Caught on the news today that the BOD of Lee Enterprises, owner of the Southern Illinoisan, rebuffed a takeover bid by the Alden Capital Global hedge fund, calling the offer greatly undervalued. Alden is a venture capital fund that specializes in buying up newspapers, selling off their real estate and offering buyouts to the staff, reducing costs and pulling as much profit out of the paper as possible.
Although much of the material in the Southern comes from wire services and Lee Enterprizes other papers (when was the last time you saw a Thumbs Up Thumbs Down column), it still covers local sports and local news on the frront page as well as the odd city council meeting. We need a local paper. Research sshows that, without a local paper reporting on local politics, voter particpation drops and taxes increase, generally because residents of the community pay very little attention to the activities of their city council. Most city council meetings I have attended have fewer than a dozen people in the audience and most of those leave after their issue is adressed. Despite how the Southern has shrunk over the years, it still performs an important service to the city, one that would be further reduced should Alden gain control.
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