Minnesota Star Tribune: Difference between revisions
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format = [[Broadsheet]] | |
format = [[Broadsheet]] | |
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foundation = [[1867]]<br /><small>(as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'')</small>| |
foundation = [[1867]]<br /><small>(as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'')</small>| |
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owners = |
owners = The Star Tribune Company| |
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headquarters = 425 Portland Avenue<br />[[Minneapolis, Minnesota|Minneapolis]], [[Minnesota]] 55488 {{USA}} | |
headquarters = 425 Portland Avenue<br />[[Minneapolis, Minnesota|Minneapolis]], [[Minnesota]] 55488 {{USA}} | |
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editor = Nancy Barnes| |
editor = Nancy Barnes| |
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Revision as of 23:06, 27 September 2009
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | The Star Tribune Company |
| Publisher | Chris Harte |
| Editor | Nancy Barnes |
| Founded | 1867 (as the Minneapolis Tribune) |
| Headquarters | 425 Portland Avenue Minneapolis, Minnesota 55488  United States |
| Circulation | 322,362 Daily 534,750 Sunday[1] |
| Website | StarTribune.com |
The Star Tribune (also Star Trib or Strib, as it is often referred to) is the largest newspaper in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is published seven days each week in an edition for the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. A statewide version is also available across Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota. The paper's largest competitor is the St. Paul-based Pioneer Press, though it competes with a number of other papers in its wide circulation area.
History
Today's Star Tribune is the product of the merger in 1982 between the Minneapolis Star, an evening newspaper, and the Minneapolis Tribune, a morning newspaper published by the same company.
Several earlier mergers preceded that one by many years, as outlined below. The Minneapolis Tribune was founded in 1867, and operated by the Murphy family between 1891 and 1941. The Minneapolis Journal was founded in 1878 as an evening paper. The Minneapolis Times was a morning paper starting in 1899; it was purchased by the Tribune in 1905 and its name was used in various forms until 1948. Finally the Minnesota Daily Star began printing in 1920, and later became the Minneapolis Star, distributed in the evening.
The Cowles family bought the Star in 1935 and the Journal in 1939 and the two were merged into the Star-Journal, soon truncated to Star. The Cowles family bought the Tribune in 1941. The papers were operated as separate morning and evening papers. In 1982, the papers were merged into the Minneapolis Star and Tribune, and in 1987 adopted the present name Star Tribune and the slogan "Newspaper of the Twin Cities". In 1998 The McClatchy Company purchased Cowles Media Company and sold off its other holdings, keeping the Star Tribune.
In 1987, the paper had separate Minneapolis, St. Paul, and statewide editions but today it has two editions: a Minneapolis-St. Paul metro-area edition, and a Midwest edition covering news throughout Minnesota and parts of surrounding states.
On December 26, 2006 McClatchy Co sold the paper to private-equity firm Avista Capital Partners for $530 million, less than half of what McClatchy paid for the paper in 1998, when it bought the Star Tribune from Cowles Media for $1.2 billion.[2]
In March 2007 Par Ridder was named Publisher of the Star Tribune, after his predecessor, J. Keith Moyer, decided to leave the newspaper after the sale.[3] Ridder resigned on December 7, 2007.[4] Ridder is a member of the Ridder family that had owned Knight-Ridder, the publishers of several newspapers including the (rival) Saint Paul Pioneer Press. Ridder's arrival resulted in considerable litigation when it was discovered that he had stolen a hard drive which was Pioneer Press property. This hard drive was laden with information about employees and advertisers which the Pioneer Press characterized as "trade secrets". Ridder also took two high-ranking staff members with him to the Minneapolis paper, which raised eyebrows as the employees in these roles usually have non-compete clauses in their contracts (which prohibit their employment with rival papers for a period of time specified under their employment agreement). On September 18, 2007, Ridder was removed from his new post by a Ramsey County judge; he will not be allowed to return to the paper until September 2008.[5]
On February 1, 2008, the newspaper's publisher announced plans to sell the newspaper's headquarters in downtown Minneapolis.[6][7][8] On January 15, 2009, as the nation's 15th largest daily paper, the paper filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[9][10][11][12]
On September 17th, 2009 the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved a Bankruptcy plan for the paper with it set to emerge from bankruptcy protection on or around Sept. 28. The paper’s senior secured lenders would hold approximately 95 percent of the stock to be issued by the post-bankruptcy company. The company’s debt will be $100 million, down from $480 million at the time of its filing. [13]
Management
Chris Harte is the present publisher and chairman.[4]
In May 2007, reorganization of the newsroom began so as to focus more reporters on the suburbs of the Twin Cities. An increase in local coverage is intended to include local businesses and organizations.[14]
Following emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the newspaper’s current ownership group, led by New York City-based Avista Capital Partners, will not have a stake in the company. Nor will the paper’s CEO and publisher Chris Harte remain. [15]
See also
References
- ^ "2008 Top 100 Daily Newspapers in the U.S. by Circulation" (PDF). BurrellesLuce. 2007-03-31. Retrieved 2007-05-28.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^
Ellison, Sarah (2006-12-27). "McClatchy's Minneapolis Sale Aids Web Efforts". Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc. p. A3. Retrieved 2006-12-27.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ McKinney, Matt (2007-03-05). "Par Ridder named Star Tribune CEO, publisher". Minneapolis, MN: Minneapolis Star Tribune. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
- ^ a b McKinney, Matt (December 7, 2007). "Par Ridder resigns from Star Tribune". Star Tribune. Avista Capital Partners. Retrieved 2007-12-07.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Stawicki, Elizabeth (2007-09-18). "Judge critical of Par Ridder's conduct in ruling". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved 2007-12-13.
- ^ McKinney, Matt (2008-02-01). "Star Tribune's real estate for sale". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
- ^ Welbes, John (2008-02-01). "Star Tribune to put headquarters, other land up for sale". Pioneer Press. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
- ^ Orrick, Natasha R. (2008-02-01). "Star Tribune looks to sell headquarters". Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal. Retrieved 2008-02-01. In February 2009, The Tribune partnered with WCCO-TV. The most immediate change was the replacement of Paul Douglas' weather column with forecasts prepared by WCCO's weather team. Douglas, until April 2008 was the Chief Forecaster at WCCO. Other deals in the partnership will later include news sharing and advertising partnerships.
- ^ Schmickle, Sharon (January 15, 2009). "Strib files for bankruptcy and lists unsecured creditors". MinnPost. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
- ^ Kary, Tiffany (January 16, 2009). "Star Tribune Files for Bankruptcy After Ads Decline". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
- ^ Fitzgerald, Mark (January 16, 2009). "Economist: Avista Has Only Itself To Blame In 'Strib' Bankruptcy". Editor & Publisher. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
- ^ Pérez-Peña, Richard (January 16, 2009). "Bankruptcy for another U.S. paper". International Herald Tribune. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
- ^ Newmarker, Chris (September 17, 2009). "Star Tribune to emerge from bankruptcy, no new publisher named". American City Business Journals, Inc. Retrieved 2009-09-17.
- ^ McKinney, Matt (2007-05-15). "Star Tribune to refocus on increasing local coverage". Star Tribune. Par Ridder. p. D1. Retrieved 2007-05-15.
- ^ Newmarker, Chris (September 17, 2009). "Star Tribune to emerge from bankruptcy, no new publisher named". American City Business Journals, Inc. Retrieved 2009-09-17.
External links
Additional Resources
- A collection of survey data and statistics used to produce the Metro Poll and the Minnesota Poll for the Minneapolis Star and Tribune Company is available for research use at the Minnesota Historical Society.