Dateline St. Paul: Bro writes: "Local News" moves to center stage

(Ed. note: In the midst of the downsizing of the Mpls Star, local news was touted as what the Star was going to cover. Here is the recent column of my brother Denis in the "Monitor" that covers this. )

Friday, July 6, 2007
Mailbag: Denis Woulfe of the MONITOR writes: On "Local" News. The Mantra. The Real World


Watching media accounts of the
cutbacks at the Star Tribune has led
me to believe that I must preside
over what has become some kind of
“National Treasure” for media outlets
trying to make a living selling
newspapers. New Star Tribune Editor
Nancy Barnes was interviewed
by KSTP-TV the other night telling
readers that the Tribune's focus will
be redirected to "exclusive local coverage."
Exclusive, meaning that the stories found in the Tribune
will be unique to the Tribune. Likewise, last week the
new Pioneer Press publisher was named and he once again
touted the PP’s commitment to local coverage. There’s a
novel concept, I thought to myself with a wry smile.


At the Monitor, for the past 30 years we have carved out
a niche that the big papers couldn't afford to cover. Just
look at last month’s issue which featured the Arlington
High School students who were honored by the Mayor for
growing organically grown vegetables, the Jennings High
School students who have been working to raise funds for
Hamline Park Playground, and the simple, but nonetheless
vital listings of story times at the Hamline Midway Library.
Don't get me wrong: We've also covered the high-profile,
controversial stories like light rail coming to University
Avenue, the proposed garbage burner at Rock-Tenn, and the
proposal to place Snelling Avenue in a tunnel under University
Avenue. And we’ve never shied away from coverage just
because it might be controversial. In fact, one regular advertiser
even withdrew his ad last week due to our coverage of
the City’s fight with him over his
license. It’s not a shock—news
gatherers don’t always curry favor
by reporting the facts of a
story. Sometimes they make enemies.
It just goes with the territory.
But our stock in trade has
always been the local news that
the big papers didn’t think was
important enough to cover.

We've been following it, you might say, before it became the
mantra of the daily papers. And our readers continue to
show their appreciation on a monthly basis. Just last week, I
heard from one of the businesses on Rice Street that started
receiving the Monitor with the April issue. The owner said
his Monitor supply was running short only days after the
paper was delivered to his business. So while the big papers
are struggling to maintain circulation, our readership just
spiked. Thank goodness for local coverage! And thanks to
all of you, for reading the Monitor.
From the Editor’s Desk
By DENIS WOULFE
Scooping the daily papers for over 30 years