Trials and Strib-ulations

In the ongoing turmoil that is the Minneapolis Star Tribune, a Ramsey County judge ordered Par Ridder, the man whom new owner Avista Capital Partners brought over from the rival St. Paul Pioneer Press to serve as its new publisher, to go on a one year suspension as punishment for violating state laws regarding trade secrets when he jumped across the river.

Apparently, Ridder was not a well-liked man. Staffers at both papers cheered the ruling, which is pending an appeal by the Star Tribune. The paper's own coverage of the ruling was on the front page, top fold, when you would have expected to see it on the business pages. But then again, the media doesn't usually do a very good job of covering itself.

The Star Tribune (and, for that matter, the Pioneer Press) has been shrinking in its size and reputation these days. Circulation is in the tank. Half its staff has been axed, including Doug Grow, Al Sicherman, Eric Black and Deborah Rybak. Other aspects of the business have been outsourced. And still no one knows what in heck Avista Capital Partners is, or how long it will be before they sell the paper to someone else.

Reading the paper is another matter. Coverage is so skimpy, with wire-service headlines of things you've already heard on TV and stories missed because of the lack of staff. And do we really have to get our media coverage from CJ? It's almost as if the Star Tribune is inviting its readers to drop the paper and log on to its web site.

Not to end on a gloomy note, but we think the Twin Cities will become a one-newspaper market by 2010. Which newspaper survives is anyone's guess.