Newspaper Suicide: The Star Tribune Kills Lileks' Column
Hugh Hewitt
Let's see. Your circulation is crashing. The value of your paper has plummeted. Everyone in the industry recognizes that the the future is online, and most realize that the byline has become the brand and that writers with followings will be a crucial part of the rescue of the bottom line.
So what does the Minneapolis Star Tribune do? ...
Lileks could use a hand
See-Dubya
James Lileks is a funny guy and a damn fine writer. I’ve been reading him at Lileks.com since 2002 and am amazed that he hasn’t been snapped up by a major national paper. For a long time he did have an indispensible political column with Newhouse News Service (ha, no link, losers) that, a couple of weeks ago, was abruptly dispensed.
And now his home paper, the Minneapolis Star Tribune (likewise), has decided that since they have in Lileks a nationally-known top-notch bestselling humor writer and political commentator, they need to…
…pick up the slack left by Newhouse and give him a regular spot on the editorial page?
No. No, that would be smart.
No, they decided to kill his humor column (the “Quirk”) and move him into news reporting, covering the sparkling Minneapolis Internet scene. ...
