THREE YEARS, TOO LONG: The NewsGuild of New York leadership approves $250K investment to fight predatory hedge fund Alden Global Capital and bolster Daily News reporters’ battle for a fair contract

NEW YORK – Leadership of The NewsGuild of New York has voted to approve an $250K investment to support journalists at New York’s Hometown Newspaper, the Daily News, fighting for a fair contract and for the ability to continue providing news vitally important to New Yorkers. 

The Executive Committee of The NewsGuild of New York, composed of leaders representing 56 bargaining units from across the labor union and nearly 6,000 media workers, committed to the investment at its monthly meeting on Tuesday. 

This investment will provide an infusion of cash into the Daily News Union’s nearly three-year campaign for a first contract to shore up a newsroom nearly bled dry by the newspaper’s owner, Alden Global Capital, and bring awareness about their predatory anti-union tactics and labor law violations. 

“We greatly appreciate the support from our union’s Executive Committee,” said Michael Sheridan, a video and photo editor with the Daily News who is Vice Chair of the Daily News Union. “It’s another example of how New York Guild members stand up for each other and will be tremendously helpful to our fight to get a fair contract and show New Yorkers that we’re the ones standing up for the journalism New Yorkers have counted on for over a century.”

For 106 years, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Daily News has served as the watchdog and storyteller of New York City, bringing news to the city’s doorsteps and street corners. But in May 2021, predatory hedge fund Alden Global Capital acquired the Daily News and immediately began to extract profits by slashing staff and selling off real-estate, including the newspaper’s printing plant in New Jersey and Daily News newsroom offices in downtown Manhattan. 

A group of former Daily News employees—including many of New York’s most prominent journalists—sent a petition last week to Daily News Executive Editor Andrew Julien, showing their full support for the newsroom union. 

Julien has been a non-existent presence in the newsroom, sitting back while Alden execs have drained newsroom resources and undermined journalists’ ability to cover the city. Daily News Union members and their supporters have been distributing informational fliers around NYC to let the public know about Julien’s leadership deficiencies as well as their fight for a fair contract. 

Julien’s absence was fully on display on Tuesday after NYC Mayor Adams Eric Adams barred a  top Daily News reporter from future pressers for simply doing his job by asking the mayor questions. Union members had to launch a reply-all email action throughout the day to get  Julien to respond and all he could ultimately muster six hours later was a limp post on social media. 

Meanwhile, journalists and supporters from across the city showed their support on social media, showing how much the Daily News Union’s work means to them.

“Our allocation of 250K to support Daily News Union members’ fight for a fair contract is a clear demonstration of how much our entire union supports our fellow Guild members,” said Susan DeCarava, president of The NewsGuild of New York. “We believe in the award-winning journalism they produce for New York, far more than the management does, and we stand ready to fight for a better, more stable, unionized newsroom with a strong contract at The New York Daily News.”