Star Tribune expanding outstate Minnesota coverage
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The Star Tribune has posted jobs for four outstate reporters and a columnist in an effort to beef up its coverage of greater Minnesota.
Why it matters: The move by the state's largest news organization comes after years of decline in rural news here and nationally.
Details: The Strib is hiring reporters to live in and report on four regions: Southwest (Mankato), North Central (Bemidji), Southeast (Rochester), and West Central (St. Cloud), plus wants a columnist to cover the "changing dynamics of life in Greater Minnesota."
- New publisher Steve Grove told Axios he anticipates launching newsletters in the regions centered in Mankato and Bemidji to go along with those already running in Duluth, St. Cloud, and Rochester.
What they're saying: The Strib's reporting expansion in recent years to Duluth, St. Cloud, and Rochester has been profitable, Grove said.
- The additional reporters will serve metro subscribers who want to know more about rural Minnesota and help the paper gain new subscribers outside the Twin Cities, he added.
- Grove aims at increasing advertising revenues, and the paper has posted ad sales rep jobs for those regions as well.
State of play: The number of newspapers publishing in the state dropped 34% since 2005, according to a recent report from researchers at Northwestern University's Medill Local News Initiative. Many of those that remain are small weeklies.
- The number of newspaper journalists working in Minnesota shrunk by 64% over the same period. The St. Cloud Times, for example, went from 36 newsroom employees in 2014 to listing just one sports reporter and a shared editor today.
Between the lines: The Strib, while one of the healthiest newspapers in the country, hasn't been immune to the challenges facing the industry.
- Grove said the paper is "still navigating" whether the rural expansion will be a net increase in newsroom positions or will result in others being eliminated.
- Asked if the Strib was profitable in 2023, Grove said the business "is doing well but faces some very real challenges in the market as it relates to shifting dynamics."