Spinning our “Success” in Iraq

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Two days of the Star Tribune’s coverage of the shoe throwing incident illustrate how the Strib spins the news to give us an inaccurate picture of the situation in Iraq. On December 16, the Strib carried a large article on page 4 devoted to the incident where Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidei threw his shoes at President Bush. Their sources for the article were stated as a New York Times and an AP article. It is instructive to note what they chose to put in the article and what was edited out. They did cover the anti-U.S. demonstration in Sadr City “calling for an immediate U.S. troop withdrawal”, a demonstration in Baghdad for his release, and three paragraphs about his family’s comments. Continue Reading

The sad decline of the Star Tribune

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“The survival of the company is at stake.” Chris Harte, Star Tribune Publisher, asking unions on December 2, 2008 to cut pay by $20 million by mid-January, 2009. “The Star Tribune has agreed to pay more than $300,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit bought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.” Editor & Publisher, November 25, 2008
Like many around the world, I follow the painful decline of the Star Tribune newspaper with a sense of disbelief and sorrow. Disbelief that a once dominant newspaper could fall so far so fast. Sorrow for the decline of a company that played a central role in my life. Continue Reading

More Cuts Ahead at the Strib?

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The McClatchy Co., former owner of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, always prided itself on not using layoffs as a financial management tool. No more. McClatchy is cutting 10% of its employees companywide, or about 1,400 people in all, which the company says will save it about $70 million a year. Not all of its 30 daily newspapers are getting hit equally: The Miami Herald is losing 17% of its staff, while the Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Sun News is only losing 4%. But the average is around 10%. Continue Reading

Expect ‘no sharp elbows’ at Strib editorial page after Albright’s ouster

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Paul Schmelzer: Before he accepted his position as Minnesota Monitor’s editorial mentor, Jim Boyd worked the majority of his 27 years at the Star Tribune on its editorial page, most recently as its deputy editor. With news on Wednesday that Susan Albright, the paper’s editorial page editor, will be leaving October 12, we asked Boyd to share his reflections on this major change at the ever-turbulent Minneapolis daily. When I was in graduate school, we were always taught that freedom of the press is for those who own one, and so it is. The Avista partners who purchased the Star Tribune have every right to get rid of Editorial Page Editor Susan Albright, with whom I worked as partner and friend for 14 years. Her ouster I regard as grossly unfair. Continue Reading