Brian Lambert I gotta tell ya, it is a real, “Where to begin?” situation following the no-ups and all-downs of the Star Tribune lately. Indecision over where to begin may explain why what follows is even more scatter-shot and incoherent than usual. 1. As expected, Guild employees of the Star Tribune voted overwhelmingly yesterday to accept the … Read more
Pressured by a small group of colleagues inclined to take the buy-out offer presently on the table, Guild employees at the Star Tribune are expected to accept company terms in a 4 p.m. meeting/vote today. A similar vote yesterday fizzled when Guild members had too many unanswered questions to vote. The offer from Avista Capital … Read more
Being a fellow of modest dreams some days all I want to be is the Readers’ Representative for a big city newspaper, like the Star Tribune. If my dream came true I’d write something like this: . . . Hi, everyone. By now you’ve probably heard of big changes at this paper you’re reading. It … Read more
I see a string of legitimate questions piling up in the “comments” area, about the latest Strib carnage and other topics, and I vow to generate a post dedicated entirely to answering them in the very near future. But among recent comments was this one: . . “As one who’s felt the sting of “dynamic … Read more
Here are the most general ratings. All listeners 12 and older. Comparing the fourth quarter of ’06 with the first quarter of ’07. — — KQRS-FM – 7.2 – 8.0 WCCO-AM – 8.2 – 7.4 KEEY-FM – 6.9 – 6.2 – (K102) KNOW-FM – 4.5 – 5.8 – (MPR News) KDWB-FM – 4.6 – 4.6 … Read more
One by one Strib reporters have been summoned in to a private meeting today with top Strib editors and told what their fate will be — reassignment, opportunity to reapply for current position, opportunity to apply for reassignment, etc. By reports describing post-interview expressions from “glum” to “despondent” to out-right tears, few Strib writers apparently … Read more
Par Ridder’s barnstorming slide show, “Business Literacy”, (given first to the Pioneer Press staff before “right-sizing” them to virtual irrelevancy, and now yesterday to his new staff at the Star Tribune), is essentially a plea to the troops to have pity on the paper’s executive and investor class, which is facing the same severe economic … Read more
If they gave awards for networking and self-promotion, Star Tribune columnist James Lileks would long ago have been handed a gold-plated trophy for Lifetime Achievement. It has not passed without notice that amid the wholesale turmoil of the latest round of staff cuts at the Star Tribune that Lileks somehow made himself a centerpiece of … Read more
Word from the still on-going meeting Star Tribune publisher Par Ridder is holding in the paper’s jam-packed assembly room-cafeteria is that Avista Capital Partners will cut approximately 50 more newsroom jobs within the next two weeks through an enhanced buy-out plan. The plan will compensate employees two weeks for every year of service up to … Read more
As previously mentioned, James Lileks, was one of five Star Tribune columnists summoned into meetings last week and, uh, “offered” the opportunity to volunteer to give up their columnizing for straight reporting gigs. As Lileks himself writes here, it seems he was given something firmer than an offer, and his mini-column, “The Daily Quirk”, will … Read more