The Denver Post is owned by MediaNews Group, a Denver-based newspaper company that is itself controlled by Alden Global Capital, a New York hedge fund. Alden has held majority control since 2010, which makes the Post one of roughly 200 American newspapers that ultimately answer to the same hedge fund.
MediaNews Group Is the Direct Owner
MediaNews Group, formally incorporated as MNG Enterprises, is the corporate parent that holds the Denver Post as its flagship publication. The company previously operated under the Digital First Media brand before reverting to the MediaNews Group name. Its headquarters sit at 5990 Washington Street in Denver, in the same building as the Post’s printing operations.
MediaNews Group is privately held and ranks among the largest newspaper chains in the country, managing roughly 200 publications across more than a dozen states. It controls the Post’s business operations, advertising, employment contracts, and distribution.
How Alden Global Capital Took Control
Alden Global Capital acquired its majority stake in 2010, after Affiliated Media, a subsidiary within the MediaNews Group corporate structure, filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware.1Wikipedia. Alden Global Capital The reorganization cut MediaNews Group’s debt from roughly $930 million to $165 million, with senior lenders swapping debt for stock. Alden’s appointees replaced the existing board, which gave the fund effective control.
Alden has since built out one of the largest newspaper portfolios in the country. In 2021 it closed a $633 million acquisition of Tribune Publishing, adding the Chicago Tribune, the Baltimore Sun, the Hartford Courant, and the New York Daily News, among others.2Chicago Tribune. Alden Closes $633 Million Purchase of Tribune Publishing Across its holdings, Alden controls roughly 200 American newspapers, placing it second only to Gannett.
What Alden Ownership Has Meant for the Post
Under Alden, the Post’s newsroom has shrunk sharply. It once employed more than 250 journalists. By early 2018, that number had fallen below 100, and further layoffs followed.3The Denver Post. Editorial: As Vultures Circle, The Denver Post Must Be Saved
In April 2018, the Post’s own editorial board publicly turned on its owner in an editorial titled “As vultures circle, The Denver Post must be saved.” The board accused Alden of hiding “behind a narrative that adequately staffed newsrooms and newspapers can no longer survive in the digital marketplace” and said the fund had “pumped hundreds of millions of dollars of its newspaper profits into shaky investments completely unrelated to the business of gathering news.”3The Denver Post. Editorial: As Vultures Circle, The Denver Post Must Be Saved The editorial also noted that publisher Mac Tully had resigned before journalists moved into their new headquarters, and that editor Gregory L. Moore had left in 2016 “unable to endure the new fund’s directives any longer.”
A Colorado civic group tried to organize a local purchase of the paper after the editorial ran. No deal materialized, and Alden kept control.
Who Runs the Paper Today
Day-to-day editorial leadership rests with Lee Ann Colacioppo, the paper’s editor, and Matt Sebastian, the managing editor.4The Denver Post. How to Contact Us At the corporate level, Guy Gilmore serves as Chief Operating Officer of MediaNews Group, coordinating operations across the chain’s national portfolio.5MediaNews Group. Leadership
Other Colorado Papers Under the Same Owner
The Denver Post is not the only Colorado paper under MediaNews Group. The same corporate umbrella covers the Boulder Daily Camera, the Longmont Times-Call, the Loveland Reporter-Herald, and the Greeley Tribune.6MediaNews Group. Communities MediaNews Group places these titles in its “West” division, which allows them to share certain administrative and advertising functions while keeping their local mastheads. The staffing cuts seen at the Post have reached these smaller papers as well.