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The circulation figures for many of the country’s biggest traditional newspapers have declined sharply in the last year (see Media Shifts Continue). Most pundits blame competition from the Internet for the decline in newspaper subscriptions. So it is interesting to see that Joel Kramer, the former publisher of the Minnesota Star Tribune, has now started a new digital distribution newspaper called the MinnPost.com. Kramer exited the Star Tribune when it was bought by McClatchy several years ago.

Kramer has a ready source of talent to feed articles into his new online venture. He is using some of the 100 journalists that have been laid off in the past year at both the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Kramer is also focusing mostly on local stories to create a niche that is missed by big national online news sources. Another interesting feature is that the MinnPost.com is actively pursuing non-journalists to write stories at their regular going rate.

Also, for those who like their newspapers in a more tangible form, the MinnPost.com has a couple links on the front page that allow you to print out the newspaper in either a black & white or a color version.

The MinnPost started publication on November 8, 2007. It is an interesting experiment, and only time will tell if it represents a fundamental and necessary evolution in the newspaper business.