Neverending Gannett?
Sometimes it’s probably helpful to remind readers why Fly on the Wall has been obsessed with MediaNews Group’s unfriendly attempt to acquire Gannett, The Commercial Appeal’s parent company.
Hedge fund-owned media companies like MNG/Alden Global Capital, have a history of quickly re-selling or shutting down properties with no valuable assets that can’t be shrunk into double-digit profitability. And if the CA shuts down, FOTW won’t have nearly as many funny headline typos to make jokes about.
This isn’t the only example of tough times making strange bedfellows, either. Last week the NewsGuild and Teamsters unions urged Gannett stockholders to reject the six directors nominated by MNG/Alden, a minority shareholder.
“We believe that hedge funds in general and Alden in particular have had a destructive impact on the news industry,” the unions’ letter stated somewhat ironically given Gannett’s similar, if less severe business strategies and decades of corporate union busting. The union support follows a Gannett-issued factsheet aimed at correcting relevant statements by MNG that may be false or misleading.
Neverending Elvis
It may have just gotten easier to rebuild Graceland anywhere in the world.
The official Elvis Presley Twitter account helped an Elvis fan from Denmark get the mandatory 10,000 supporters to move his plan for a Graceland Lego set to the next level.
