Hammer falling at the Strib
posted at 8:26 am on December 16, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
Share on Facebook | printer-friendly
Everyone in the Twin Cities knows that the Minneapolis Star-Tribune has hit some very hard times, and that started when the economy still boomed. Two years ago, the paper sold for half of its sale value from just a few years before. Avista Capital Partners has already had run-ins with its creditors even at that price, and now the cuts have begun in earnest, according to the MinnPost (via Mitch Berg):
Star Tribune management is blowing up their columnist roster.
According to a buyout memo released this afternoon and newsroom sources, Nick Coleman and Katherine Kersten will lose their columns, though they may be able to remain at the paper as reporters.
To put it mildly, that would be a stretch for Kersten, who has never held such a journalism job. Expect a gigantic eruption from the right wing.
The paper’s other metro columnists — Lileks? CJ? — may not be breathing easy, either. Management’s buyout memo asked for “up to three” metro columnists and “up to one” editorial cartoonist, which seems a classification limited to Steve Sack.
Rumors had the Strib about to close their doors last spring, and that was when credit still could be found. Now, with the collapse of the credit markets and an inevitable decline in advertising revenue, the Strib and Avista have to find ways to stop the bleeding. It looks like the Strib sees opinion journalism as the least essential part of their program and have begun to cut in that area.
Nick Coleman is no great loss. The Strib should have fired him years ago, and missed their best chance when he wrote a column accusing David Strom, the president of the Taxpayers League of Minnesota, of killing the thirteen people who died in the St. Anthony Bridge collapse within hours of the tragedy for championing lower taxes. Instead of waiting a whole day to get more of the story (when MnDOT acknowledged they had the money to build a new bridge if they wanted), or waiting until the NTSB could perform an investigation (which showed that the collapse came from a significant design defect and not poor maintenance), Coleman waited six whole hours to climb on his hobby horse against people who want to keep taxes low, and rode over the bodies of the dead to do it.
Unfortunately, rather than just fire Coleman for incompetence, they’re laying him off or demoting him to the news section. That means they have to show some balance (for once) and axe their lone conservative voice at the paper. Katherine Kersten has done a remarkable job at the Strib as a rare voice for conservatism in the paper, but she’s also the last one in, and most companies would make her the first one out regardless of point of view. I’ll miss her, and like David Brauer, I also doubt that she’ll remain as a reporter. Hopefully she finds another platform soon.
The sacking of Sack comes as a mild surprise. Steve Sack has never been one of my favorites as an editorial cartoonist, but having an in-house cartoonist gave the Strib a certain elevation among dailies. Now they’ll presumably just buy off of the wires for their editorial cartoon each day, which will save Avista some money but will relegate the Strib to an also-ran among newspapers.
Will Lileks and “CJ” also get the axe? I’d be surprised if either do. Both of them operate in more of an entertainment mode at the Strib, something it desperately needs. Without Lileks’ wit and CJ’s gossip, the only reason to buy the paper would be coupons and comic strips — and I’ll bet the latter will start getting cut back as well.
In the end, though, this may just wind up being the media version of rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. That would be too bad, as no one really wants the Strib out of business. We need two dailies in this market, but we need them both to do better. Changing the editorial board would have been a better call by Avista, which they declined to do even while getting Jim Boyd out in a buyout. Maybe that’s where the latest round of cuts should have focused.
You must be logged in to post a comment.

















Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Comment pages:
Is there any way to tell whether the cuts are the result of the Strib’s ultra-liberal bias, or other market forces (e.g. the internet robbing newspapers of advertising and classifieds revenue)? Are there other papers around the country with a less-liberal bias that are doing better?
Still, this has to be welcome news for our side of the aisle. The more that the MSM dies, the more opportunity we have to strengthen our message. This is why we need lots more sites like HotAir; we cannot cede the internet to the Daily Kos and Our Glorious Leader, Barack the Benevolent (praise be upon him).
Outlander on December 16, 2008 at 8:31 AM
Ed, why so mush attention to a publication most of us have never seen & never will see?
If you wrote about my local paper, that wouldn’t interest me either, because I haven’t read it for years.
jgapinoy on December 16, 2008 at 8:32 AM
oops
mushmuchjgapinoy on December 16, 2008 at 8:33 AM
Are they going to be doing an expose on how Franken deserves the senate seat before they go under?
