Minneapolis Star Tribune

Mondo Times editors    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 5:39pm on Monday, October 19th, 2009

Eric Wieffering, the supervising editor for business and local news at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, is leaving the newspaper for a public relations jobs. David Brauer reported the story at MinnPost.com on September 30, 2009:

"It’s a big loss, as editor Nancy Barnes acknowledged in her staff memo. Wieffering was widely considered a sharp ex-reporter respected for his news judgment and managerial sanity. Before the Strib, he worked at the Pioneer Press and Corporate Report Minnesota (where we got to know each other), so he has a deep knowledge of the local scene."

The full story:
http://www.minnpost.com/braublog/2009/09/30/12044/the_star_tribune%E2%80%99s_first_big_post-bankruptcy_departure

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 11:20am on Friday, June 19th, 2009

The Minneapolis Star Tribune has promoted Doug Tice to commentary editor. Tice was the political editor at the newspaper, and he replaces the departing Eric Ringham.

Mondo Times editors    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 12:23am on Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

Chris Harte, publisher and chairman of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, talked to Media Life Magazine about the challenges facing his paper, in a story published on April 22, 2009.

He was asked about the role of the Internet:

"The internet has forever changed our business. It is our biggest growth opportunity right now. Because of the internet, we now reach a larger audience than we have ever reached in our history.

Much of the discussion about declining print circulation does not mention the explosion of internet audience that we get based on the same values and core competencies that have bolstered our print business for 140 years. People want credible, reliable, accurate news and information. Some want it in print. Some want it online. Some want it both ways.

The internet has made us agnostic about distribution channels and taught us that we need to leverage our core journalistic strengths any way we can. That’s why we are now strongly into video production and distribution. The internet and distribution through mobile devices are pivotal to our future."

Mondo Times editors    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 1:10pm on Monday, January 19th, 2009

On January 16, 2009, the Star Tribune reported that it has experienced "sharp revenue declines" and is filing for bankruptcy protection:

The Star Tribune, saddled with high debt and a sharp decline in print advertising, filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition Thursday night.

Minnesota's largest newspaper will try to use bankruptcy to restructure its debt and lower its labor costs.

Chris Harte, the paper's publisher, said the filing would have no impact on home delivery, advertising, newsgathering or any other aspects of the paper's operations.

"We intend to use the Chapter 11 process to make this great Twin Cities institution stronger, leaner and more efficient so that it is well positioned to benefit when economic conditions begin to improve," Harte said in a statement.

The filing, which was made with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the southern district of New York, had been expected for months. It follows several missed payments to the paper's lenders, and it comes less than two years after a private equity group, New York-based Avista Capital Partners, bought the paper for $530 million.

In its filing, the newspaper listed assets of $493.2 million and liabilities of $661.1 million.

Like most newspapers, the Star Tribune has experienced a sharp decline in print advertising. Its earnings before interest, taxes and debt payments were about $26 million in 2008, down from about $59 million in 2007 and $115 million in 2004.