Sunday, May 23, 2021
'Terrible News': Tribune Shareholders Approve $633 Million Sale to Vulture Fund Alden Global
A union leader had urged the newspaper company's second-largest shareholder to vote "no," warning that "Alden ownership would be a disaster for Chicago, democracy, and society at large."
Jessica Corbett, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/05/21/terrible-news-tribune-shareholders-approve-633-million-sale-vulture-fund-alden
Tribune Publishing shareholders on Friday approved "vulture" fund Alden Global Capital's $633 million bid to buy the Chicago-based newspaper chain—a development that sparked both confusion about how key ballots were recorded as well as outrage among journalists, union leaders, and readers alarmed over what the future may hold.
The New York-based hedge fund, which critics have called "the face of bloodless strip-mining of American newspapers and their communities," plans to take the company private and will become the second-largest newspaper owner in the United States, after Gannett, if the deal closes, which is expected by the end of June. Alden was already the largest shareholder, holding about a third of the company's stock.
"This is terrible news for the Chicago Tribune and all our sister newspapers. It's also terrible news for the communities these papers cover and, I'd argue, for the country," humor columnist Rex Huppke said in a series of tweets. "I'm going to take a moment to feel angry, disappointed, and a bit scared. Then I'm going to do exactly what my colleagues here in Chicago, and my colleagues in Baltimore and New York and Hartford and Orlando and in newsrooms across the country, will do: get back to work."
Tribune Publishing's other outlets include The Baltimore Sun; the Hartford Courant; the Orlando Sentinel; the South Florida Sun Sentinel; the New York Daily News; the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland; The Morning Call in Allentown, Pennsylvania; the Daily Press in Newport News, Virginia; and The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Virginia.
In a joint statement Friday, unions representing newsroom staff across the newspaper chain blasted the shareholder vote and vowed to keep fighting for media workers.
"Today, Tribune Publishing shareholders voted to put profit and greed over local news in our country," the statement said. "While we are saddened by the turn of events, we know that our work over the past year—to build allies in the community and to raise awareness about Alden—is not in vain. Those allies will support us as we fight against Alden to protect local news and the cuts that they will inevitably try to make."
Last weekend, hundreds of NewsGuild members rallied in Annapolis, Chicago, Hartford, Orlando, and Virginia Beach against Alden's attempt to purchase Tribune Publishing.
"A takeover by Alden Global Capital is a threat to the work that our journalists do for our community," Ella Wood of UNITE HERE Local 737 warned at the Orlando rally. "Without your work, our stories do not get told."
Jim Friedlich, the chief executive of the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, a nonprofit that owns The Philadelphia Inquirer, tweeted that Friday was "a very bad day for local news," expressing concern about what the hedge fund will do the newspapers.
"Alden's playbook is pretty straightforward: Buy low, cut deeper," Friedlich explained to the New York Times. "There's little reason to believe that Alden will approach full ownership of Tribune any differently than they have their other news properties."
NPR's David Folkenflik reported Friday that "Alden's founder, Randall Smith, sits on Tribune's board, as do two other directors with close ties to Alden. Smith's protégé, Heath Freeman, oversees Alden's previous newspaper holdings and is the fund's president. Both men keep low public profiles."
In a statement after the shareholder meeting, Freeman confirmed the outcome of the vote and said that "the purchase of Tribune reaffirms our commitment to the newspaper industry and our focus on getting publications to a place where they can operate sustainably over the long term."
Approval of the sale required the votes of at least two-thirds of shares not owned by Alden. Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong owns about a 24% stake in Tribune Publishing, making him the company's second-largest shareholder. His spokesperson said Friday that he abstained from voting, which caused widespread confusion.
Although an official abstention would have counted as an "no" vote, killing the proposed sale, the Chicago Tribune reported that company officials confirmed the proxy ballots registered to Soon-Shiong were submitted without the "abstain" box checked, so they were counted as "yes" votes.
Gregory Pratt, a city hall reporter and president of Chicago Tribune Guild, tweeted early Friday afternoon that "this is what we call a fluid situation—and a total nightmare," while Jon Schleuss, president of the NewsGuild, told the Associated Press, "We're digging into this question right now."
Schleuss later said that Tribune Publishing pointed to the Chicago Tribune's report "as providing the best clarification."
In a series of updates on Twitter, NPR's Folkenflik said that sources told him Soon-Shiong—who also owns the Los Angeles Times and The San Diego Union-Tribune—chose not to vote on the Alden-Tribune deal and "the sale was the result he intended."
Soon-Shiong's spokesperson said in a statement Friday that "for the past several years, Tribune Publishing has been a passive investment, as he has remained focused on the leadership roles he holds across his companies."
Earlier this week, Pratt wrote in an open letter to Soon-Shiong that "the newspapers in Tribune Publishing need your help." Advocating for a 'no' vote, the union leader warned that "Alden ownership would be a disaster for Chicago, democracy, and society at large."
