The Rake: To the Slaughter

What Will Dan Barreiro Do?

Brian Lambert — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 16:51:10 -0600

You want to feel a cone of silence? Call around to KFAN and KSTP and ask what's up with Dan Barreiro? You gotta hope the U.S. spy satellite program has security this tight.

Randy, The Reader's Rep ...

Brian Lambert — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 20:51:04 -0600

(A semi-regular Q&A with "Randy" the new Star Tribune Reader's Representative, most frequently found on the corner stool at the Dry Dock roadhouse, in the shadow of the big microwave tower, Chaffey, Wisconsin.)

Last Night's Debate: Bite Me, Wolf.

Brian Lambert — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 08:20:18 -0600

Now that we've more or less cleared up that "illegal immigrants with driver licenses" issue, the line I was pleading for one of the Democrats to throw back last night was, "Wolf, do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound? Do you ever get tired of this 'gotcha' crap?"

The TV Writers Strike: Reverb into Newsrooms?

Brian Lambert — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 13:56:37 -0600

The average couch tuber probably isn't tracking this TV writers strike too much. Not beyond fretting over an early end to Heroes and no new Daily Shows. Beyond that the affected "workers," a lot of smart-ass Bimmer-driving West L.A. espresso sippers, are never going to win an outpouring of empathy from the people who obsessively consume their programming.

Startribune.com Readers: Very Sticky Eyeballs

Deborah Rybak — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:06:48 -0600

Holy eyeballs Batman! The latest newspaper website readership numbers were released today by Nielsen Online (and printed on the Editor and Publisher website) and startribune.com placed third (behind the Arizona Republic and New York Times websites) in the amount of time readers spent on the site. Readers in October spent an average of 27 minutes, 40 seconds on startribune.com as compared to 34 minutes, 53 seconds for the New York Times, and almo

Banana Republic Fades into the Sunset

Brian Lambert — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:18:22 -0600

Damn! Over here I keep a list of great story ideas and names of people I've really got to get around to catching up with, just to see what their story is today. Like MPR's Bill Kling. Like all the guys who played in The Warheads years ago. And like Kirk Anderson, the former cartoonist for the Pioneer Press whose heave-ho in April 2003 was early, solid confirmation that "local, local" was going to have more to do with "money, money" and "innocuous, innocuous" than reader appeal.

Politics in Minnesota: MnDOT Suffering Under Strib Attack

Deborah Rybak — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 03:00:00 -0600

Whoa. Sarah Janecek’s Politics in Minnesota newsletter sure lobbed one into the Strib newsroom late Friday. In a Weekly Report item entitled “MnDOT Under Seige: The Star Tribune’s Agenda,” Janecek writes that MnDOT personnel are getting pretty fed up with certain pushy, expletive-spewing Strib reporters.

MinnPost Debut: A "Thoughtful" Approach to News

Deborah Rybak — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0600

RYBAK: Sigh.

BREAKING NEWS [UPDATED]: Scott Libin Named WCCO-TV News Director

Deborah Rybak — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 13:22:19 -0600

As we projected, WCCO-TV announced Scott Libin as its new news director to staff this afternoon. Libin, former news director at KSTP-TV, comes back to the Twin Cities from his job as managing editor for on-ine content at the Poynter Institute, the journalistic think tank in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Libin replaces Jeff Kiernan, who left the station in September for WBZ-TV in Boston. That leaves only Libin's former employer KSTP with a news director slot to fill. (Prevailing belief there is that GM Rob Hubbard will hire from within this time.)

Prominent Local Attorney Wins "Golden Wingnut" Award!

Brian Lambert — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 13:03:42 -0600

Not being much of a fan of show biz and media award shows – I mean, what explains WCCO’s “Good Question” guy beating out Pat Kessler for “Best Political Reporting” or whatever it was called at this year’s local Emmys? – I usually just ignore the latest Winner du Jour.

Except … when the news gets as good as the news this morning.

Meet the New Readers' Rep. — Same as the Old

Brian Lambert — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 10:11:09 -0600

RYBAK: Oh gosh, that Nancy Barnes. How does the girl do it? She's editor of the Star Tribune and still found time these past two weeks to write a Sunday column filling us in on all the neat goings-on at the paper, just like the old readers’ reps used to do.

