Letter to the editor

Congratulations to The Chronicle's Sam Turken and editorial staff for illuminating the role that Duke alum Heath Freeman, '02, and his company Alden Global Capital plays in undermining American journalism.   

Freeman's hedge fund, with a short-term investment perspective, is demanding substantial profits and stripping revenues from its newspaper properties. Just weeks after The Bay Area News Group won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize, budget cutbacks reduced the newsroom staff by 20 positions. "The Newspaper of Silicon Valley" no longer has a K-12 reporter, a higher education reporter, health reporter or county reporter.

This comes at a time when newspapers are struggling to reinvent themselves for the digital future—which requires an investment in staff, not cuts. Freeman and his company have helped turn Silicon Valley into a news desert.

We can't shrink our way to success.  By accepting gifts from Freeman, Duke is an accomplice in this wrongdoing. 

Kudos to The Chronicle for shining a light on Duke's role in the Freeman/Alden debacle.

Lisa Krieger is a Trinity ‘77 alumnae and a science and research reporter for The San Jose Mercury News.