"Chris Kelly writes a twice-weekly column for the Scranton Times-Tribune, his place of work for the past 27 years. For all but a few months of that tenure, his bosses have been the Lynett family, descendants of E.J. Lynett, a breaker boy in the coal mines of northeastern Pennsylvania who went on to buy the newspaper in 1895. Over four generations, the Lynetts reminded staffers and their community alike of their commitment to both local journalism and local ownership.
When Kelly and some colleagues attended a journalism awards event in Harrisburg, he heard the gripes of staffers from the Reading Eagle, which had been acquired by MediaNews Group (MNG), a cost-cutting newspaper chain owned by hedge fund Alden Global Capital. “We all said to each other, ‘Thank god the Lynetts own us, because they’d never sell us to a hedge fund,’” recalls Kelly.
This past summer, the Lynetts did precisely that. On Aug. 31, staffers at the Times-Tribune gathered for a Q&A with James Lewandowski, CEO of Times-Shamrock Communications, the Lynett family’s media company. Those staffers had just learned that the company had new owners: Alden/MNG had bought the Scranton Times-Tribune along with three other regional dailies — the Citizens’ Voice (Wilkes-Barre), the Standard-Speaker (Hazleton) and the Republican Herald (Pottsville) — and other assets. Times-Shamrock held on to its radio and outdoor advertising businesses.
No one from Alden, however, was in attendance to answer questions. When he fielded inquiries about the paper’s future, Lewandowski said, “You’ll have to ask them.” Kelly responded, “Who is them?” Still seething at the turn of events, the columnist recounts: “I said, ‘You know, when we heard about the sale being possible, I said please don’t let it be a hedge fund. And you didn’t just sell it to a hedge fund, you sold it to the worst one.’”"
Erik Wemple, media critic, reports for the Washington Post December 14, 2023.
SEE ALSO:
"The Rise Of AI Fake News Is Creating A ‘Misinformation Superspreader’" (Washington Post)
"Witness Against Hong Kong Media Mogul Was Mistreated, Post Examination Finds" (Washington Post)
"Journalist Casualties In The Israel-Gaza War" (Committee to Protect Journalists)
"Jimmy Lai: Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Media Tycoon's Trial Begins" (BBC News)
"Israel’s Wartime Assault On The Free Press" (Vox)
"EU Backs Media Freedom Law Attacked by Musk and Orban" (Bloomberg)
"EU Negotiators Reach Deal On Media Law To Curb Spying On Reporters" (Politico)
Advertisement 