"He should have taken a stand as a civic leader in journalism," Pratt told the New York Times on Friday. "He had a responsibility, in my opinion, to vote 'no,' but at the bare minimum he had a responsibility to take a firm stance one way or the other instead of punt."
Schleuss was also critical, saying in a lengthy statement that "voting in favor of selling to Alden represents a short-sighted view of the value of the company, and an utter disregard for the value of quality news coverage."
"I am disturbed and upset. Yet, I cannot help but be optimistic," Schleuss added. "We will continue to fight back. Our fight is a righteous one. We are fighting for our democracy."
Dennis Prager does NOT CARE about DYING KIDS! (Prager CHALLENGES John Oliver to a Debate!!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2h4Eic4qw4
'An Absolute Nightmare': Video Shows Tennessee Officers Taunted Hogtied Man Before He Died
"You shouldn't be able to breathe," one officer replied to William Jennette's plea moments before the man's death at the Marshall County Jail in Lewisburg last May.
by
Brett Wilkins, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/05/21/absolute-nightmare-video-shows-tennessee-officers-taunted-hogtied-man-he-died
Justice advocates on Friday condemned officers at a Tennessee county jail for taunting a hogtied man moments before his death after a local news station published video of the incident.
"There's approximately a three-minute, 43-second period after officers have applied handcuffs where they keep the individual in the prone position, and that's not acceptable."
—Seth Stoughton,
use-of-force expert
William Jennette—a 48-year-old white father of five—died on May 6, 2020 at the Marshall County Jail in Lewisburg, Tennessee after a group of officers from multiple law enforcement agencies restrained him and kneeled on his back for several minutes while he screamed for help, WTVF reports.
Video obtained by the Nashville station shows Jennette—who was arrested for alleged public intoxication, indecent exposure, and resisting arrest—yelling, "Help, they're going to kill me!"
One officer is heard commanding Jennette to "stay down, you stupid son of a bitch."
The video also shows Jennette repeatedly pleading with officers that he could not breathe.
"You shouldn't be able to breathe, you stupid bastard," an officer identified in a lawsuit as Kendra Burton replies.
At least two officers in the video say that Jennette bit them.
At one point in the video an officer sounds a note of caution, telling his colleagues: "Easy, easy—remember asphyxiation, guys."
To which another officer responds, "That's why I'm not on his lungs."
Jennette's last words were, "I'm good."
"No, you ain't good," an officer replies.
An autopsy (pdf) performed by the Marshall County Medical Examiner's Office ruled Jennette's death a homicide, listing the cause as "acute combined drug intoxication"—he had methamphetamine in his system—with asphyxia as a "contributory cause of death."
Despite that finding, a grand jury decided not to indict any of the officers.
Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund called the video "an absolute nightmare," tweeting: "Grand jury refuses to indict any. That's how it usually happens."
Chris Vanderveen, director of reporting at KUSA in Denver, tweeted that this is the 121st prone police restraint death he has logged.
One of Jennette's daughters, Dominque Jennette, filed a lawsuit (pdf) this February against Marshall County, the city of Lewisburg, and several of the officers involved. The suit alleges the officers' "savage beating" and "suffocation" of Jennette caused his death, and constitute a "deprivation of civil rights" under the Fourteenth Amendment.
"That just breaks my heart because he was someone worth knowing," his daughter told WTVF. "That's just something that really sticks with me, how scared he must have been and how alone he must have felt."
Dominique Jennette said she believes the officers "should have been more aware."
"They should have been trained properly, and they weren't," she added.
Seth Stoughton, a law professor and former police officer, told WTVF that the video shows "the exact opposite of what generally accepted training has taught officers for the last 25 years."
"When the handcuffs came on, they should have rotated the guy to his side," asserted Stoughton. "There's approximately a three-minute, 43-second period after officers have applied handcuffs where they keep the individual in the prone position, and that's not acceptable."
The video's release came one day after the Associated Press published footage it obtained of Louisiana state troopers stunning, punching, kicking, choking, and dragging 49-year-old Ronald Greene, who died during a May 2019 arrest following a high-speed chase.
'Outrageous': Georgia State Judge Allows Citizens to Examine Fulton County Ballots
"This is further shameful evidence that the Big Lie is becoming state policy," said attorney Marc Elias.
by
Julia Conley, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/05/22/outrageous-georgia-state-judge-allows-citizens-examine-fulton-county-ballots
Voting rights advocates on Saturday said that the fourth audit of some of Georgia's 2020 election results—set to go forward following a state judge's ruling Friday—is aimed at sowing doubt about President Joe Biden's victory more than six months after the election.
State Superior Court Judge Brian Amero ruled in favor of a group of local citizens under the name Voters Organized for Trusted Election Results in Georgia, allowing the group to inspect Fulton County's 147,000 mail-in ballots.
