DEC 16, 2014 ROTARY IN REVIEW:
Twin Cities Daily Newspapers and an Evolving Media Environment

Club 10 Business Report



President the Hon. John Guthmann brought the meeting to order at 12:17 p.m. on a late fall day that brought the return of cold and snow to downtown Saint Paul.  David Laird led the assembled Rotarians in singing America, The Beautiful accompanied by Bill Given on the piano (with holiday flourish!). Jerry Faletti provided today's invocation. Kay Baker facilitated the introduction of visiting Rotarians and guests.  Today's Greeters were Mark Stutrud and Laura Savin. 



President John spoke regarding the January 2015 retirement of Sherry Howe from the position of Club 10 Executive Director. After this retirement, the full time Executive Director position will be eliminated from the Club 10 organization structure. An administrative position of twenty to twenty-five hours per week will be created to handle limited Club 10 administration. Sherry will remain with Club 10 as a paid consultant into 2016. She was also offered, and accepted, lifetime membership with the Saint Paul Rotary Club. President John asked for everyone's support in making the Club and Sherry's transitions successful.

Bill Collins introduced new member Mike Crowe of Crowe Construction Management. Dick Zehring came to the podium for a Paul Harris Fellow presentation for Jim Delamater. Jim addressed Rotary's work around the world and how he started with small contributions and increased them over the years of his career.  He urged all members to "dig deep."

Jerry Meigs and Nancy McKillips stepped forward to present the Fesler Award. The award is presented in honor of Dave Fesler "who lived the Four-Way Test" and was a promoter of Saint Paul.  Dave wanted a Club 10 member recognized annually who met the goals that he felt were important.  B.J. Fesler, Dave's widow, also said a few words about Dave's anonymous community service and his love of Saint Paul. Nancy McKillips came to the microphone to award the honor to Mark Stutrud, CEO of Summit Brewing. Mark expressed his thanks.

Jon Cieslak handled the microphone for Happy Dollars. John Chandler spoke about the Rotary Golf Trophy, which John had held for the first half of the year after tying Chuck Whitaker for the Rotary Championship. He presented the trophy to Chuck to hold for the second half of the year. Jay Pfaender announced that Norwood Teague, Director of Athletics at the University of Minnesota would be the Club 10 speaker on January 13th. Rotarian birthdays for December were celebrated today.

Jay Pfaender introduced today's speaker, Rene Sanchez, Editor of the Minneapolis StarTribune. Mr. Sanchez talked about the wild and uncertain recent ride of the StarTribune.  It is a dynamic time in the news media. Habits and priorities of readers have changed profoundly. Everything is changing.  The way news is gathered, the way news is published, the way reporters are hired and the way photographers are hired are changing. Only one thing is not changing: the sense of mission.  Be a rock in the tide, be a trusted news source, be indispensable to readers.  Cover the tough things as they occur.  Bear witness to the good and the bad as it occurs.

The StarTribune's experience of the last five years: you cannot cut your way to success. You cannot hold your readers with shallow content. You need to have depth. You need to have fair coverage. You need to have tough coverage. Mr. Sanchez fundamentally believes it is not an "either/or" concerning survival in the print or digital news publication business. The StarTribune is trying to do both print and digital well. The Star Tribune wants to enhance print as much as it can. Digitally, the Star Tribune needs to keep changing fast.  A new Star Tribune mobile has just been unveiled. The SmartPhone audience is growing faster than any other audience the StarTribune has now.  In the spring, the Star Tribune will reveal its new newsroom in downtown Minneapolis in the Capella Tower due to the move caused by the development of the new football stadium which is taking the current Star Tribune building. The road ahead: the Star Tribune has maintained reporters around the State of Minnesota and believes that it is committed to covering the State through the changing media landscape better than any other outlet. The Star Tribune is focused on keeping reporters on the street, focused on public service journalism. Mr. Sanchez hopes we will all come along for the ride.

In response to a question, Mr. Sanchez confirmed the partnership that started this year between the Star Tribune and the Pioneer Press that has the Star Tribune printing the Pioneer Press. Mr. Sanchez believes that the public is best served when the media in a community is more diverse. If the day comes that the Pioneer Press ceases publication, we will see what that day brings.  The Pioneer Press is currently owned by a national concern.  Glen Taylor owns the Star Tribune locally.



President John thanked Mr. Sanchez for his remarks and noted that a donation in his name would be made to the Saint Paul Public Library's "Read With Me" program. President John also awarded Mr. Sanchez with an official Rotary coin featuring the Four-Way Test ("Is it the Truth?  Is it Fair to all concerned? Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?  Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?"). The President asked all to rise and recite the Four-Way Test. He noted the next meeting would be our joint meeting with the Minneapolis Rotary Club on Friday, January 9th at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel. (Note: Reservations required.  You can register online or by calling the Rotary office at 651-222-2028.) He then adjourned the meeting at 1:21 p.m. 

Chuck Standfuss
Scribe