Aug 27, 2007 8:20 pm US/Central
Former Strib Publisher To Start Online News Site
by Heather Brown
(WCCO)
Minnesota is a land filled with lots of places to get information but, by the end of the year, there will be one more. It's called MinnPost.com, an Internet daily run by the former publisher of the Star Tribune.
"We are no focused on quantity. We won't be focused on updating every story every five minutes," said Joel Kramer, CEO of MinnPost.com, "Our goal is depth, analysis, more like a news magazine."
More than 20 long-time local journalists have signed on to write for the paper. They include Pulitzer Prize winners, well-known columnists and writers who took buyouts in recent cutbacks at area traditional newspapers.
"That will be an adventure. They are really looking forward to it. We are going to work on how they'll operate in this new medium," said Kramer, who is the former publisher of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
MinnPost.com will be a non-profit organization with the start-up money coming from donations and foundations. Eventually, it would like to be self-sustaining with advertising on donations. Kramer expects to spend less because he doesn't have to pay for printing costs.
"It certainly won't be easy but no endeavor in journalism is at this point," said John Rash, a senior vice president at advertising firm Campbell Mithun.
Rash predicts many of the MinnPost.com readers will be news-savvy people and those that already read many of the local newspapers.
"It does have a much better chance than most newspaper startups would be because of how deeply most Twin Citians are to the community and their desire for information," he said.
Kramer believes people come to the Web site because of the journalists' experience.
"There will be no guarantees. It's a startup. The key will be whether we have a large following of readers who keep coming back. If we do, I'm confident we'll be successful," said Kramer.
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