Key Takeaways
- • Chatham Asset Management, a New Jersey hedge fund that acquired McClatchy out of bankruptcy in 2020, was linked to staff cutbacks in September that affected more than 90 journalists across the country.
- • Chatham managed approximately $8.3 billion in regulatory assets last year and requires a minimum investment of $1 million from prospective clients, according to SEC filings.
- • The New Jersey State Investment Council holds $500 million in distressed and alternative debt vehicles managed by Chatham, according to a state Treasury Department spokeswoman.
- • In 2023 the SEC found Chatham and founder Anthony Melchiorre improperly traded thinly traded American Media Inc. bonds between 2016 and 2018; Chatham and Melchiorre paid about $19.3 million to settle without admitting wrongdoing.
- • Chatham did not respond to questions about its role in the layoffs, and McClatchy did not respond to questions about the terminations.
Summary
Staff cutbacks in September 2025 at McClatchy Media affected more than 90 journalists across the country, including a city hall reporter and a columnist in Miami, an investigative reporter in Charlotte, an opinion editor in Fort Worth and the entire sports desk in Sacramento, according to the reporting. The news came in a terse email from a chain executive. The Miami Herald eliminated more than a third of its editorial staff in September as part of those cuts. The article notes that the orders likely originated at Chatham Asset Management, a little-known investment firm headquartered in a suburban New Jersey office building, which bought McClatchy out of bankruptcy in 2020. Neither Chatham nor founder and principal owner Anthony Melchiorre, 59, said what role, if any, the firm played in the layoffs.
Rick Hirsch, a Pulitzer Prize-winning former managing editor of the Miami Herald who served under Chatham ownership, said Chatham set financial targets for McClatchy. "I really think their interest is in the returns, not the strategy behind how the company would get there," he said, adding that profitability expectations are "clear and set by Chatham."
Chatham, founded by Melchiorre in 2003, describes itself as a leveraged credit specialist and has become a distressed debt investor. According to SEC filings, the firm managed approximately $8.3 billion in regulatory assets last year. The New Jersey State Investment Council has $500 million in distressed and alternative debt vehicles managed by Chatham, per a state Treasury Department spokeswoman. Two other state pension funds, in California and Ohio, previously invested in Chatham and said they withdrew more than a decade ago. A Rutgers Business School professor, John Longo, said newspapers may still be profitable and that hedge funds may focus more on cash flows than growth.
The article also recounts Chatham's ownership of American Media Inc., parent of The National Enquirer, which was involved in a catch-and-kill arrangement during Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. Chatham maintained it had no direct involvement in editorial decisions. In 2023, the SEC found that Chatham and Melchiorre improperly traded thinly traded AMI bonds between 2016 and 2018, with the firm's own purchases propping up prices; the SEC said the prices were "disconnected from economic reality." Chatham and Melchiorre paid about $19.3 million to settle without admitting wrongdoing. Chatham later sued its compliance consultant, Adviser Compliance Associates, seeking roughly $100 million; the parties settled in early 2025 for an undisclosed amount. Chatham has since sold The National Enquirer, according to a representative for Melchiorre.
Rick Hirsch, a Pulitzer Prize-winning former managing editor of the Miami Herald who served under Chatham ownership, said Chatham set financial targets for McClatchy. "I really think their interest is in the returns, not the strategy behind how the company would get there," he said, adding that profitability expectations are "clear and set by Chatham."
Chatham, founded by Melchiorre in 2003, describes itself as a leveraged credit specialist and has become a distressed debt investor. According to SEC filings, the firm managed approximately $8.3 billion in regulatory assets last year. The New Jersey State Investment Council has $500 million in distressed and alternative debt vehicles managed by Chatham, per a state Treasury Department spokeswoman. Two other state pension funds, in California and Ohio, previously invested in Chatham and said they withdrew more than a decade ago. A Rutgers Business School professor, John Longo, said newspapers may still be profitable and that hedge funds may focus more on cash flows than growth.
The article also recounts Chatham's ownership of American Media Inc., parent of The National Enquirer, which was involved in a catch-and-kill arrangement during Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. Chatham maintained it had no direct involvement in editorial decisions. In 2023, the SEC found that Chatham and Melchiorre improperly traded thinly traded AMI bonds between 2016 and 2018, with the firm's own purchases propping up prices; the SEC said the prices were "disconnected from economic reality." Chatham and Melchiorre paid about $19.3 million to settle without admitting wrongdoing. Chatham later sued its compliance consultant, Adviser Compliance Associates, seeking roughly $100 million; the parties settled in early 2025 for an undisclosed amount. Chatham has since sold The National Enquirer, according to a representative for Melchiorre.
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