\n<\/p>\n
With the eyes of a nation fixed on the unrest in Minneapolis, the events haven’t left local journalists overmatched.<\/p>\n
Over the past month, the Minnesota Star Tribune has broken stories, including the identity of the immigration enforcement officer<\/a> who shot Renee Good<\/a>, and produced a variety of informative and instructive pieces. Richard Tsong-Taatarii’s photo<\/a> of a prone demonstrator sprayed point-blank with a chemical irritant quickly became a defining image. The ICE actions<\/a> have changed how the outlet presents the news.<\/p>\n At a time when many regional newspapers have become hollowed-out shells due to the decline in journalism<\/a> as a business, the Star Tribune has kept staffing relatively steady under billionaire Glen Taylor<\/a>, who has owned it since 2014. It rebranded itself from the Minneapolis Star Tribune and committed itself to a digital transformation.<\/p>\n It was ready for its moment.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you hadn’t invested in the newsroom, you wouldn’t be able to react in that way,\u201d said Steve Grove, publisher and chief executive.<\/p>\n The Star Tribune hasn’t operated in a vacuum. Minneapolis has a robust journalism tradition, particularly on public radio and television. Sahan Journal, a digital newsroom focusing on immigrants and diverse communities, has also distinguished itself covering President Donald Trump’s immigration efforts and the public response.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole ecosystem is pretty darn good,\u201d said Kathleen Hennessey, senior vice president and editor of the Star Tribune, \u201cand I think people are seeing that now.\u201d<\/p>\n While national outlets have made their presence felt, strong local teams offer advantages in such stories. The Star Tribune’s Josie Albertson-Grove was one of the first journalists on the scene after ICU nurse Alex Pretti<\/a> was shot dead on Jan. 24. She lives about a block away, and her knowledge of the neighborhood and its people helped to reconstruct what happened.<\/p>\n Journalists with kids in school learned about ICE efforts to target areas where children gather by hearing chatter among friends. While covering a beat like public safety can carry baggage, Star Tribune reporter Liz Sawyer developed sources that helped her, along with colleagues Andy Mannix and Sarah Nelson, report on who shot Good.<\/p>\n Besides those contacts, the staff simply knows Minnesota better than outsiders, Hennessey said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a place with a really, really long and entrenched tradition of activism, and a place with really deep social networks and neighborhood networks,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople mobilize quickly and passionately, and they’re noisy about it. That’s definitely been part of the story.\u201d<\/p>\n A Signal chat tipped Tsong-Taatarii about a demonstration growing raucous on Jan. 21. Upon arriving, he focused his lens on one protester knocked to the ground, leaving the photographer perfectly placed for his richly-detailed shot. Two officers hold the man face-down with arms on his back, while a third unleashes a chemical from a canister inches from his face. The bright yellow liquid streams onto his cheek and splatters onto the pavement.<\/p>\n What some have called the sadistic cruelty involved in the episode outraged many who saw the photo. \u201cI was just trying to document and present the evidence and let people decide for themselves,\u201d Tsong-Taatarii said.<\/p>\n In one enterprising story, the Star Tribune’s Christopher Magan and Jeff Hargarten identified 240 of an estimated 3,000 immigrants rounded up in Minnesota, finding 80% had felony convictions but nearly all had been through the court system, been punished and were no longer sought by police. Hargarten and Jake Steinberg collaborated on a study of how the size of the federal force compared with that of local police.<\/p>\n Columnist Laura Yuen wrote that her 80-year-old parents have begun carrying their passports when they leave their suburban townhouse, part of the \u201cquiet, pervasive fear\u201d in the Twin Cities. Yuen downloaded her own passport to carry on her phone. \u201cA document that once made me proud of all the places I’ve traveled is now a badge to prove I belong,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n A piece by Kim Hyatt and Louis Krauss detailed the health consequences of chemical irritants used by law enforcement \u2014 or thought to be used, since questions about what specifically was deployed went unanswered.<\/p>\n \u201cI really think they’ve done a commendable job,\u201d said Scott Libin, a veteran television newsman and journalism professor at the University of Minnesota. He praised the Star Tribune’s story about the criminal backgrounds of immigrants as thorough and dispassionate.<\/p>\n Since Hennessey, a former Associated Press editor, began her job last May, the Star Tribune has experienced a run of big stories, including the shooting<\/a> of two state lawmakers and a gunman opening fire<\/a> at a Catholic school in Minneapolis. And, of course, \u201cwe have a newsroom that still has muscle memory from George Floyd<\/a> \u201d in 2020, Grove said.<\/p>\n News compelled fundamental shifts in the way the Star Tribune operates. Like some national outlets, it has rearranged staff to cover the story aggressively through a continuously updated live blog on its website, offered free to readers. There’s also a greater emphasis on video, with the Star Tribune doing forensic studies on footage from the Pretti and Good shootings, something few local newsrooms are equipped to do. Traffic to its website has gone up 50 percent, paid subscriptions have increased and the company is getting thousands of dollars in donations from across the country, Grove said.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople have changed the way that they consume news,\u201d Hennessey said. \u201cWe see that readers are coming back. You know, they’re not just waking up in the morning, reading the site and then forgetting about us all day long. They’re coming back a couple of times a day to check in on what’s new.\u201d<\/p>\n Most people in the newsroom are contributing to the story, including the Star Tribune\u2019s food and culture team, and its outdoor reporters. \u201cThere are no normal beats anymore,\u201d Albertson-Grove said.<\/p>\n Under Grove, a former Google executive, the Star Tribune has attempted a digital-first transition, turning over about 20% of its staff in two years. The paper shut its Minneapolis printing plant in December, laying off 125 people, and moving print operations to Iowa.<\/p>\n \u201cWe face every single headwind that every local news organization in the country does,\u201d Grove said. \u201cBut we do feel fortunate that we’re the largest newsroom in the Midwest and it’s part of the reason we’re able to do this now.\u201d<\/p>\n As a reporter, Sawyer says the public response to the outlet’s work, sharing stories and images, has lifted her spirits. Readers see it as public service journalism. Still, she could use a break. She and her husband, Star Tribune photographer Aaron Lavinsky, have a baby daughter and make sure to stagger their coverage. They can’t both be tear-gassed or arrested at the same time; who makes the daycare pickup?<\/p>\n \u201cI think both residents and journalists in this town are running on fumes,\u201d she said. \u201cWe’re tired of being in the international spotlight and it’s never for something positive. People are trying their best to get through this moment with grace.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http:\/\/x.com\/dbauder<\/a> and https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/dbauder.bsky.social<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n