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Chris Clonts

St. Louis Park, MN
Commenter for
4 years 35 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 12/13/10 at 02:40 pm in response to Dailies: 90-plus percent of Snowmageddon Sunday papers delivered on Sunday

The Pioneer Press also featured a prominent notice at the top of TwinCities.com inviting those who didn't have their papers yet (we acknowledged the possible delays) to access the E-edition for free.

So those who prefer the newspaper format were able to get it for the day if they had net access. Again, for free.

That notice, which ran from 5 a.m. to midnight, also included three ways to let our customer service department know about missed papers.

Posted on 12/01/10 at 01:56 pm in response to Minnesota Democrats Exposed's new proprietors unsure about state Capitol press corps bid

Saying "The Uptake isn't as partisan as MDE" is a long way from making it an unbiased source of news for Minnesotans.

With its staff bringing unbiased newsgathering experience such as working for Air America and campaigning for U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, it could hardly be considered centrist.

Posted on 11/20/09 at 10:39 pm in response to Should a Polish photo grace a Minnesota investigation?

Weak sauce!

Bottom line: Misleading? Nope. Did it help draw readers in to an important story (that would not have the same gravity done as a strip)? Yep.

Stock photos don't kill people. Negligent nursing homes do.

Posted on 10/27/09 at 10:09 am in response to Kiffmeyer relationship with bank not interesting enough?

As great as it is to have more people telling this awesome tale, I'm compelled to point out that the original, and more complete, version of this story can be found at http://www.twincities.com/topstories/ci_13604419, told by the Pioneer Press' Chris Niskanen. -- C

Posted on 07/07/09 at 11:05 am in response to Ask readers for help, and they'll help you right back

And a gentle reminder (I know you have mentioned it before): The Pioneer Press and TwinCities.com have been advocating for consumers with our Watchdog-branded coverage since 2004.

Shepherded by Deb O'Connor and fed by reader suggestions, the Watchdog has helped consumers break through bureaucracy and won justice on big and small issues more than 250 times. It has been honored by the Society of Professional Journalists eight times in four years.

In 2007, the Watchdog blog (...

Posted on 04/24/09 at 04:31 pm in response to Star Tribune newsroom deal: What 'painful, distasteful' cuts hint about future

David:

I know you have a background as a reporter. But to dismiss the designers, editors and other so-called "production" workers "the buggy-whip makers of the 21st Century" who "make pages pretty" is wildy insulting to those professionals.

Respectfully: You should know better.

I'll skip that the result thus far was to be expected. A negotiating team made up almost entirely of day-side reporters certainly isn't going to work to protect the integrity of jobs they don't...

Posted on 03/20/09 at 12:25 pm in response to What works: The Star Tribune's Whistleblower

To try to name those who contributed to either paper's coverage of the bridge, including the investigation, is an impossible task.

More than just a few people -- from multiple departments and not solely from the offices with windows -- contributed ideas, served tours of duty with the investigation, went home late, made great saves, etc.

So just say there's no "I" in news and call it a day.

Posted on 01/13/09 at 08:40 pm in response to Star Tribune's McAuliffe on newsroom's depressing reality

What's with all the Peanuts hate, yo?

Families with their kids and heck, even some adult couples, still stop to take photos there on their way to Twins and Vikings games.

Should they disassemble the Statue of Liberty just because it turned green?

Is the Venus de Milo unfit for the Louvre because an arm fell off?

Posted on 10/27/08 at 12:44 pm in response to Strib weekday circ falls 4 percent, Sundays down 8; PiPress up slightly (Update 2)

Without getting into the horribly tangled debate about web-traffic measurement, many take Alexa's sampling-based numbers with a grain of salt. And since Alexa is a measure of overall internet reach, it might be a poor judge of primarily local sites.

Among other services, we (as does StarTribune.com) use Omniture's SiteCatalyst, an industry standard in traffic measurement.

Our numbers show that we are are posting double digit increases year-over-year in both page views and...

Posted on 09/19/08 at 11:59 am in response to Strib editor: Political reporters should ask themselves, 'If I were running ...'

This is your well-covered beat, but man: Maybe it's time to step away from the parsing machine a bit.
A couple of things from the "Come on, really?" camp:

1) The "I hear complaints from both sides" statement is a time-worn editor's pulse check used in all sorts of coverage from sports (Michigan, Michigan St.) to the Middle East (the Jewish and Palestinian communities) to politics. Is it the world's most scientific test? Heck no. But it is a standard for media that try to remain...