Drew
@andrewbaron.bsky.social
This account is one small voice for exposing what Alden Global Capital is doing to local journalism. See my investigation at https://dembot.net/colorado-journalism-culture-shift/ Me: Arts & internet culture. Portfolio → https://drewbaron.com
Bluesky put adult content tags on two masterpieces. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
December 5, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Bluesky put adult content tags on two masterpieces. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Prairie Mountain has a dozen of these vapor-like papers run under Alden’s MediaNews Group. Prairie Mountain and its few people are no Billion dollar business, that’s just ridiculous. /26
December 3, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Prairie Mountain has a dozen of these vapor-like papers run under Alden’s MediaNews Group. Prairie Mountain and its few people are no Billion dollar business, that’s just ridiculous. /26
The Daily Camera doesn’t have any known assets left except copyrights which they likely can’t control anyway without Alden’s consent. No building, no significant equipment, no full time employees. It’s just vapor as far as I can tell. /25
December 3, 2025 at 8:54 PM
The Daily Camera doesn’t have any known assets left except copyrights which they likely can’t control anyway without Alden’s consent. No building, no significant equipment, no full time employees. It’s just vapor as far as I can tell. /25
If they lose this lawsuit, then I’d guess the entire Prairie Mountain group of newspapers (small town papers in Colorado that are no longer newspapers of journalism but some other kind of media), run by Digital First Media which is deceptively run under Alden, will be worth < $10,000,000 total. /24
December 3, 2025 at 1:06 PM
If they lose this lawsuit, then I’d guess the entire Prairie Mountain group of newspapers (small town papers in Colorado that are no longer newspapers of journalism but some other kind of media), run by Digital First Media which is deceptively run under Alden, will be worth < $10,000,000 total. /24
It would be naïve to think Daily Camera has some kind of relative value of $10 Billion for their i.p. I’d guess more like a single digit number in the millions for their archives and prob less than $1M for the worth of the rest of the company which apparently has no full time employees anymore. /23
December 3, 2025 at 12:48 PM
It would be naïve to think Daily Camera has some kind of relative value of $10 Billion for their i.p. I’d guess more like a single digit number in the millions for their archives and prob less than $1M for the worth of the rest of the company which apparently has no full time employees anymore. /23
The companies are seeking damages exceeding $10 billion from this new case. That gets us back to the top: Alden won’t sell because they will be the ones benefiting if they win, they extract money out & would do it here too. /22
December 3, 2025 at 12:45 PM
The companies are seeking damages exceeding $10 billion from this new case. That gets us back to the top: Alden won’t sell because they will be the ones benefiting if they win, they extract money out & would do it here too. /22
The use of business deception continues because people who are trusted in journalism, like editors Matt Sebastian & Lee Ann Colacioppo, support the deception by taking pay checks to help Alden pretend they still follow their old terms. Until real journalists call out Alden who will stop them? /21
December 3, 2025 at 12:36 PM
The use of business deception continues because people who are trusted in journalism, like editors Matt Sebastian & Lee Ann Colacioppo, support the deception by taking pay checks to help Alden pretend they still follow their old terms. Until real journalists call out Alden who will stop them? /21
Their commercial framing of terms-of-service as enforceable representations undermines their position in their litigation that those same terms are merely aspirational and nonbinding. /20
December 3, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Their commercial framing of terms-of-service as enforceable representations undermines their position in their litigation that those same terms are merely aspirational and nonbinding. /20
Just as I’ve been showing Alden’s lawyers play both sides of the coin, supporting First Amendment rights when is suits them, and abusing the First Amendment when it’s monetarily advantageous to them, you can see here they use deception in the courts to lie about their own business terms too. /19
December 3, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Just as I’ve been showing Alden’s lawyers play both sides of the coin, supporting First Amendment rights when is suits them, and abusing the First Amendment when it’s monetarily advantageous to them, you can see here they use deception in the courts to lie about their own business terms too. /19
The complaint says their newspapers depend on
• subscriber belief in accuracy, standards, and editorial rigor
• traffic that comes from consumer trust
• commercial value connected to reliability (§35–36)
Yet I’ve already shown with factual data Alden knowingly betrays this consumer reliance. /18
• subscriber belief in accuracy, standards, and editorial rigor
• traffic that comes from consumer trust
• commercial value connected to reliability (§35–36)
Yet I’ve already shown with factual data Alden knowingly betrays this consumer reliance. /18
December 3, 2025 at 12:12 PM
The complaint says their newspapers depend on
• subscriber belief in accuracy, standards, and editorial rigor
• traffic that comes from consumer trust
• commercial value connected to reliability (§35–36)
Yet I’ve already shown with factual data Alden knowingly betrays this consumer reliance. /18
• subscriber belief in accuracy, standards, and editorial rigor
• traffic that comes from consumer trust
• commercial value connected to reliability (§35–36)
Yet I’ve already shown with factual data Alden knowingly betrays this consumer reliance. /18
The publishers plead:
• violations are “ongoing” and “continuing” (§5–8)
• continuing acts cause new injury
• statutes reset when new instances of exploitation occur
This directly supports the structure of my own tolling/reset arguments. /17
• violations are “ongoing” and “continuing” (§5–8)
• continuing acts cause new injury
• statutes reset when new instances of exploitation occur
This directly supports the structure of my own tolling/reset arguments. /17
December 3, 2025 at 12:11 PM
The publishers plead:
• violations are “ongoing” and “continuing” (§5–8)
• continuing acts cause new injury
• statutes reset when new instances of exploitation occur
This directly supports the structure of my own tolling/reset arguments. /17