Tommy_G on December 16, 2008 at 8:33 AM
One fossil of the dinosaur media down.
Many more to go.
UltimateBob on December 16, 2008 at 8:35 AM
Loss of ad revenue, sure perhaps a bit, but they lost many, many subscribers like me when their war coverage turned left and that’s why their downfall began before the current economic malaise.
Conservative Kersten gets ridiculed as stupid and cold-blooded, and their “cartoonist” once inked a two panel hit on our troops during the Abu Ghraib incident, portraying them as drooling morons who enjoy torture. They lost me for good after that.
Buh bye Strib, if you fall you deserve it, considering you could more easily survive by at least coming back to center.
Bishop on December 16, 2008 at 8:37 AM
The underlying story is that businesses cannot get any loans.
To the average person that doesn’t seem very important. But when you realize in the past decade almost 80% of all new jobs have come from small business, you begin to realize the effect on the economy…GM and Chrysler, and Ford are a small % (4% I believe), where small business is over 50% of the GDP, it accounts for 30% of all exports, and 1/2 of all private sector employees (and 45% of the payroll).
The businesses need financing to carry them through times when they need to increase inventory, to prepare for a future cycle. This may not apply to newspaper, but this just leads to the story, that businesses can’t get loans.
AS the senate focuses on “Big Business”, it is the small business that drives the economy.
Archaic laws, banking and regulation, is hampering the investment in small business.
Unless it turns around, you ain’t seen nothing yet…who do they think buys those cars?
The senators on the hill are idiots…they have to take of 50% of the economy, before 4%…
right2bright on December 16, 2008 at 8:42 AM
Potents for such as the NYT and NBC are dark. Just no one mention the word bailout.
IlikedAUH2O on December 16, 2008 at 8:42 AM
Thanks for the update, Ed.
This report on the Strib is relevant because it’s evolution from “bricks and mortar” to the web – startribune.com always ranks very high on hit counters. Often more hits than a lot of other, larger publications.
LadinPlaid on December 16, 2008 at 8:44 AM
There is just no market for newpapers anymore because the revenue advertising is not there. Don’t be surprised when someone comes up with the idea of funding local newspapers in the form of PBS.
RedSoxNation on December 16, 2008 at 8:45 AM
Newspapers are never too big to fail.
ZK on December 16, 2008 at 8:47 AM
Well, it’s Ed’s hometown, for one thing. And also, many of us read James Lileks daily, so his fate is of extreme interest to us.
rivlax on December 16, 2008 at 8:48 AM
Between Ed and the Powerline guys I’ve learned a lot about the Strib over the last 5 years. I live in a place where many of my local papers are also the national papers so without the blogs’ reporting I wouldn’t have much of a clue about what’s going on in the media “out there.”
I think it’s fascinating and I assume similar dramas are occurring in many smaller cities. At least Ed’s given me a chance to understand, in-depth, what’s happening in a locality that’s not my own.
Gilda on December 16, 2008 at 8:50 AM
It is an important story, for a couple of reasons.
The “Red Star” was one of the most relentlessly left-wing papers of any significance in America. No matter what the public wanted, they got extreme liberalism, good and hard.
Also, our friend Lileks, a man of tremendous insights, wit, and humor, is there.
In no particular order.
__________
RJGatorEsq. on December 16, 2008 at 8:51 AM
A lot of entities in the MSM, be it the dead-tree media or the Network TV outlets, are gaining “also-ran” status. They brought it upon themselves. It is not as if there were not warning signs. They chose their path, they can now walk-the-walk.
I haven’t bought ANY newspaper in over five years now, and am probably better informed, regarding both sides of most issues, than those that do.
Yoop on December 16, 2008 at 8:53 AM
Best of luck to Lileks.
The only reasons I get my local paper (Toledo Blade) is to read the comics and sports with breakfast. I would like to read it for local news, but the owners, the Block family, have such a transparent agenda that I cannot read any of their stories. For instance, they keep reminding everyone that Joe the Plumber’s first name is Samuel, and that if he wants to go by his middle name that must mean he’s dishonest.
rbj on December 16, 2008 at 8:54 AM
After listening to Americans on “How Obama got elected”, I just don’t think people know how to read. The Liberal Academia should be proud of themselves.
