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Brother. Everyone following the next great transition at the Star Tribune ought to read this posting on MnSpeak.
The high key vernacular -- phrases like, "leaving in droves" and such -- are standard with disgruntled, PO'd sales reps at every TV and radio station in town. So take that with a grain of salt. But the poster's anger at the de-contenting of an influential public utility -- the primary source of the broadest range of news in this market -- is heartfelt. And what I always like to remind bystanders at this point in one of these outbursts over brutal cost-cutting is that the Star Tribune for all the ominous clouds on the horizon, is still turning profits your average widget factory would kill for.
One caller here to Slaughter Central reminds me that when the Avista deal went down in December, Moyer said he was staying on in part because he received assurances that his management team would remain in place, (except Anders Gyllenhaal, who had already bailed for south Florida). Does his change of mind now suggest he believes that promise is no longer operative?
As the note says at the top of the post, MnSpeak editor, Matt Bartel, a diligent fellow, has a high degree of confidence that the writer is in fact a Star Tribune employee.
Car dealers influencing consumer news coverage, you say? Heavens! Why, it's enougn to afflict a delicate sensibility with the vapors. Alert the media. Oh, wait....
I reckon that poster aint' from news. Perhaps he/she has a paper route. It has always been thus. But no where more egregiously than in local TV "newsrooms." Who was the WCCO-TV consumer reporter, Santiello, who was targeted by the car dealers for her less-than-flattering examination of their bidness habits more than a decade ago? Never heard from again.
But, come on, you're worryin' this Strib thing like a Bichon Freise with a dried pig's ear. One Bartel-family blog covering another... I'm hearin' duelin' banjos, boyz. How about Chuck Knapp gittin' canned by the Christian broadcaster (KTIS is it?) for the sin of dee-vorcin' his wife? Watcha' got on that rumor?
It's a fascinating subject.
You might enjoy the Lowell Bergman and Stephen Talbott audio from their talk at the Commonwealth Club regarding this subject and the current Frontline Special on the media. Here's the link:
http://commonwealthclub.org//archive/07/07-01newswar-audio.html
I especailly enjoyed their commentary during the Q&A about the power and need for large scale, professional operations to stand up to the government, police, etc.
Mike:
Enjoyed the Frontline. But I'll wait and catch Bergman/Talbott Commonwealth Club appearance when Gary Eichten gets around to repeating it on his second-hour "smoke break" in, oh, probably a year, or so, from now.
Kinda' scary, though, don't you think, Mike, that the notion of a robust and well-resourced Fourth Estate as a bulwark against unchecked government and corporate power counts for discerning insight these days? Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson could've told the Commonwealth Club as much a coupla' centuries back. Not that it isn't worth Bergman/Talbott reminding us. But, if that isn't an article of faith in this country, then, what hope is there for us?
Oh, wait, gotta' go, there's breaking news on MSNBC regarding a pop star's spontaneous haircut...
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