U of M partners with Minnesota Newspapers to help revitalize industry

Minnesota Job Skills Program grant will be used to retrain newspaper staff 

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL ( 2/24/2009 ) — The University of Minnesota School of Journalism & Mass Communication (SJMC), in partnership with the Duluth News Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press, has received a $238,000 Minnesota Job Skills Program Grant to help newspapers revolutionize their business model and to thrive in an increasingly Internet-based industry. In addition, the university and the newspapers will contribute $469,330 in-kind funds, bringing the total project budget to approximately $700,000.

The project will offer a series of training programs for staff in the advertising and editorial operations of the newspapers, both of which have undergone considerable downsizing in the past year. It is believed to be the first job training grant to help the news industry with the assistance of a journalism school. The goal of the partnership is not only to train employees with new technical, computer-based skills, but also to reassess the way in which news and advertising is delivered.

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Attending the hearing was the complainant, Rachael Martin, director of the Fairlawn Mansion and Museum in Superior, Wisconsin. Representing the Duluth News-Tribunewere Craig Gemoules, managing editor; Steve Aggergaard, city editor; Chuck Frederick, reporter; and Jim Heffernan, editorial page editor.

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The Coalition for a Progressive DFL complained that the newspaper failed to find substantial evidence for the claims it made in an article about the Coalition’s fundraising efforts. The Coalition also claimed that a follow-up article inadequately clarified misconceptions created by the first and that the follow-up did not receive comparable treatment to the first.

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David N. Zentner, national vice president of the Izaak Walton League of America, complained that an article about land use regulations in the North Shore area of northeastern Minnesota was unobjective and that because it was based in part on rumors, it was inflammatory.

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Representatives Peter Fugina and Douglas Johnson complained that three news stories and an editorial in the newspaper inaccurately accused them of questionable financial practices.

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