Minnesota Star Tribune Looks to Charity in Part to Stabilize Revenue
The Minnesota Star Tribune joins many others in trying to turn to charity to solve the business challenge of news today.
From the story: “In October, the Minnesota Star Tribune launched its Local News Fund, a charitable fund under the umbrella of the Minneapolis Foundation. The endeavor puts the newspaper into a new niche of nonprofit media, joining the ranks of MinnPost, Sahan Journal, Minnesota Public Radio, and the Minnesota Reformer, to name a few.
The Strib’s quirk is it is not transitioning to a nonprofit; it’s just created a vehicle for tax deductibility, something funders and high-net-worth individuals expect. Why does the newspaper need donations? Well, like all legacy media, the Strib struggles with an atrophying revenue model rooted in the loss of traditional advertising and circulation sources. Publisher Steve Grove is innovating like a madman to evolve, but industry trends make it challenging. Going hat in hand holds promise, he believes.
“Over the next three to four years, 25% of our balance sheet needs to look different,” Grove says. He is not trying to tread water but actually grow the business (it’s already one of the largest newspapers nationally, with a newsroom of about 220, down slightly from Grove’s 2023 arrival). But by implication, Grove is clearly concerned about the stability of up to a quarter of his revenue. He would not share revenue data, but he did tell The New York Times that the newspaper had been losing 15% of its print subscribers annually, and he was working to make up the attrition with (lower margin) digital subscribers.”