Stripped for Parts – American Journalism on the Brink - Enzian Theater

Join us for this special screening, with two-time Academy Award® nominee, filmmaker Rick Goldsmith, (The Most Dangerous Man in America (2010) and Tell the Truth and Run (1997) in a moderated Q&A with Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell.

Stripped for Parts is the story of a secretive hedge fund that is plundering what is left of America’s newspapers, and the journalists who are fighting back.

Hedge fund Alden Global Capital is quietly gobbling up newspapers across the country and gutting them, but no one knows why– until journalist Julie Reynolds begins to investigate. Her findings trigger rebellions across the country by journalists working at Alden-owned newspapers. Backed by the NewsGuild union, the newsmen and women go toe-to-toe with their “vulture capitalist” owners in a battle to save and rebuild local journalism in America. Who will control the future of America’s news ecosystem: Wall Street billionaires concerned only with profit, or those who see journalism as an essential public service, the lifeblood of our democracy?

This presentation is made possible by the generous support of the Orlando Sentinel Guild.

2023, 88 minutes, USA, Directed by Rick Goldsmith, Unrated

“This documentary demonstrates in painful clarity why independent news organizations matter and why local news matters. At the same time, it rightfully champions the courage and commitment of journalists across this country.”
– Suki Dardarian, Editor and Senior Vice President, Star Tribune
“Stripped for Parts is like a creepy horror movie, where the villain is a hedge fund that gobbles up newspaper after newspaper and proceeds to cannibalize them with gruesome efficiency. The plot twist is how those inside this particular house -- reporters and editors -- improbably band together to fight back.”
– David Barstow, New York Times investigative reporter and 4-time Pulitzer Prize winner.
“A fire is raging inside the theater of local media and democracy, and Goldsmith’s film is the alarm bell we had better heed.”
– Thomas N. Gardner, PhD, Professor of Communication, Westfield State University
“The collapse of local news is a deep threat to democracy and the fabric of communities. But we can't turn this around without comprehending how we got here. Stripped for Parts vividly shows the causes and consequences of the decimation of community journalism.”
– Steve Waldman, Founder and President, Rebuild Local News