Why, last week she introduced to some of the nice people still on her staff. Like Paul McEnroe, who has been there for almost 30 years.

John Hines Out at KTLK

Brian Lambert — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 13:04:00 -0600

John Hines' 17 year-run with Clear Channel and what Clear Channel was before it was Clear Channel ended this morning -- a Monday, go figure -- when he was told he was being removed from his morning job at KTLK (100.3-FM). Hines was a standard at Clear Channel's country music K102 until this past March when he shifted over -- by his choice -- to add a little mainstream professional sheen to ratings-deprived KTLK, an all right-wing talk station.

In Defense of Tom Barnard

Deborah Rybak — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 16:37:23 -0500

RYBAK: Okay, I've spent the last three days watching the media have a field day trashing Tom Barnard (mainly) and his KQRS morning show (secondarily) and I'm just not getting it.

This Saturday's Big Local Media Forum

Brian Lambert — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 08:29:02 -0500

The good folks at the Twin Cities Media Alliance -- best known for their work producing Twin Cities Daily Planet -- (click here for schedule and registration info) are staging a day-long event this Saturday at the Central Library in downtown Minneapolis. Major next generation publishers and journalists will be in attendance. While some of us may look like critters out of a previous generation, if you're interested in what is

Strib's Hage to join Klobuchar

Deborah Rybak — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 13:18:18 -0500

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

Is Ben Tracy leaving WCCO? Good Question!

Deborah Rybak — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 14:51:00 -0500

Short answer: yes. This is one of the least surprising announcements in local TV circles, as Tracy's departure was widely anticipated in the wake of his close friend Jeff Kiernan's departure as 'CCO news director. It was just a question of whether he'd follow Kiernan, or jump up to network news.

Here's General Manager Susan Adams Loyd's memo to staff (which feels more informal than the press release):

Fun With Radio Ratings

Brian Lambert — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 10:08:17 -0500

Tommy B: King of All Ratings

Brian Lambert — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 10:15:02 -0500

So this time it's the Native Americans going after Tom Barnard. I'll watch with amusement to see if Clyde Bellecourt can extract even an ounce of pain from the Twin Cities' most dominant entertainer (and, in my opinion, most potent "new media" political pundit). But based on historical precedent, I'm be betting heavily that Barnard will dismiss any protest Bellecourt can muster with the sangfroid of a grazing water buffalo flicking a buzzing gnat away from his big, muddy rump.

"War of the Worlds" at the Fitz: Fear Factor

Brian Lambert — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 10:53:19 -0500

Sir Ian & Brenda v. CJ: The Final Bell

Deborah Rybak — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 11:23:55 -0500

RYBAK: It's so hard to keep up with the folks on DishZilla C.J.'s shit list: it just keeps growing all the time. This week she trashed respected KSTP reporter Bob McNaney--not really for remarks he made at the Midwest Emmys, as she wrote in her column-- but because he never makes remarks to the Strib gossip. And as people who really don't want to deal with C.J. know--like an elephant, she never forgets.

RADIO (Magazine) Dials Down

Deborah Rybak — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 11:21:37 -0500

Should We Care What the Weather Anchors Think?

Brian Lambert — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:53:09 -0500

The Rant: Cold on Colbert

Deborah Rybak — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:01:08 -0500

KMSP, WCCO Big Winners at Midwest Emmys

Deborah Rybak — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 18:52:58 -0500

The FCC and More Media Consolidation: The Monster that Will Not Die

Brian Lambert — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 11:15:09 -0500

PiPress, Guild Reach Agreement

Deborah Rybak — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 15:01:07 -0500

PiPress Deal Beats a Poke in the Eye with a Sharp Stick -- Barely

Deborah Rybak — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 23:08:02 -0500

MinnPost vs. The Daily Mole

Brian Lambert — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:23:27 -0500

Frontline & "Cheney's Law": A review.

Brian Lambert — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 16:43:09 -0500

Why Does MPR Fight with Virginia Christian Rockers?

Brian Lambert — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 16:02:31 -0500