True North

According to the NY Post, the Star Tribune in in deep financial trouble. While that's shocking news to the average citizen, it doesn't come as a surprise to anyone who's paid attention to the decline of newspapers. Here's what the NY Post is reporting:

May 4, 2008 -- The Minneapolis Star Tribune, reeling under a heavy debt load and plummeting advertising sales, is on the brink of bankruptcy, The Post has learned.

One of the nation's top dailies, "The Strib," as it is known to readers in the Twin Cities, recently hired the Wall Street powerhouse Blackstone Group to restructure its balance sheet after failing to meet its debt obligations, according to people familiar with the company.

The broadsheet is unlikely to shutter its doors, but its creditors, including the banking giant Credit Suisse Group, figure to eventually end up controlling the paper. Down the road, the creditor group could then sell it after dramatically cutting costs.

This isn't surprising. It's what happens when you insult your customers. That's what Nick Coleman does everytime the Strib publishes one of his hyper-partisans columns. Minnesota's center-right blogging community has known a long time that Nick Coleman has publicly insulted anyone that differs in opinion with Mr. Coleman.

That used to work when the Strib was THE GAME IN TOWN and before those uppity conservatives actually asked that their voices be heard. It doesn't work now thanks to talented bloggers who offer a very viable product.

Bloggers like Scott Johnson and John Hinderaker from Powerline and Ed Morrissey of HotAir have long established their journalistic credentials, breaking major stories. Add Michael Brodkorb to that list now, especially after his chasing Matt Entenza out of the AG race in the summer of 2006. More recently, Michael's exposed Al Franken for being a liar and a tax cheat.

Other high quality bloggers are also gaining recognition, though they aren't nationally recognized like Powerline yet.

During the 2006 election cycle, the job of vetting Keith Ellison fell on the shoulders of Scott Johnson, Michael Brodkorb and several MOBsters, myself included. The Strib wouldn't say a disparaging word about Keith Ellison, though they found time to run an op-ed by CAIR's Executive Director Nihad Awad and CAIR's board chairman Parvez Ahmed titled "Reject the Political Muslim-Bashing Smears." Here's the accusations Awad and Ahmed made in their op-ed:

There has been much sound and fury in certain circles about the American Muslim community's support for Keith Ellison and his campaign to represent Minnesota's Fifth Congressional District. A handful of right-wing bloggers, agenda-driven commentators and political operatives have used scurrilous smear tactics in an attempt to derail his campaign and to marginalize American Muslim voters. These smears and distortions send an un-American message of intolerance and bigotry.

The Strib didn't bother with an opposing view of Ellison, most likely because he was their pet project that year.

To be fair, reporter Mark Brunswick and columnist Katherine Kersten have earned the praise they've received. They're truly topnotch journalists. Unfortunately, the Strib hasn't learned that they need alot more Mark Brunswicks and Katherine Kerstens and alot fewer Nick Colemans and Lori Sturdevants.

Ms. Sturdevant's most recent embarassment came when she complained that Al Franken hadn't been properly vetted in a 'Pigseye Podcast", one of my favorite features at the Strib. There was a time when journalists like Lori Sturdevant vetted candidates because they thought it was part of their job description. Those days are clearly in the past.

Until the Strib gets serious about pursuing the truth no matter where it takes them and they get serious about researching things before it publishes high profile articles, the Strib will continue its decline.

The biggest shame is that it doesn't need to follow that path to extinction. It'll take time to rebuild the Strib because their credibility is almost nonexistant. Let's hope their next editor takes credibility more seriously than his/her predecessors have.

Comments welcome at LFR.