DJ from MA on December 16, 2008 at 8:56 AM
Counting the current financial crisis, I’m certain that through the election cycle many advertisers got a strong dose of letters from their readers regarding the outright bias and disgust of the garbage published in their local papers. Economics 101—-no advertisers–no revenue. Add the online information age that is so much more current than the information in any newpaper can provide, local newspapers may be going the way of the dinosaur.
Rovin on December 16, 2008 at 8:58 AM
Thank you.
I hope my comment wasn’t seen as criticism. I knew there must be a reason for this post beyond some local news.
jgapinoy on December 16, 2008 at 8:58 AM
Nick Coleman lose his column? What a terrible loss!
>snark<
drjohn on December 16, 2008 at 9:02 AM
Also, I truly look forward to the day when morons like Dowd, Krugman, and Frank Rich are standing in the un-employment line.
Rovin on December 16, 2008 at 9:06 AM
Don’t be so gleeful that even a paper you hate is going under…it is going under for reasons much more severe then what their opinion is.
That little parable about “first they came for…then they came for…then they came for me and no one was there”.
That is what the Trib represents.
You may be happy about them not printing what you don’t want to hear, but the reason they are failing is primarily a slipping economy. Families are hurt, printers, warehouse, office staff, this is sad, so sad.
right2bright on December 16, 2008 at 9:07 AM
When will the media get it that we are on to their liberal garbage. Now we just need to get the old people in this country to pay attention and turn off that stupid evening news and 60 Minutes. Then, we as parents have to quit sending our kids to liberal schools so some teachers and professors lose their jobs. The Star Tribune should have gotten rid of Sid Hartman. He’s a crabby old a** – actually a “McCain” type that does sports, or attempts to.
suzyk on December 16, 2008 at 9:09 AM
I’m a conservative academic. They can’t read and don’t like to read. The trouble is, a lot of them can’t listen either.
Ellen on December 16, 2008 at 9:11 AM
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee.
Refrain
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!
Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,
Darkness be over me, my rest a stone.
Yet in my dreams I’d be nearer, my God to Thee.
Refrain
There let the way appear, steps unto Heav’n;
All that Thou sendest me, in mercy given;
Angels to beckon me nearer, my God, to Thee.
Refrain
Then, with my waking thoughts bright with Thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs Bethel I’ll raise;
So by my woes to be nearer, my God, to Thee.
Refrain
Or, if on joyful wing cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot, upward I’ll fly,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee.
Refrain
There in my Father’s home, safe and at rest,
There in my Savior’s love, perfectly blest;
Age after age to be, nearer my God to Thee.
Refrain
;o)
katy on December 16, 2008 at 9:19 AM
No one is “coming for them”. They’re failing due to mismanagement. A strong liberal agenda chased away many customers. Not a smart strategy in difficult economic times.
dominigan on December 16, 2008 at 9:24 AM
Ed, I don’t know much about Nick Coleman, but hopefully we’ll have Norm Coleman in the Senate another six years. Do you have any updates on the progress of the recount?
Steve Z on December 16, 2008 at 9:27 AM
Pretty much like the auto industry. Reorganize, and produce a product your customers want, or face the music. In other words, join the world the rest of us live in.
On the other hand, the STRIB could collude with the other major newspaper owners and go begging hat in hand to the Dem congress for a lifesaving bailout. After all, what’s good for Wall Street and Detroit is good enough for the MSM.
Which option do you think they’ll take?
JiangxiDad on December 16, 2008 at 9:34 AM
Nick Coleman and the editorial staff at the Red Star Tribune are the reasons we stopped getting delivery of it 10 years ago. The only time I glance at it is at Culvers, and thats to read the sports section, which needs a major overhaul as well.
Not sorry to see Coleman and his bitter liberalism get cut; the powers-that-be at the Strib don’t have the conjones to invite him to take a permanent unpaid vacation.
CJ is pretty much worthless as well.
Blue-eyed Infidel on December 16, 2008 at 9:35 AM
Why not have the state of MN bailout the paper if it’s such a local treasure? Put it to a vote in your nutball state Ed.
