The owner of the New York Daily News fired 16 people this week – a “Valentine’s Day massacre” that leaves the paper with a skeleton staff as layoffs continue to wreak havoc across the news industry.
Vulture hedge fund Alden Global Capital on Thursday axed six people from the paper’s national desk – leaving just four writers to cover US and international news – along with seven print production staffers, two people in the photo department and one metro reporter, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.
“Alden Global Capital — the nation’s most predatory newspaper owner — has again lived up to its reputation as the parasitic ‘destroyer of newspapers,’” the Daily News Union said in a statement, with their X account dubbing the layoffs a “Valentine’s Day Massacre.”
“These layoffs, which are the direct result of the repellent corporate greed that Alden Global Capital is known for, are being done without any concern for the future of The Daily News,” the union added, noting it is losing 28% of its members through the “egregious layoffs.”
After two veteran reporters recently took buyouts, there are now only about 16 reporters covering metro stories for the Daily News.
The paper’s executive editor Andrew Julien told staffers the publication will focus on “what happens here,” and less on “breaking crime news coverage outside of the NYC area.”
“Against the backdrop of a highly competitive media landscape, the Daily News remains committed to our mission as New York’s Hometown Newspaper to shed light on the critical issues facing our community,” Julien said in a message he shared on X.
He added that metro and sports coverage would not be impacted, though those sections were previously devastated through repeated rounds of cuts and voluntary exits by staff.
Julien did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Post also sought comment from Alden Global Capital.
Staff were left seething over the latest layoffs.
“The vampiric owners of The News are seeking to drain the lifeblood of the paper,” a staffer told The Post on Friday.
“The cowards running the show refuse to face their staff to answer questions as to why there’s no metro editor, no statehouse reporter and just one person covering City Hall,” the person added. “It’s an embarrassment.”
The 106-year-old tabloid Daily News, which bills itself as “New York’s Hometown Newspaper,” was scooped up by notorious vulture hedge fund Alden Global Capital, which owns more than 200 newspapers, as part of a $633 million acquisition of Tribune Publishing in May 2021.
Under Alden’s thumb, Daily News workers have “quit in droves,” with 20% of the newsroom leaving over just three months in 2022, according to the union. Meanwhile, new policies have required the remaining staff to get pre-approval for overtime pay.
In 2024, staffers walked off the job in the paper’s first work stoppage in three decades to protest “chronic cuts” by its hedge fund owners that “shrink the budget to fill their pockets.”
To save money, Alden outsourced the Daily News’ printing operations and sold off the state-of-the-art presses at its former plant in Bayonne, NJ.
During the pandemic, the paper permanently closed its offices at 4 New York Plaza in FiDi in another cost-cutting measure.
While Alden Global Capital has had offices in the architecturally notable Lipstick Building at 885 Third Ave., the Daily News has remained homeless — except for a few desks at a shared workspace in Midtown.
The Post sought comment from Alden Capital.
The Daily News cuts come as the news industry as a whole remains in turmoil. The Washington Post fired about a third of its staff earlier this month, and CBS News is in the middle of layoffs under new leadership.
