Star Tribune publisher Steve Grove is cutting jobs and pursuing a nonprofit structure for the newspaper. The Star Tribune itself covers the story today here.
The story quotes Grove employing the cliché of the “journey.” The Star Tribune is on a “journey.” We’re on the road to find out. Grove thinks in clichés:
When asked if these layoffs indicate failed strategy, Grove said, “I certainly wish this [layoff] step in our journey wasn’t needed. But the shift we’re trying to do is really significant.”
The company said the only class of newsroom employees specifically protected from the cuts are reporters, photographers and videographers.
Grove said a foundation model could work well here given the proven generosity of Minnesotans, noted as among the most charitable in the U.S.
I could name reporters and columnists whose departure would improve the paper, but that apparently isn’t the prospect. On the other hand, the Twin Cities and the state of Minnesota would benefit from the paper’s dissolution, so the paper’s shrinkage moves it in the correct direction.
It would be even better if the paper didn’t exist. “Could work well here” leaves room for the possibility that the foundation model might not work. Keep hope alive!
As for “the proven generosity of Minnesotans,” perhaps Grove will now abandon his quest to force Minnesota taxpayers to subsidize his product, but probably not. Indeed, highly unlikely. A Star Tribune reporter should ask Grove a follow-up question on that point and extract the position of Dem gubernatorial candidate Amy Klobuchar on the idea.
Reporter Jeff Day serves up the quote of the day:
In an interview Tuesday night, Jeff Day, a reporter and co-chair of the Star Tribune’s guild, said the union, which represents most of the newsroom, would be looking for ways to fight this decision.
“The management’s argument that this decision, these layoffs, will improve our company in any way, shape or form lacks any foundation in reality,” Day said.
The proposition that the publisher’s statement “lacks any foundation in reality” is widely applicable to the suffocating politics conveyed in the Star Tribune’s stories and columns.