JiangxiDad on December 16, 2008 at 9:36 AM
I just received my renewal notice for the Miami Herald (ultra liberal does not begin to describe it.) The cost is almost $200 a year. Even though I am old school, gotta have the paper in front of me with the morning coffe, I am seriously considering canceling. There are very few sections I can stand to read anyway and they don’t have coverage of Penn State football!
Ann on December 16, 2008 at 9:38 AM
Captain Ed,
This sounds more like “The Wheels On The Bus go ‘Round and ‘Round” than “Nearer My God to Thee” because what goes around, comes around. And it’s not like the writing HASN’T been on the wall for the dead-tree industry for a few years.
To channel Allah here (Hot Air’s personal Eeyore) Exit Question: How long before the dead-tree industry, or it’s ugly, backwoods country cousins on the boob tube go to Congress with hat in hand, and the meme that their industry is “to big to fail?”
MrAndMrsSmith on December 16, 2008 at 9:41 AM
Listen, read what I wrote. The ability to borrow money for businesses has dried up. You say “mismanagement” well then that means every business that fails, fails because of “mismanagement”.
The credit market has tightened, you apparently are not in the business world. You need lines of credit to exist, you need lines of credit to build inventory for future production.
And how wonderful that you are gleeful that a couple of liberals lose their jobs, while dozens of working stiffs get screwed.
The Prime is near 0% (0.5%), this may look good to the uninformed, but it is a disaster for small business…because of archaic banking laws and incompetent oversight.
I don’t care about the “Stib”, as an entity, it is foretelling of the future. And I care about the people caught up in this mess. It isn’t money we are losing, it is livelihoods.
When I mentioned “coming to get you”, what I was referring to was the Government regulations, and the effect on your family…you may be next.
right2bright on December 16, 2008 at 9:48 AM
Minneapolis needs two dailies? Really? Well, apparently not.
Heck, we’ve been down to one daily in Houston for some time now and… nope…. not feeling slighted. The horrid Chronicle sits in piles in the corner of my office, awaiting its true purposes: 1) crawfish boils; and 2) kids arts and crafts.
Sugar Land on December 16, 2008 at 9:50 AM
question will be…….To liberal to fail?
sbark on December 16, 2008 at 9:52 AM
Here your dead on, the bailouts focused on “Big Business” not Small Business although they represent the vast majority of the employees.
Here not so much. First paragraph Ed’s story…
Bad management and producing a product or service that does not sell will be the death of any business.
I agree it’s sad that people are losing jobs. Like it or not a bad economy “thins the herd”. The strong companies with goods and services that the public demands and then can provide them at a price the public is willing to pay will survive a bad economy.
And…For all the haters.
Wal Mart, same store sales are up.
Take care all.
Bogeyfre on December 16, 2008 at 9:55 AM
As if liberalism of many newspapers is a new thing? Umm, no. Papers are hurting because people are getting news from the internet (including newspaper websites) and the loss of classified advertising to sites like Craigslist. I hate to break it to you, but liberal bias has nothing to do with it.
YYZ on December 16, 2008 at 10:05 AM
I suspect that Lileks has suggested to the Mrs. that she get out of straight-up lawyering and into some high-coin ambulance chasing.
eeyore on December 16, 2008 at 10:05 AM
Got you, what I was trying to show, was just don’t point and say it is only because of “liberal policies”, a large contributing factor is the terrible laws hampering businesses from getting loans.
“Strib” was the example, so I used it…I could site hundreds (and next month probably thousands” of examples. But most could care less about some “small business” in Georgia, not fully understanding the “total” impact of these poor policies.
right2bright on December 16, 2008 at 10:14 AM
Right2Bright,
I hear what you are saying about the credit markets drying up, but why? Didn’t they get $350B to keep credit going? The bailout, if I understand correctly, was not all going to mortgage companies, but to banks, too.
If a small business has been in business for awhile and they have an established working relationship with their creditors/banks, why shouldn’t they get the loan? Again, it comes down to providing a service/product that customers want/need. JMHO.
cjs1943 on December 16, 2008 at 10:16 AM
That is just plain wrong, what is happening now is government policy is thinning the herd.
This is not 1970, the economic policies are much different. The effects much greater. Who will survive is not the ones with the “best goods and services” but the deepest pockets. The start-up companies may be the best at what they do, but without working capital they cannot grow their business.