Georgia's five million ballots were subjected to a hand recount, a machine recount, and an investigation by the secretary of state—all of which confirmed Biden won the state with 49.5% of the vote and that there was no evidence of fraud in the tallying of votes.
The judge's decision to continue lending credibility to the notion that the election results are illegitimate is "shameful evidence that the Big Lie is becoming state policy," attorney and Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias tweeted.
Under the ruling the nine plaintiffs will be permitted to examine copies of the ballots to ensure they're not counterfeit. The original ballots will remain with Fulton County election officials. The audit and the citizens' demand for an official declaration that counterfeit ballots exist in the county, said Common Cause Georgia executive director Aunna Dennis, is aimed at not only creating the impression that former President Donald Trump's loss was illegitimate but also making it harder for Georgians to vote in the future.
"It's a cynical strategy," Dennis told the Washington Post. "Create artificial 'doubt' about our election processes, and then use that doubt to make voting harder for the voters you don't think will vote for you."
Republican state lawmakers in March passed a law that will curtail access to mail-in and absentee voting and make it a crime to hand out food or water to people waiting in line at polling places, among other voter suppression tactics.
The plaintiffs were given authorization to examine the county's ballots as a similar audit is taking place in Maricopa County, Arizona. Auditors there have investigated conspiracy theories including one that led them to look for bamboo fibers in 40,000 ballots that some believed were smuggled from China.
"This conspiracy theory about counterfeit ballots has been trotted out by proponents of the 'Big Lie' across the country and shot down every time," Fulton County Board of Commissioners Chairman Robb Pitts told CNN. "Whether it's looking for bamboo in Arizona's ballots or searching for counterfeits in Fulton's, it is nonsense."
Garland Favorito, founder of Voters Organized for Trusted Election Results in Georgia, acknowledged that the results of his group's investigation will not overturn Georgia's election results.
"It's not an election challenge and therefore this case alone could not do that," Favorito said. "What this case is about is the equal protection and due process, constitutional rights, of the plaintiffs and all Georgia voters. Because if counterfeit ballots were introduced into the certified results, it diluted our votes and the votes of all Georgians both within and outside of Fulton County."
Still, Pitts called Amero's ruling in favor of the group "outrageous."
"The fact remains that Fulton County safely and securely carried out an election in the midst of a public health pandemic," Pitts told the Post. "It's a shame to see that the 'Big Lie' lives on."
Nearly 200,000 Gather in London for History-Making Demonstration of Solidarity With Palestinians
"This movement is growing every single day," said the Muslim Association of Britain.
by
Julia Conley, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/05/22/nearly-200000-gather-london-history-making-demonstration-solidarity-palestinians
Nearly 200,000 people gathered in London Saturday for what organizers said was one of the largest demonstrations of solidarity with Palestinians in the United Kingdom's history.
Organizers with the Stop The War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Palestinian Forum in Britain, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and the Muslim Association of Britain had planned the protest before Hamas and Israel reached a ceasefire that began early Friday after an 11-day bombing campaign targeting the Gaza Strip.
The attacks killed more than 230 Palestinians including dozens of children. Rockets launched by Hamas killed 12 Israelis, according to authorities.
The groups went ahead with the demonstration despite the ceasefire—which was brokered by diplomats from Egypt, Qatar, and the United Nations—noting that "Palestinians in Gaza still face a 15-year long siege that entraps them and violates all of their human rights."
"Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem continue to face a brutal military occupation, including restrictions on movement, home demolitions, and the enforcement of military law on the civilian population," organizers said in a statement. "Palestinian citizens of Israel are still subject to over 65 laws that discriminate against them and render them second class citizens, and Palestinians in exile are still denied their right to return home."
The organizers expected roughly 150,000 people to take part in the solidarity march, but an estimated 180,000 showed up.
"This movement is growing every single day," tweeted the Muslim Association of Britain.
Participants marched from Victoria Embankment to Hyde Park, chanting slogans including "Free Palestine!" and "No Justice, No Peace!"
Chants of "Boris Johnson, shame on you!" were also heard as the demonstrators demanded the U.K. end its complicity in Israel's violent policies. As The Independent reported Saturday, equipment produced in the U.K. was used by the Israel Defense Forces in the most recent bombardment campaign.
Former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell was among the speakers who addressed the huge crowd at Hyde Park.
"Yes, a ceasefire has been negotiated and we welcome a ceasefire," said McDonnell. "But let's be clear, there will be no ceasefire in our campaign to boycott, disinvest, and sanction the Israeli apartheid state. The message is clear, we will not cease our campaign in solidarity until there is justice. So let's make it clear, no justice, no peace."
Demonstrators also gathered in other places including Paris, Dublin, and cities across the United States.
"Israel's system of apartheid and ethnic cleansing cannot continue," organizers of the historic London march said. "We can't stop just because Israel has temporarily stopped bombing Gaza. We must campaign and protest until the Palestinian people enjoy what is their birth right: freedom, justice and equality in their historic homeland."
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