Strib's Hage to join Klobuchar

In
what can safely be called a HUGE blow to the Star Tribune’s already
shaken editorial staff, Dave Hage announced today that he is leaving
the paper to join Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s staff as communications director.
Office scuttlebutt holds that newsroom editor D.J. Tice will be tapped
to replace Hage. That makes sense: Doug Tice provided the conservative
voice for the Pioneer Press editorial pages when he worked there, and
has faced some criticism for allegedly bringing that bent into the
Strib newsroom. Moving him back to the opinion pages would solve that
situation, plus give publisher Chris Harte the kind of editorial writer
he appears to be seeking.

Here’s the memo from Scott Gillespie:

Newsroom staff: During almost 30 years in journalism, Dave Hage has
been passionate about public service journalism – first as a local news
reporter, then as a national magazine writer and more recently as a
member of the Star Tribune’s editorial board.

Now he’s decided to put that passion to work in politics and government as communications director for Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

To say we’ll miss Dave’s contributions to the Star Tribune and
journalism in Minnesota is an understatement. He’s one of the best in
the profession and has been a tremendous contributor to the newspaper,
both in News and Editorial. He’s an award-winning journalist who has
always been humble about his own work while supporting and praising the
efforts of his colleagues on the third floor.

Many of you know Dave quite well, but here’s some background for those who might not have worked with him over the years:

Dave joined the Star Tribune in 1979 as a suburban reporter for the
Community section, then wrote about labor, business and the economy
from 1981 to 1991. From 1991 to 1995 he was an economics correspondent
for U.S. News & World Report in Washington.

He returned to the Star Tribune as an editorial writer in 1995 and
has written expertly on a range of subjects including Minnesota’s
economy, health care, aviation, poverty and agriculture. He’s also
written two books, No Retreat, No Surrender, a chronicle of the
meatpackers’ strike at Hormel, co-written with our own Paul Klauda; and Reforming Welfare by Rewarding Work, published by the University of
Minnesota Press in 2004.

In his new job, Dave will divide his time between Washington and the Twin Cities.

I know you’ll join me in wishing Dave and his family all the best.