It takes capital, before profits, to build a company.
right2bright on December 16, 2008 at 10:17 AM
Just a coincidence Kersten is the only anti-Islamic supremacist… ah… in the region. Anyone want to bet a Somali imam gets her gig within a year?
Beagle on December 16, 2008 at 10:18 AM
In Sacramento, we lost the Union (Oldest daily west of Mississippi and former home to Mark Twain) back in the 90s. And it wasn’t much of a paper by then, although it was conservative.The Bee has always been the big wheel out here, and as the original property of McClatchy, a bit of Western History as well. When McClatchy bought the Strib for a billion, and then sold it for a few million, I believe that the writing was on the wall. McClatchy may not make it much farther either – housing and car advertising is nonexistent, and the classified ad rate is like something from “Nazi-Russia” (that always makes me laugh). When we bought a death notice for my Dad in 2005, a three day run with a B/W photo and a few paragraphs was well over a thousand dollars. His hometown paper in Sonora CA was free (he was a WWII vet, and was born there in 1927).
McClatchy FORCES me to get the paper 7 days a week. I asked for the Fri – Sun subscription, but they said that they include Thur at that rate. Withing 2 months I was getting it delivered 7 days at the 3 day rate. Way to pad those circulation numbers! In all honesty, I read the SacBee.com website daily, and hardly look at the dead tree except for Sunday.
Lileks is a daily must read. He can write his own ticket since he has so much more talent to offer than the Strib can, or will ever use. It’s just hard to step out on your own, and do it all yourself.
juanito on December 16, 2008 at 10:18 AM
They did get $350 Billion – but the banks that got it are sitting on it, or they’ve burned through it.
juanito on December 16, 2008 at 10:22 AM
Speaking of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic… the star trib has just rearranged their website layout for the 100th time (or so).
As for those who aren’t familiar with Nick Coleman: imagine the most pompous liberal windbag at your local fish wrap factory. The one who pontificates on nothing, regurgitates the same article again and again (Coleman’s favorite article is on the Twins stadium, which he has honestly rewritten 15-20 times), and makes arguments that are amazingly meaningless and empty.
strictnein on December 16, 2008 at 10:25 AM
I agree. If the issue were liberal bias, politically conservative venture capitalists would be swooping and buying these distressed properties for pennies on the dollar. But that’s not happening, for the same reason people don’t buy butter churn factories anymore.
Mr. D on December 16, 2008 at 10:28 AM
Yes, you are right. They are sitting on it.
Thats what R2B is saying, too. We’ve got some screwed up laws in this country. Dodd and Frank should be in jail. Clinton signed the new revisions to the CRA (Community Restorative Act) that authorized (forced) lending institutions to loan money to people who had no way of paying it back.
Also, I might add, is that “profit” is a dirty word to some people.
cjs1943 on December 16, 2008 at 10:28 AM
The Strib has lost a little more than 1% of their circulation EACH MONTH for at least the last 18 months. Plus they missed their debt payment a few months back. Heck, they might not even be around to report Al Franken being placed into the Senate.
Adamski on December 16, 2008 at 10:31 AM
No, that the misconception, it was like that in the 1070’s downturn, but it is different now.
Let me give you one quick example.
The SBA was established for small business loans, and banks rely on their guarantee for that money (SBA 7(a) and 504 programs). Their are three prongs to this loan fiasco, I will just feature one.
Money is loaned out at 2-3 over prime (by mandate), when prime was, so right now that loan is max at 3.5%, it can’t be sold on the secondary market. The banks can’t make money loaning at 3.5%, so they can’t get the money from the SBA, because gov. mandate is 2-3 (2.25% now I believe) over prime.
So they have a loan at 2.75%, or they can loan at 6.5% premium standard business loan (tied to LIBOR).
The SBA has billions sitting in their coffers, but can’t move the money because of regulations…that is a lot of money out of the investment sector…just sitting.
That is only one of three scenarios stopping small business from getting, start up or bridge loans.
right2bright on December 16, 2008 at 10:37 AM
Exactly, the money went to the wrong people, it needs to go to people who are “producing”.
Dodd, Frank, yes and even our Republican Cox, need to be swept out, and replaced.
The SBA has less then a 2.0% loan failure rate…but not for long.
right2bright on December 16, 2008 at 10:41 AM
Nick Coleman and Bill Ayers – anyone ever seen them in the same room before?
