It's probably a measure of disinterest, at least among the chattering classes, that no one's blogged about the Strib cutting back its much-mocked NewsBreak.

According to promos this week, the daily videocasts will only air Wednesdays this summer, with "NewsBreak Extra" on Fridays. While you'd be forgiven for thinking this is the beginning of the end, anchor Aimee Blanchette promised on Thursday's webisode that, "We'll be back to a full schedule in the fall."

Blanchette did note "a few dozen less NewsBreak viewers now that the weather is enticing everyone outdoors," but Strib Deputy Managing Editor Cory Powell insists the feature remains "one of our most successful video ventures" with "a good and growing audience."

Why would you interrupt that growth with a non-intuitive schedule? "We also [have] other video efforts we want to explore, and we hope to use some of the time and effort we’re currently devoting to a daily webcast to look into other types of video," Powell said via e-mail.

Despite studies suggesting people don't really watch that much online video, I think even critics would welcome additional experimentation at 425 Portland. Even with NewsBreak's stumbles, I appreciate the Strib trying new online things ... it's just that they need to try other new things.

Powell's traffic report notwithstanding, NewsBreak remains a poor showcase for a bunch of otherwise talented people. The hosts still come off as painfully stiff or contrived, which believe me, they are not in real life.

(I still don't know why the Strib doesn't leverage its partnership with WCCO to get Jason DeRusha involved. I mean, this is a guy who'll spend half an hour each workday talking to random co-workers and a few dozen people on his "DeskCam," so let him debrief Stribbers free-form. After all, we know he asks Good Questions.)

I'll give Strib producers credit for incorporating more cross-talk with reporters in recent weeks, but I've never found enough value added to make it a regular stop, much less sit still for 5 or 10 minutes. Maybe others do.

The Strib needs to be a lot tougher about what constitutes "Must-See Web TV," and a lot smarter about how it uses resources.

The paper is currently struggling with staff scheduling, a fallout of the newsroom's new labor contract. Basically, workers won't be able to roll over vacation time after year's end, so everyone's burning it now. Some long-timers have several weeks to use up, a real headache for making a paper or filling a website — and all the more reason not to do frivolous, or cringe-worthy, things.