Tuesday, February 24, 2009

2 MN. Papers Get Government $$$

I’m very sorry to say this is probably the start of a trend.

The AP reports - - -

Two Minnesota newspapers will receive a share of state grants normally given to retrain workers in manufacturing and other industries in transition.

The Duluth News Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press will work with the University of Minnesota's School of Journalism and Mass Communication to help staff adapt to an increasingly Internet-based industry.

Minnesota Job Skills Partnership is awarding $238,000 in state funds, while the newspapers and the university will contribute about $469,000 combined, mostly by devoting staff time to training. (
Do we agree the $469,000 of “staff time” is just a con to fool the public into thinking this isn’t what it is: a taxpayer money handout to the newspapers? - - JinC)

Paul Moe, the state program's director, said newspapers around the country are looking closely at the project as a potential model. (
Of course!)

Kathleen Hansen, director of the university's Minnesota Journalism Center, said the grant idea came from the Pioneer Press. She said the application was unusual for a state agency more accustomed to businesses that deal in plastics or crop machinery.
"This is a very different kind of workforce group," she said. . . .

Rob Karwath, executive editor of the News Tribune, said he hopes the grant will help his newspaper come up with new products that deliver news and advertising to readers and methods to get more feedback from customers.

The entire AP story’s here.

Hat tip: Drudge Report

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

TASS, Pravda, and Izvestia have just been reborn!
Tarheel Hawkeye

Anonymous said...

Just what we need - NPN - National Public Newspaper. THey will probably use written versions of what one can get on NPR.
Stalin and Kruschev must be rolling in their graves.
cks

Anonymous said...

John:

Let's face it. They need the money.

Ken
Dallas

Anonymous said...

So now, we the taxpayers, will subsidize the misinformation and propaganda delivered to us. Hoo Boy --- Steve in New Mexico

Anonymous said...

When the papers act like full-time political ads, you have to reward and retain them. You don't get this much bias just because of divese opinions and the predominance of one ideological bent.

And, in case it has escaped attention, we already subsidize all sorts of agitprop -- take a look at the ideologies that are defining characteristics of grants for research in the humanities some time and you'll see another dimension to why there is so little diversity of thought on campus. And yes, there's NPR, as well as TV news, and the entertainment programming more and more people listen to for their news and opinion.