Jaibones on December 16, 2008 at 10:53 AM
Uh no, polls show that the public’s distrust of the media is at its highest level in over 20 years. That distrust corresponds with a loss of income for media. If you are a business, why would you chase away 47% of your customers? That is what newspapers have been doing with their insane bias.
Note that the only national daily that is increasing circulation is the Wall Street Journal. They combine Pulitzer winning reporting with a conservative editorial viewpoint. Think about that for a while.
Tabris on December 16, 2008 at 10:58 AM
The Strib endorsed Norm Coleman.
YYZ on December 16, 2008 at 11:01 AM
On The Bleat this morning:
If I’m reading this right, Lileks got a buyout offer. Maybe he’s speaking more generically about what’s happening at the Strib, but this sounds more specific to him.
nukemhill on December 16, 2008 at 11:09 AM
……….. because he is freezing his a@s off and needs to do something to keep warm.
Seven Percent Solution on December 16, 2008 at 11:12 AM
Moving them to be reporters will just give their op-ed a bit more legitimacy. Expect no change in content.
jukin on December 16, 2008 at 11:14 AM
More on the way, the Freep is next.
pgrossjr on December 16, 2008 at 11:20 AM
Ironies often iron themselves out. The saving grace for the Strib? They could become relevant again, and return to viability if they went Right. If the Strib actually moved their ideology to the Conservative side, it could be vital and readable. Won’t happen, but look at the Fox News phenom.
They are hardly hard right, but their middle makes the left look as if it is far beyond the horizon. Fox News makes money by being an alternative to the Left reportage. Strib could do that, but they’d rather die Liberal.
Doug on December 16, 2008 at 11:26 AM
Uh, I think the Strib has pretty much been in this category for a decade now…
If not for the morbid and grim determination of Frau Strozek, our household would be free of this pestilence.
Thank God for HOT AIR, Day by Day, Powerline blog and the rest of New Media.
As for Nick Coleman, maybe he can join forces with Minnesota’s other resident pompous ass, Garry Keillor, and continue to write more of the same drivel endlessly for audiences comprised of the same chittering twits.
Bruno Strozek on December 16, 2008 at 11:30 AM
Now would be a good time for some rich conservative to buy up papers and build a media empire.
crosspatch on December 16, 2008 at 11:37 AM
I’d like to see all print media out of business. Anyone who can survive on the web is more than welcome but there is no reason whatsoever for any newspaper to be printed. If you don’t have Internet access, you don’t matter to the rest of us.
grdred944 on December 16, 2008 at 11:53 AM
Print papers are an anachronism. There is absolutely nothing in a newspaper that is “new” – it was all reported on TV or on the ‘net at least a day earlier. Add the fact that most newspapers have gone liberal while the populace remains at least somewhat conservative to middle of the road, and you end up with what we have now: a largely irrelevant method of disseminating old information that most people cannot trust. Kind of like liberal talk radio without the screechy voices.
n0doz on December 16, 2008 at 12:52 PM
I haven’t read the Star & Sickle for years. It’s a disgusting rag, a blight on this fair city, and the sooner it’s gone, the better.
I might even hold a little celebration once it’s banko.
Since nature abhors a vacuum, something else will rise to take its place. Let’s hope it’s better. I have trouble believing it could be worse.
In case I haven’t been entirely clear – the Strib is less than worthless. It’s a foul and revolting thing that pollutes the Twin Cities on a daily basis. I would guess it’s the worst major newspaper in the nation.
Steve_Roberts on December 16, 2008 at 2:29 PM
Ditto.
It is a loathsome rag; the sooner it’s dead the better.
Bruno Strozek on December 16, 2008 at 3:01 PM
Agree with Steve_Roberts and Bruno Strozek. They’re spot on.
Not even worthy for fish wrap, bird cage liner and puppy training paper. It’s toxic waste.
Nick Coleman belong in the newsie’s wing Asylum for Deranged, Bitter Morons. Ooops, no offense intended to morons.
But they are absolutely wrong to dump Katherine Kersten, the only local editorialist that has a brain and can effectively use logic.
The Star-Tribune deserves to die – it’s a third rate paper run by fourth-rate left wing extremist ideologues – the faster, the better. I’d love to help them die faster/harder.
Dr. Bob on December 16, 2008 at 10:20 PM
Comment pages: