Daily News Union

Editor’s note: Why the fake Daily News cover worked Journalists worked hard to earn respect – even from the president.

"New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s gambit of flattering President Donald Trump with a mocked up front page of the future – 'Trump to City: Let’s Build' – only worked so well because of the blood, sweat and tears that Daily Newsers since 1919 have put into making the paper a respected brand."

Heath Freeman and Randall Smith of Alden Global Capital, the private equity raiders who bought the News and hired Julien, have shown time and again that they are not worthy of the history of the Daily News brand.

Censoring "Voice of the People" is simply the latest example.

In reality, he ordered the censorship of any readers doing just that: asking questions about the future of their hometown newspaper.

He silenced the "Voice of the People" when it was critical of the layoffs.

In laying off a third of the staff, Executive Editor
Andrew Julien went on Twitter to say the cuts were "to better align resources with reader needs," and that he was "available to speak with anyone who has questions."

"Voice of the People" is one of The News' longest running features.

In John Chapman's 1961 history of The News, Tell it to Sweeney, he writes: "There has always been room for—indeed, a welcome for—a 'you stink,' 'you skunks,' 'your filthy sheet' letter in the Voice of the People."

Mr. Causey gave us permission to run the letter here, adding, "Wishing you guys the best. Hang in there!"

Last week, a Daily News reader wrote to one of The News' oldest institutions -- the Voice of the People -- to express his dismay over Alden's decision to lay off nearly a third of our staff.

Orders from management were "don't print it"

Oh and when we do get those scoops, we stand by our reporting enough to leave it all in the online version, too

We may be low on editors, but even we know that's a wordy lede.

It appears New York's Other Paper is big mad we still scoop them on a regular basis

The president and the mayor may rightly acknowledge us as the city's hometown paper, but Heath Freeman, head of Alden, apparently still doesn't get it.

What the @nytimes.com fails to mention (again) is that the reason for the font change (which extends beyond the wood - aka "page 1" - to the entirety of the paper) is Alden Capital's decision to lay off our entire print production staff.

It would be great, too, if the @nytimes.com media desk would spend even half the effort it took to write this story on providing coverage of this month's layoffs at the Daily News.

‘Z’? ‘Zo’? ‘Mam’? A New Mayor Needs a Nickname.

Not filling a vacancy on the City Hall desk, not hiring an Albany reporter or a metro editor, not retaining our national desk or our print production staff, not even keeping our iconic fonts...

The letter "h"

Two weeks after announcing layoffs that cut 28% of our unionized staff, Executive Editor Andrew Julien gives his definition of delivering "maximum value to our readers" to the New York Times:

The letter "h"

NY Daily News left with just four national writers after ‘Valentine’s Day massacre’ brings more devastating layoffs “The vampiric owners of The News are seeking to drain the lifeblood of the paper,” a staffer told The Post.

Alden Global Capital and Heath Freeman are so evil that even the NY Post wrote a sympathetic story about the Daily News.

nypost.com/2026/02/13/m...

💔 We stand in solidarity with the Daily News Union. It’s time for Alden Global Capital to stop gutting newspapers.

“These layoffs, which are the direct result of the repellent corporate greed that Alden Global Capital is known for, are being done without any concern for the future of the
@nydailynews.com. More from our @nydnunion.bsky.social's statement nyguild.org/post/stateme...

It cannot be reiterated enough that Heath Freeman - who really doesn’t want you to know his name - does not have a shred of interest in journalism or New York City. He treats the best city paper in NY like it’s just another asset. It’s profitable, just not enough for the private equity ghouls.

Classic-style mock NYDN wood reading: "Valentine's Day Massacre at Hometown Paper / Alden Global Capital layoff targets more than quarter of union / Hedge Fund Guts Newspaper: Decimates National Desk! Ditches Diversity! Cuts Print Production Staff!" Text is alongside a photo of Heath Freeman, head of Alden Global Capital, which owns the Daily News

(with alt text)

The once-mighty paper has already been on life support for years. If a billionaire who actually cares about American democracy wants to counter the fascist takeover of the US media, this is a prime candidate to buy and revive. No you won’t make much of a profit. But the country desperately needs it.

Dirty secret here is that the NYDN is almost certainly still profitable, just not profitable *enough* for the vulture fund that owns it

I would say that in a highly competitive media landscape like New York City, you would actually want more and not fewer reporters here competing for the news

We'll be keeping up our end for as long as we can.

Defend the Daily News ✊

New York's media landscape is indeed competitive.

Ask anyone at the @nytimes.com, @nypost.com, @wnyc.org, @thecity.nyc, @politico.com, @gothamist.com — it's competitive because of the Daily News, and the scoops our team publishes despite Alden's systematic disinvestment.

This morning, Executive Editor Andrew Julien, citing a "a highly competitive media landscape," told NYDN staff to expect layoffs.

The first cuts are primarily hitting our National Desk, but we're also losing some metro staffers and more cuts are expected — more than 25% of the unionized newsroom.

As a union built on a deep commitment to putting out NYC's hometown paper each day, we couldn't agree more.

"The News must step up and lead again," he writes. "New York doesn’t need another bland, stripped-down media product. It needs a Daily News willing to invest in reporting talent, and willing to act like New York’s hometown paper again."

In today's paper, @richiefife.bsky.social call's Alden Capital's NYDN Font Gate "another visible marker of a paper steadily abandoning its identity, its readers, and its responsibility to this city."

Everybody's saying it

We are picketing! 🪧

Now more than ever we need local news, and to do that we need support for the human beings behind local news like the Times Union

Hearst, however, is continuing to stall on our contract — as they have for the past 17 years (1/3)