I love a good rip job, and commenter “lttl” gets off a terrific stream of rips while responding to Strib Guild officer Pam Miller’s post lamenting the loss of so much talent from her newsroom. Clearly “lttl” places far less value on the Twin Cities’ primary news source. Here’s a sample: “Ford, NWA, local govt, … Read more
A little good news for a change. My erstwhile radio partner/combatant, Sarah Janecek, editor of Politics in Minnesota and close pal of Kevyn Burger says word direct from the treating physicians is that Burger’s cancer is Stage 2 and therefore completely treatable. She will undergo the usual draining chemotherapy but prospects for a full recovery, … Read more
This is just released by Nancy Barnes, Star Tribune editor … >>> Nancy Barnes 6/5/2007 5:24 PM >>> Dear Staff: Since Monday, we have accepted 40 people into the voluntary buyout program, for a total of 44 approved buyouts to date. We have also had one resignation in the last month, which brings us very … Read more
Eric Black, the Star Tribune’s Talmudic analyst of things political and media has already plotted his next move, announcing that he will begin an association with Minnesota Monitor a fledgling website with a strong progressive political attitude. Black has taken the recent buy-out, and expects to be fully separated from the Strib by June 15. … Read more
While the powers that be at the Star Tribune mull who among their employees to keep and who to kick on to “new opportunities”, I talked to my former competitor, Deborah Caulfield Rybak, about one of the stranger ironies of the Strib and so many newspapers’ “hyper-local” business stratagem. (I say “business” because it has … Read more
Without further comment … this from Pamela Miller, Star Tribune Guild officer and the paper’s Faith & Values reporter. “Brian’s coverage of the misery at the Strib has been accurate and intelligent. I appreciate that. “But I wonder if you, the blog- and media-reading public, really care what happens to a bunch of middle-class journalists … Read more
Media reporter Deborah Rybak has decided to take the buy-out and leave the Star Tribune. She joins the likes of Eric Black, Doug Grow, Stormi Greener, Sharon Schmickle and 40-plus more Star Tribune newsroom employees who have/had until 5 pm today to officially notify the paper of their intentions. The paper has decided to deep … Read more
Conservatives have enjoyed great success pilloring Democrats and liberals with accusations of “flip-flopping”. Any lefty who everv changed their mind, voting against a flawed bill and then voting for a repaired bill was labeled a “flip-flopper”. It worked because the party’s base, the average Sean Hannity listener, wants glib judgments made for him, and made … Read more
I gotta tell ya I’m damned near out of gas on flogging the Star Tribune (and the Pioneer Press, and WCCO TV and just about everybody other than KSTP’s Bob McNaney and Strib columnist, Nick Coleman) to look up from its new strategic focus on the Fridley Squirts Hockey league long enough to put a … Read more
The Star Tribune Guild convened a 10:30 meeting this morning to look at a pattern of age discrimination in the reassignments cooked up editors for the paper’s owner, Avista Capital Partners. Speaking on background one Guild officer said that by their count “only three or four” of the [30-40] reporters told they are being reassigned, … Read more