Star Tribune: Profitable, yet putting people out of work

Yes, they declared bankruptcy and dumped their debt back onto the banks and, ultimately, taxpayers. (Bailout alert!)

Yes, they they're dumping hard-working and valuable employees onto federal and state unemployment lines -- even further burdening our tax rolls.

But times are tough for the newspaper industry.

OR ARE THEY?


Mike Sweeney: 'Future is bright for news'
"The Star Tribune is alive and well without tapping state taxpayers.
Today we are a profitable company with a healthy balance sheet and the financial resources to fulfill our core mission of being Minnesota's most important news source."

Mike Sweeney in the Star Tribune, Nov. 22, 2009


Mike Sweeney: Significant operating cash flow
It's wrong to question the Star Tribune's survivability. Including digital readers, the Star Tribune's audience has never been larger, he said. The newspaper is projected to generate significant operating cash flow next year and is in no danger of collapse, he said.

Mike Sweeney, quoted in MinnPost, Nov. 15, 2009

New Star Tribune board members: $40K a year plus stock options
The Strib will shell out $160,000 (actually more) for governance of a $200 million-a-year (for now) company. While that would pay for five rookie reporters ...

MinnPost, Sept. 14, 2009

New Star Tribune publisher's salary: $400,000-plus
[New publisher] Klingensmith will make "$400,000 per year in cash, plus incentive compensation and options struck at plan value."

The disclosure comes at an awkward time — the Strib is about to buy out or lay off 30 newsroom workers, some with several decades of experience, after pink-slipping about 70 other workers company-wide late last year.

MinnPost, Jan. 18, 2010