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
The Star Tribune headquarters in downtown Minneapolis
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.
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.
Ridder resigned on
December 7,
2007.
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.
On
February 1,
2008, the newspaper's publisher announced plans to sell the newspaper's headquarters in downtown Minneapolis. On January 15, 2009, as the nation's 15th largest daily paper, the paper filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
On September 17th, 2009 the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved a Bankruptcy plan for the paper which saw it emerge from bankruptcy protection on Sept. 28. The paper’s senior secured lenders now hold approximately 95 percent of the stock in the post-bankruptcy company. The company’s debt is now $100 million, down from $480 million at the time of its filing.
Management
Chris Harte is the present publisher and chairman.
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.
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.
Star Tribune Assembly Process
Star Tribune Assembly Process
Star Tribune Assembly Process
See also
