 Digital First Media Layoffs Will Impact Denver Post, 96 Sister Papers|last=Roberts|first=Michael|date=2018-11-01|work=Westword|access-date=2018-11-02}}
20. ^{{Cite news|url=https://gazette.com/business/digital-first-media-laying-off-at-colorado-springs-service-center/article_060deb16-dc83-11e8-b447-534b9cc3d74c.html|title=Owner of The Denver Post laying off 107 at Colorado Springs service center|last=Heilman|first=Wayne|date=2018-10-30|work=Colorado Springs Gazette|access-date=2018-11-02|language=en}}
21. ^{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/digital-first-media-is-planning-a-play-to-buy-gannett-wsj-2019-1|title=Digital First Media is reportedly planning to make an offer to buy USA Today publisher Gannett|last=Edwards|first=Christian|website=Business Insider|access-date=2019-03-17}}
22. ^{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-gannett-turns-down-digital-first-20190204-story.html|title=Gannett rejects $1.36 billion buyout offer from Digital First Media|last=Arbel|first=Tali|website=Chicago Tribune|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-11}}
23. ^{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2019/02/gannett-rebuffs-board-maneuver-by-digital-first-media-in-proxy-fight-1202554442/|title=Gannett Rebuffs Board Maneuver By Digital First Media In Proxy Fight, Blasts Takeover Proposal As “Deficient”|last=Hayes|first=Dade|last2=Hayes|first2=Dade|date=2019-02-11|website=Deadline|language=en|access-date=2019-03-11}}
24. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.medianewsgroup.com/consumers/Pages/ourbrands.aspx|title=Daily newspapers|author=MediaNews Group|work=Our newspapers|location=Denver, Colorado|accessdate=14 April 2012}}
25. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.medianewsgroup.com/consumers/Pages/Non-Dailies.aspx|title=Non-daily newspapers|author=MediaNews Group|work=Our newspapers|location=Denver, Colorado|accessdate=14 April 2012}}
26. ^http://www.timescall.com/ci_17152929
27. ^{{Cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-fi-singleton22mar22,1,6398768,full.story|title=There Are Two Sides to This Publisher's Story|last=Menn|first=Joseph|date=March 22, 2006|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=}}
28. ^Elfland, Mike. "Sentinel & Enterprise Sale Set," Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass.), January 8, 1997.
29. ^{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/12/business/media/denver-post-alden-global-capital.html|title=Colorado Group Pushes to Buy Embattled Denver Post From New York Hedge Fund|last=Ember|first=Sydney|date=12 April 2018|publisher=|via=NYTimes.com|accessdate=12 April 2018}}
30. ^{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/tonysilber/2018/04/09/job-on-the-line-denver-post-editor-hears-nothing-from-company-owner/#238c715871cf|title=Job on the Line, Denver Post Editor Hears Nothing from Company Owner|last=Silber|first=Tony|date=|website=forbes.com|accessdate=12 April 2018}}
31. ^{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/07/business/media/denver-post-opinion-owner.html|title=Denver Post Rebels Against Its Hedge-Fund Ownership|last=Ember|first=Sydney|date=2018-04-07|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-05-02|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}
32. ^U.S. District Court Order Re: Second Application for Temporary Restraining Order, November 28, 2006.
33. ^{{Cite news|url=http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/weekly-nonprofit-sue-to-open-records/Content?oid=2156895|title=Weekly, Nonprofit Sue to Open Records|last=Williamson|first=Kate|date=December 22, 2006|work=San Francisco Examiner|access-date=}}
34. ^{{Cite news|url=http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/02/01/BUGF7NT32227.DTL|title=Hearst, MediaNews Talks Included Possible Sale of Chronicle|last=Said|first=Carolyn|date=February 1, 2007|work=San Francisco Chronicle|access-date=}}
35. ^{{Cite news|url=http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/medianews-hearst-trial-set-to-proceed/Content?oid=2155441|title=MediaNews, Hearst Trial Set to Proceed|last=|first=|date=February 9, 2007|work=San Francisco Examiner|access-date=}}
36. ^{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/25/BUG01PF68G7.DTL|title=Hearst, MediaNews Group settle Reilly suit|last=Egelko|first=Bob|date=2007-04-25|work=San Francisco Chronicle|accessdate=2007-05-30}}