Its now the Minnesota Star Tribune....

[StickierBuns]

"In a rare move for the embattled newspaper industry, the Star Tribune in Minneapolis is rebranding as The Minnesota Star Tribune and expanding its coverage statewide. Under billionaire owner Glen Taylor and CEO Steve Grove, the paper will hire reporters across Minnesota and boost its digital presence, with a goal of tripling subscriptions over the next five years. The expansion includes new local beats and content sharing with hyperlocal news outlets. It aims to capitalize on state pride and civic participation, running counter to the trend of newspapers reducing coverage and focusing on cost-cutting."

Interesting move, and bold. Might be very stupid as well, but I applaud the effort. Focusing on state-wide local coverage. Its a dying industry for sure, like going to be VERY dead when the final Boomers that read a paper every day have died. Its hanging on with a digital presence, hundreds of newspapers have gone out of business. I wish them luck.

[JimmyinSD]

If they want to push liberal slant in rural MN they are wasting their efforts, outside of the twin cities and a few other small select areas, MN is pretty conservative and wont waste their time or money on progressive view points IMO. The local rags dies for a reason, the market just isnt there.

[StickierBuns]

If they want to push liberal slant in rural MN they are wasting their efforts,  outside of the twin cities and a few other small select areas,  MN is pretty conservative and wont waste their time or money on progressive view points IMO.  The local rags dies for a reason,  the market just isnt there.

I think every state with a major city is like this (outside of California which probably has a little more liberal rural population than the rest of the country): liberal minded city-goers and more conservative minded in the rural areas. This isn't political anyway, its the newspaper industry in general. Its not a vehicle for getting news any longer.

[purplefaithful]

MN is very progressive politically....Hasnt been a red state for POTUS since Nixon. 

OF course the rural areas tend to be more conservative, but the vast majority of the population is in the Twin Cities (hennepin/Ramsey counties).

I have plenty of friends in rural areas (i.e. Pine City etc.) but you know what? We agree to disagree and dont ever let politics get in the way of being with each other. 

But even the rural folks can surprise - out in west MN they just voted back in Michelle Fishbach over a very right wing Christian Nationalist candidate.

People dont like it when you get too far left or too far right. 

As far as the Strib goes, I havent had a newspaper delivered in 20+ years, but I took advantage of their super cheap intro offer into digital. I figured for this price for 6 months? It'll take me though the POTUS election and NFL season.

[Montana Tom]

Actually, I am one of those out-of-state Minnesota natives who has a digital subscription to the Strib. As a kid, I delivered evening papers in my home town for the Minneapolis Star. I remember reading Jim Klobuchar (Amy's dad) column daily. And the Sunday Minneapolis Tribune, my dad had a rural farm route for supplemental income (for a family with six of us kids). I would often ride with him and help...realizing soon that I was more of a morning person than a nightowl. The Sunday Tribune was usually well over an inch thick, with all the sections and inserts.

Yes, I noticed this yesterday. It's a quick hit to the ribs of the St Paul Pioneer Press. They've laid claim to the entire outstate region.

It fits, since the national sports branding already went there many decades ago. The Minnesota Vikings, Minnesota Timberwolves, Minnesota North Stars/Wild, Minnesota Twins, et al.

Smart branding. Very smart move.