CRISIS AT THE DAILY NEWS: Unionized journalists at New York’s Hometown Newspaper overwhelmingly approve vote of no confidence against the paper’s executive editor

NEW YORK – Unionized journalists at the Daily News have approved a vote of no confidence against the paper’s Executive Editor, Andrew Julien, who has sat back and watched as the paper’s owner, predatory hedge fund Alden Global Capital, drains resources from their newsroom.

Members of The Daily News Union, which represents the tabloid’s print, digital and some photo employees, sent the vote of no confidence Tuesday to Julien. The vote was signed by 46 members, or nearly 87% percent of the union, which is a part of the NewsGuild of New York.  

“The current situation is unsustainable and will only continue to decline unless these people reinvest and recommit to driving forward the engine for public good that is the Daily News,” the vote of no confidence letter says. 

While he is a figurehead put into the role by Alden Global Capital to oversee news operations at The Daily News, Julien is responsible for the staffing crisis at New York’s Hometown Paper. 

Since the spring of 2022, 32 people have left and only 16 have been replaced. The Guild-represented staff now totals 53 people. 

In the three years he’s served as the executive editor, he has only held one newsroom-wide staff meeting, and made scant effort to get to know the journalists who make the Daily News run. 

Julien has passively sat back and watched Alden’s extraction of cash from the storied 105-year-old newspaper, which once boasted the “Largest Circulation in America.” An example: Alden sold off the Daily News printing plant to the tune of $90 million, yet the staffing crisis continues to worsen. 

As the staff continues to evaporate, the savings from those positions certainly isn’t going back into the newsroom. In fact, the Daily News Union has been fighting for its first contract, and Daily News management has done nothing about stagnant wages. Pay cuts that were implemented during the pandemic were never restored.

“What this vote of no confidence means is that our coworkers are feeling burned and are angry about it,” said Ellen Moynihan, Chair of the Daily News Union. “We want the public to know that despite numerous requests, Julien refuses to face us while allowing the Daily News to be spread impossibly thin, weakening the News and allowing Alden Global Capital to leech profits at the expense of our hard work. We don’t feel like he has our back.”