• violations are “ongoing” and “continuing” (§5–8)
• continuing acts cause new injury
• statutes reset when new instances of exploitation occur
This directly supports the structure of my own tolling/reset arguments. /17
They emphasize “ongoing violations” and “continuing harm” as a basis for resetting statutes of limitation which is exactly parallel to my theory for why they must be held accountable by consumers since the media writers are not allowed to practice true journalism. /16
December 3, 2025 at 12:10 PM
They emphasize “ongoing violations” and “continuing harm” as a basis for resetting statutes of limitation which is exactly parallel to my theory for why they must be held accountable by consumers since the media writers are not allowed to practice true journalism. /16
They no longer employ real journalists, they only employ media writers who opt to compromise journalistic standards under the guise of journalism to help support Alden’s deceptive business practices. /15
December 3, 2025 at 12:09 PM
They no longer employ real journalists, they only employ media writers who opt to compromise journalistic standards under the guise of journalism to help support Alden’s deceptive business practices. /15
It shows a pattern: Alden asserts one standard publicly (or in court), while operating with a different, concealed standard internally. This aligns with deceptive trade practice under the CCPA: marketing one level of journalistic integrity while delivering another. /14
December 3, 2025 at 12:09 PM
It shows a pattern: Alden asserts one standard publicly (or in court), while operating with a different, concealed standard internally. This aligns with deceptive trade practice under the CCPA: marketing one level of journalistic integrity while delivering another. /14
They depict themselves as highly diligent, structured editorial organizations contradicted by my evidence of nonexistent editorial review and deception through ownership manipulation. /13
December 3, 2025 at 12:09 PM
They depict themselves as highly diligent, structured editorial organizations contradicted by my evidence of nonexistent editorial review and deception through ownership manipulation. /13
The rhetorical posture of claiming they are victims of misinformation while refusing to correct their own strengthens my evidence of institutionalized deception. /12
December 3, 2025 at 12:04 PM
The rhetorical posture of claiming they are victims of misinformation while refusing to correct their own strengthens my evidence of institutionalized deception. /12
The complaint repeatedly emphasizes:
• OpenAI “outputs misinformation” that harms the publishers (§22).
• AI models “generate inaccurate versions” of their content.
• They are damaged when others republish false or distorted versions of their reporting (§35).
This is deeply ironic. /11
• OpenAI “outputs misinformation” that harms the publishers (§22).
• AI models “generate inaccurate versions” of their content.
• They are damaged when others republish false or distorted versions of their reporting (§35).
This is deeply ironic. /11
December 3, 2025 at 12:02 PM
The complaint repeatedly emphasizes:
• OpenAI “outputs misinformation” that harms the publishers (§22).
• AI models “generate inaccurate versions” of their content.
• They are damaged when others republish false or distorted versions of their reporting (§35).
This is deeply ironic. /11
• OpenAI “outputs misinformation” that harms the publishers (§22).
• AI models “generate inaccurate versions” of their content.
• They are damaged when others republish false or distorted versions of their reporting (§35).
This is deeply ironic. /11
The new suit positions themselves as victims of “misinformation” despite the facts that I’ve shown: publishing misinformation & refusing to follow terms is their business strategy, even engaging in estoppel in the district court. Simply put, they lied to avoid terms of service liabilities. /10
December 3, 2025 at 12:01 PM
The new suit positions themselves as victims of “misinformation” despite the facts that I’ve shown: publishing misinformation & refusing to follow terms is their business strategy, even engaging in estoppel in the district court. Simply put, they lied to avoid terms of service liabilities. /10
If terms-of-service for editorial standards are commercially significant enough for Alden to rely on them when they are the plaintiffs, then Alden cannot claim those same terms are irrelevant, aspirational, or nonbinding (which they did) when defending my claim of deception under the CCPA. /9
December 3, 2025 at 11:56 AM
If terms-of-service for editorial standards are commercially significant enough for Alden to rely on them when they are the plaintiffs, then Alden cannot claim those same terms are irrelevant, aspirational, or nonbinding (which they did) when defending my claim of deception under the CCPA. /9
Alden explicitly asserts that terms-of-use restrictions govern commercial relationships and protect the value of the enterprise (§38–41). /8
December 3, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Alden explicitly asserts that terms-of-use restrictions govern commercial relationships and protect the value of the enterprise (§38–41). /8
Their new complaint relies heavily on terms-of-use as enforceable commercial representations which is exactly what I argue Alden fraudulently uses in the Daily Camera / Denver Post ecosystem to manipulate people knowing they no longer follow their terms. /7
December 3, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Their new complaint relies heavily on terms-of-use as enforceable commercial representations which is exactly what I argue Alden fraudulently uses in the Daily Camera / Denver Post ecosystem to manipulate people knowing they no longer follow their terms. /7
Alden markets its papers as responsible journalistic institutions while knowingly abandoning core editorial functions, an unfair and deceptive practice. /6
December 3, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Alden markets its papers as responsible journalistic institutions while knowingly abandoning core editorial functions, an unfair and deceptive practice. /6
The complaint suggests the Colorado papers provide “quality, in-depth local journalism” (§35) & that they are dependent on subscription trust and journalistic integrity. Yet I’ve shown how they are fraudulently misrepresenting their journalism policies as well as subscription services. /5
December 3, 2025 at 11:48 AM
The complaint suggests the Colorado papers provide “quality, in-depth local journalism” (§35) & that they are dependent on subscription trust and journalistic integrity. Yet I’ve shown how they are fraudulently misrepresenting their journalism policies as well as subscription services. /5