Joint Florida Guilds' statement on hedge fund winning bid for McClatchy

One Herald Guild and Bradenton Herald NewsGuild along with our colleagues throughout the McClatchy Company learned on Sunday that hedge fund Chatham Asset Management, the company’s largest creditor, was the successful bidder in an auction to buy the bankrupt newspaper chain. This asset sale is not yet final. It must be approved by the bankruptcy judge during a hearing scheduled for July 24.

Despite the uncertainty we face, we want to tell the readers that we are still here, and we are not going anywhere. We formed our unions with the mission of preserving the investment of newsroom resources into independent local journalism that serves our communities. Our goal is to preserve our dedicated and award-winning staff, and have a say in our newsrooms’ futures. We have made solid gains for our members under extremely difficult circumstances by building relationships with our leadership, with our own colleagues, and the communities we serve. No matter who owns us, we will continue to fight for these goals.

We are disturbed by the devastating impact that hedge funds have had on local newspapers across the country, and strongly oppose the role they have played in the indiscriminate decimation of our industry. In their pursuit of profits, hedge funds like Alden Global Capital stripped local newsrooms like the Denver Post and the St. Paul Pioneer Press of staff and resources, and by doing so, stripped communities of their right to essential information.

Without local journalists monitoring and questioning government and private business, corruption soars, voting declines, and communities divide. L

Let us reiterate this point: We do not share Chatham’s values for maximizing profits at all costs. But regardless of who owns us, members of One Herald Guild and the Bradenton Herald NewsGuild are prepared to defend the rights we are afforded under federal labor law. This includes our employer’s duty to bargain with our newsrooms in good faith and to respect our existing working conditions.

We hope Chatham will also make public how it intends to work with unions as the hedge fund was required to document as part of its bid. Since the filing of the bankruptcy in February, the NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America has had a lawyer representing the Guild throughout the proceedings to ensure that union contracts will remain in force and members’ employment will continue uninterrupted.

“We are deeply concerned that this venerable newspaper chain – which has won 54 Pulitzer Prizes – will now transfer to the ownership of a hedge fund more known for its drive to maximize profits than for its commitment to producing quality journalism,’’ said Marian Needham, executive vice president of The NewsGuild, who serves on the creditors committee.

These are difficult times for our copy editors, photographers, producers, reporters, designers and translators, whose lives have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we are proud of the vital content we have continued to produce despite the anxiety and uncertainty over our future. We are thankful for the unrelenting support from community leaders, The NewsGuild and our readers.

A company’s value is as good as its people. We are not just numbers in an asset sale. The staff at the Miami Herald, el Nuevo Herald and the Bradenton Herald remain committed to the communities we have been serving, keeping them informed about things that matter, not just during the COVID-19 pandemic, but in their everyday lives.