Wall-to-wall weather This is the time of year when many of us grow sick and tired of winter storms.  We’ve been dealing with slippery roads, icy sidewalks, and snow-covered driveways for months, so impending winter storms shouldn’t be surprising, right?  After all, we live in Minnesota.  But when local TV stations fuel the anticipation with [...]

Border battle produces Super Bowl-like ratings Most Minnesotans who had their TV sets on between 3:25 and 7:00 p.m. on December 30 were watching the Vikings squeeze into the playoffs by beating division rival Green Bay.  According to a Tweet by KSTP’s Darren Wolfson, adults ages 25-54 got a 35.0 rating and an 81 share.  [...]

Twin Cities takes bronze in Olympics viewing Athletes were not the only ones breaking records during the 2012 Olympics.  The games this year set several broadcasting records, including the largest amount of aired television coverage, and were heavily touted as “the first social games,” which refers to the fact that social media platforms played a [...]

KARE-11’s “new” anchor After three months of deliberation, KARE-11 finally announced Mike Pomeranz’s replacement.  To hardly anyone’s surprise, KARE-11 sports director Randy Shaver now sits permanently alongside co-anchor Julie Nelson to deliver the 5, 6 and 10 p.m. evening news.  Shaver had already been filling in as the evening anchor before the announcement became official [...]

After posting our monthly media blog earlier today, we received a response from Chris Clonts, the managing editor of the Pioneer Press, clarifying the reason for merging the local section with general news and addressing the overall direction the paper is taking.  We thank Chris for sharing this information with us and for giving us permission [...]

Twitter fun aids Duluth Severe weather is the holy grail of reporting in the Twin Cities, so it’s no surprise that news organizations covered every angle of the Duluth floods last week.  But the story that rose to the top was not about the disastrous effects of the heavy rain; it was about Feisty, the [...]

KSTP story inspires change during sweeps month For television news, May is a ratings month.  This means that stations typically air highly publicized investigative pieces to draw as many viewers as possible.  While Twin Cities stations filed a number of reports that caught our eye, a certain KSTP story stood out above the rest. Donald [...]

May starts another “important” television news “sweeps” month.  Check out the notable headlines from last month and what’s coming next in the media landscape. Ponzi Petters breaks his silence Until Berne Madoff was caught, Tom Petters was one of the more ambitious Ponzi schemers in quite a while.  Before Petters was convicted of a massive [...]

From local news outlets using Pinterest to an unexpected new media darling, here are some of the stories behind the stories that captured our attention this month. Clear Channel discontinues “total traffic” reports Twin Cities drivers may be surprised when they don’t hear Kirsten Klein’s friendly voice giving the metro traffic report during their morning [...]

Whitney Houston’s death, the threat of snow, and redistricting topped the headlines this month.  Below are the stories behind the stories. Twitter breaks news Whitney Houston’s tragic death on February 11 shocked the nation.  Notably, news of her death was first reported on Twitter by a niece of one of Houston’s staff, 27 minutes before [...]