With the eyes of the nation focused on the unrest in Minneapolis, the events did not leave local journalists out of their minds.
Over the past month, the Minnesota Star Tribune has published interesting stories, including I.D Immigration enforcement officer Who shot? Rene is goodand produced a variety of useful and educational pieces. Richard Tsung Tatari image The image of a prone protester sprayed with a chemical irritant quickly became a visible image. the Ice procedures It changed the way the outlet presented news.
At a time when many regional newspapers have become hollow shells due to… Dip in the press As a business, the Star Tribune has maintained a relatively steady headcount under the billionaire Glenn Taylorwhich it has owned since 2014. It has rebranded itself from the Minneapolis Star Tribune and has committed to digital transformation.
She was ready for her moment.
“If you haven’t invested in the newsroom, you can’t respond this way,” said Steve Grove, publisher and CEO.
The Star Tribune did not operate in a vacuum. Minneapolis has a strong journalistic tradition, especially in public radio and television. Sahan Journal, a digital newsroom focused on immigrants and diverse communities, has also distinguished itself in coverage of President Donald Trump’s immigration efforts and public response.
“The whole ecosystem is very good, and I think people are seeing that now,” said Kathleen Hennessy, senior vice president and editor-in-chief of the Star Tribune.
While national media outlets have made their presence felt, strong local teams provide advantages in such stories. The Star Tribune’s Josie Albertson Grove was one of the first reporters on the scene afterward Intensive care nurse Alex Pretty She was shot dead on January 24. She lives about a block away, and her knowledge of the neighborhood and its people helped them reconstruct what happened.
Journalists with children in school learned about ICE’s efforts to target areas where children congregate by overhearing chatter among friends. While covering events such that public safety could carry the baggage, Star Tribune reporter Liz Sawyer developed sources that helped her, along with colleagues Andy Mannix and Sarah Nelson, prepare a report on who shot Judd.
Besides those connections, employees simply know Minnesota better than strangers, Hennessy said.
“This is a place with a very long and well-established tradition of activism, and a place with really deep social and neighborhood networks,” she said. “People are moving quickly and passionately, and making a big fuss about it. That was definitely part of the story.”
A Signal chat told Tsung Tatari of a demonstration becoming rowdy on January 21. Upon arriving, he focused his lens on a protester who had fallen to the ground, leaving the photographer in the perfect position to capture his richly detailed image. Two officers hold the man face down and place his arms on his back, while the third releases a chemical substance from a canister inches from his face. The bright yellow liquid runs down his cheek and splashes onto the pavement.
What some described as the sadistic cruelty contained in the episode angered many who saw the image. “I was just trying to document and present the evidence and let people decide for themselves,” Tsung Tatari said.
In one provocative story, Christopher Magan and Jeff Hargarten of the Star Tribune identified 240 of an estimated 3,000 immigrants arrested in Minnesota, finding that 80% were convicted of felonies, but almost all of them passed through the court system, were punished and were no longer sought by police. Hargarten and Jake Steinberg collaborated to study how the size of the federal force compares to the size of local police.
Columnist Laura Yuen wrote that her 80-year-old parents have begun carrying their passports when they leave their suburban home, part of the “quiet and pervasive fear” in the Twin Cities. Yuen downloaded her own passport to hold her phone. “The document that made me proud of all the places I traveled is now a badge to prove my belonging,” she wrote.
An article by Kim Hyatt and Louis Krause detailed the health consequences of chemical irritants used by law enforcement — or believed to be used, as questions about what specifically were deployed remained unanswered.
“I really think they did a commendable job,” said Scott Libin, a veteran television journalist and professor of journalism at the University of Minnesota. He praised the Star Tribune’s story on immigrants’ criminal backgrounds as comprehensive and objective.
Since Hennessy, a former Associated Press editor, started her job last May, the Star Tribune has seen a series of big stories, including shooting From two state legislators and A.J Gunman shoots At a Catholic school in Minneapolis. Of course, “we have a newsroom that still has muscle memory.” George Floyd Grove said in 2020.
The news forced fundamental shifts in the way the Star Tribune operates. Like some national media outlets, it has rearranged staff to cover the story aggressively through a constantly updated live blog on its website, offered free to readers. There’s also a greater focus on video, with the Star Tribune conducting forensic studies on footage from the Pretty and Judd shootings, something few local newsrooms are equipped to do. Grove said traffic to its website is up 50 percent, paid subscriptions are up, and the company is getting thousands of dollars in donations from around the country.
“People have changed the way they consume news,” Hennessy said. “We see readers coming back. You know, they’re not waking up in the morning and reading the site and then just forgetting about us all day. They’re coming back a few times a day to check out what’s new.”
Most people in the newsroom contribute to the story, including the Star Tribune’s food and culture team and its outside correspondents. “There are no natural rhythms anymore,” Albertson Grove said.
Under Grove, the former Google executive, the Star Tribune attempted a digital-first transformation, furloughing about 20% of its staff within two years. The newspaper closed its Minneapolis printing plant in December, laid off 125 people, and moved its printing operations to Iowa.
“We face all the headwinds that every local news organization in the country faces,” Grove said. “But we feel fortunate that we’re the largest newsroom in the Midwest and that’s part of the reason we’re able to do this now.”
As a reporter, Sawyer says the public response to the outlet’s work, and the sharing of stories and photos, has lifted her spirits. Readers see it as public service journalism. However, she could use a break. She and her husband, Star Tribune photographer Aaron Lavinsky, have a daughter and are careful to organize their coverage. They cannot be shot with tear gas or arrested at the same time; Who does the daycare pickup?
“I think the residents and journalists in this town are angry,” she said. “We’re tired of being in the international spotlight and it’s never been for anything positive. People are doing their best to pass this moment gracefully.”
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David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him on http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.