MinnPost.com has emerged as one of the most successful, if not the most successful, of the online-only newspapers launched over the past several years. The paper’s editor, Joel Kramer, was formerly editor and publisher of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and while in the beginning the site employed only freelance writers, MinnPost now maintains a paid staff of editors and writers and a budget of about $1 million per year.
Although MinnPost originally launched with a seed grant from the Knight Foundation, the site currently relies largely on reader contributions for funding, roughly mirroring the NPR model of encouraging readers to become members at various levels, with most contributing $50-$249. Kramer has admitted in interviews, however, that the long-term viability of the reader-member model is untested, and the paper estimates it will need as many as 5,000 paid members by 2012 in order to remain solvent (as opposed to the roughly 1,250 who have signed up to date). Advertising accounts for some of the site’s revenue, but currently the only advertising on the site is served through Google Adsense.
Billing itself as “A Thoughtful Approach to News,” the site has a stated “NO Britney. NO Paris. NO Lindsay policy. Unlike other online similar online newspapers, however, the site offers coverage not only of local Minneapolis-St. Paul news, but also state and national news.
The MinnPost site uses a typical news site layout, with top-mounted nav bar and modules dedicated to various topics and site features. Videos are clearly identified (under the MinnClips section), and comments are enabled on stories, though visitors are required to register in order to comment. There is no ‘breadcrumb trail’ for navigation, but overall the site is user-friendly. MinnPost has also made an effort to engage readers through Twitter, and all stories include a prominent banner encouraging visitors to ‘follow’ the paper.
