Daily Camera Fires Editor Over Blog Post

BOULDER, CO -- An editor at Boulder's The Daily Camera was fired after he published on a blog an essay that he said his publisher blocked from the newspaper. Dave Krieger, editorial page editor, on Wednesday tweeted that he was "terminated" from his job at the newspaper, owned by Digital First Media, which, like the Denver Post, is controlled by New York hedge fund Alden Globe Capital.

The blog post criticized the private equity majority owners of the Post, Camera and several other local Colorado papers saying that the corporate business model was draining the newspapers dry by firing staff and liquidating assets. Krieger wrote:

If Boulder had another 128-year-old institution in danger of imminent demise, particularly one exercising an essential democratic freedom enshrined in the Bill of Rights, the Camera would be obliged to cover it. But we have a dilemma on this particular story: the desire of your local journalists to see the Camera survive and thrive versus the desire of our private equity owners to continue draining cash from the business without encountering any more adverse publicity than necessary.

Krieger also called out some of the owners of Alden, who have been accused of using profits from their media empire to enrich themselves.

Journalism is not just any business. It is part of our democratic infrastructure. A minority shareholder in Digital First Media recently filed a lawsuit claiming Alden has drained tens of millions of dollars from its newspapers in order to make dubious, unrelated investments. In a court filing in response to the suit, Alden essentially admitted as much. The Nation reported that Alden principal Randall D. Smith bought up 16 mansions in and around Palm Beach, Fla., for $57.2 million. As always, Alden declines comment. It does not appear to harbor any sense of corporate responsibility or accountability.

Krieger may have been emboldened by Denver Post editorial page editor Chuck Plunkett who published a rogue editorial headlined "As vultures circle, The Denver Post must be saved," calling for the paper to be sold. Digital First Media cut 30 newsroom staffers in March, even after posting solid profits in 2017, Plunkett pointed out. Plunkett allegedly didn't inform the newspaper's editor or owners of his intentions.

Plunkett's editorial generated headlines across the country as an example of how a hedge fund business model is breaking down the ability of newsrooms to cover their communities.

The Denver Post is a union newsroom, with reporters and editors represented by Denver Newspaper Guild, and the Daily Camera is not.

Krieger elaborated Thursday on the events that led to his firing. He said the editorial he wrote was determined by his superiors to be written on "company time" and that it was not permitted to be published on another news source, his blog "which didn't exist until this week."

The grounds for firing me I would have understood in the traditional sense was the claim that I disparaged my employer. I certainly did that, although it was in defense of my immediate employer, the Camera, that I disparaged its private equity owners. But this is one of those cases where the very essence of what we are about comes into play. When do we serve our readers, and our obligation to tell them what’s going on? When do we stand up for telling them the truth? When do we quit covering for the unaccountable hedge fund we work for?... This is an important story, not just in Boulder, but in Denver, in San Jose, in Orange County, in St. Paul, and many other places where Alden is destroying papers to make its principals richer than they already are. Alden is now actively using these properties to suppress this story. If journalism is in your heart and in your blood, it’s your duty to tell that story. At least, that’s how I felt leaving that office park for the last time.

Krieger is a 27-year veteran of the now-defunct Rocky Mountain News sports section and then worked at the Denver Post and in local radio. He was named editor of the editorial page at the Camera in 2014.

Yes, I can confirm that I was fired today by @dailycamera. Actually, the verb the publisher used was "terminated." As a euphemism for fired, it's actually way worse. I'd much rather be fired than terminated. Thankfully, that's what happened. 1/2
— Dave Krieger (@DaveKrieger) April" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/DaveKriege... 26, 2018

Image via Shutterstock