Fast and Loose

Commenting on my previous post about the Avista-Zygi Wilf real estate deal(s) and the importance of high transparency on the part of the Strib as it reports and comments on the story, “bart” asks the following:

“What’s the basis of the charge that Avista currently or will direct positive coverage of the potential stadium? Is that how it worked at the Pioneer Press when Xcel was a story? Or with your TV column? Just wondering. In my experience, journalists are interested in news, so a new stadium might be more interesting than no stadium. But I’ve never witnessed a publisher or owners directly influence non-editorial (news) coverage. You do play fast and loose here, don’t you, Brian?”

In response, the key element here — the unique element — is that Avista Capital Partners is NOT a newspaper or journalism company. It is a highly private investment group with a short term mission here in the Twin Cities. As stated by Avista’s top editor, Nancy Barnes, they are probably interested in only a half decade ownership at most.

I hope the speculative nature of the post was obvious enough for most readers. Mine may be a nutball “black helicopter” scenario. And yes, in a normal situation front line editors would react very negatively to orders/”suggestions” to hype up a project with so stark a set of conflicts of interest.

But these aren’t ordinary times. In addition to Avista having no experience (and demonstrable patience) with newspapers, the accelerating rate of revenue decline at the Star Tribune should lead reasonable people to ask what a “major daily” in the Twin Cities will look like in another three years, and what current owners and managers might do to insure the return promised to their investors?

Am I intensely skeptical that Avista is interested in the long-term health of Minnesota’s largest news outlet? Yes I am. But for the moment I’m urging equal skepticism on the Strib staff and the public more than I’m “charging” them with anything.