Year in Review: What we lost, and gained, in Minnesota media in 2020
A look at who and what we lost, what we gained, and what might be ahead for 2021.
Pat Borzi
Pat Borzi is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to the New York Times.
The pig question: Can the Saints remain the Saints as a Twins’ farm team?
With a deal finalized to make the St. Paul Saints the Minnesota Twins’ AAA affiliate, Twins president Dave St. Peter and principal owner Jim Pohlad insist they want the Saints to remain what they are: the most irreverent franchise in baseball.
A new reality: After 36 years, Pat Kessler steps away from day-to-day political coverage for WCCO
In the post-Hubert Humphrey era of Minnesota politics, Kessler has covered them all, from Mondale to Paul Wellstone to Jesse Ventura to Michele Bachman to Al Franken to Tim Walz.
COVID ended City Pages — and the era of alt-weeklies in the Twin Cities
The Star Tribune announced that the paper, founded in 1979, would cease operations immediately, putting about 30 staffers out of work and leaving the metro without its most prominent alt-weekly voice.
Why Sid never stopped
When news broke Sunday that Sid Hartman had died, a few months past his 100th birthday, it still came as a surprise. Sid? Dead? Impossible. Everyone knew Sid would outlive us all.
What former Star Tribune reporter Myron Medcalf wants to do with his newest gig: Star Tribune local columnist
Medcalf will be the paper’s first Black local news columnist, and has been given what Strib Editor Rene Sanchez calls “a blank canvas.”
With move to Division I, St. Thomas coaches will have a very different job description
In Division III, coaches mainly choose lifestyle and security over notoriety. For coaches of St. Thomas’ 22 sports, that’s all changing.
‘Painful and seemingly endless’: How the University of St. Thomas made the jump to Division I
Meet Tom Douple, commissioner of the Summit League, one of the key players in St. Thomas’ unlikely ascension to big-time college athletics.
Why having more Black newsroom leaders is so critical for journalism
Diverse voices in newsrooms are essential to finding and reporting stories that even the most well-meaning white editors never think of. And it’s really not that hard.
Same game, new strategy: Selling the Twins to a new generation
How do you market baseball to fans with no desire to spend the game in an assigned seat?
How COVID-19 is messing with coverage of pro sports in the Twin Cities
Without access to locker rooms and clubhouses, and with safety the primary concern, both the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press are rethinking their coverage and travel norms.
The Twin Cities’ community newspapers are struggling to survive
As more and more dailies shed staff or fold, community papers are an even more important and often overlooked part of the media landscape — and just as endangered.
Why are cops in Minnesota so rarely charged in officer-involved deaths?
And why the prosecutions stemming from the death of George Floyd may be different.
How do you run a regional sports network when there are no sports?
At a time when Fox Sports North is normally gearing up for one of its busiest stretches, COVID-19 has brought the sports calendar to a halt. So how does Minnesota’s regional sports network choose what to put on TV?
COVID-19 is a huge story for newspapers across Minnesota. For some, it could also be their undoing.
The massive decline in print advertising brought on by the coronavirus crisis is “going to separate the haves and the have-nots,” said Star Tribune Publisher Michael J. Klingensmith.
What happened when a group of Twin Cities investors tried to buy the Pioneer Press — and what it says about the future of the paper
From mid-2016 until early 2018, a consortium of Twin Cities investors negotiated to buy the Pioneer Press from Alden Global Capital, the hedge fund that owns the paper. It didn’t go well.
Why Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve has vowed to assemble an all-female coaching staff for 2020 — and beyond
Reeve always considered herself an advocate for women, using her standing as one of the most successful coaches in WNBA history to push for various causes. But Reeve realized she was falling short in promoting and preparing women to be head coaches.
The Minnesota Reformer has launched. So what the hell is the Minnesota Reformer?
Launched Tuesday, the Reformer is the 15th entry in the States Newsroom network, a national nonprofit based dedicated to in-depth statehouse coverage.
In cutting football, St. Cloud and Crookston deliver wake-up call to other Minnesota schools
“If it can happen at St. Cloud, it can happen anywhere,” said Minnesota State Athletics Director Kevin Buisman.
‘This kid is different’: Augsburg’s Booker Coplin is rewriting the MIAC record book
Last season, Coplin averaged a MIAC-leading 28 points per game, while also topping the league in rebounding, steals, field goals, free throw percentage and minutes per game. The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) named him the best D3 player in the country.
