Star Tribune
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Image:Startribune.png There is also The Casper Star-Tribune in Wyoming.
The Star Tribune (formerly the Minneapolis Star Tribune) is the largest newspaper in Minnesota and is published seven days each week in an edition for the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. A statewide version is also available across Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin, Iowa, and North Dakota. In 2003, the paper's Sunday circulation was over 669,000 copies, and over 375,000 on weekdays. The paper's largest competitor is the St. Paul-based Pioneer Press, though it competes with a number of other papers in its wide circulation area.
History
Today's Star Tribune (or Strib, as it is often referred to), is the product of mergers between several newspapers in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Minneapolis Tribune was founded in 1867, and operated by the Murphy family between 1891 and 1941. The Minneapolis Journal was founded in 1878 as an evening paper. The Minneapolis Times was a morning paper starting in 1899; it was purchased by the Tribune in 1905 and its name was used in various forms until 1948. Finally the Minnesota Daily Star began printing in 1920, and later became the Minneapolis Star, distributed in the evening.
The Star was purchased by the Cowles family in 1935, the Journal was purchased in 1939 and merged, the Tribune was bought in 1941. The papers (Star Journal and Tribune) were operated as separate morning and evening papers. In 1982, the papers were merged into the Minneapolis Star and Tribune, and in 1987 adopted the present name Star Tribune: Newspaper of the Twin Cities. In 1998 The McClatchy Company purchased Cowles Media Company and sold off its other holdings, keeping the Star Tribune.
In 1987, the paper had separate Minneapolis, St. Paul, and statewide editions but today it has two editions: a Minneapolis-St. Paul metro-area edition, and a "state" edition covering news throughout Minnesota and Western Wisconsin.
The Star Tribune is considered by many to be a liberal newspaper, especially in comparison to the more conservative St. Paul-based Pioneer Press. As evidence, some point to editorial and columnist opinions that conservative commentators believe to consistently favor a liberal perspective. The Tribune itself, like most American newspapers, claims the decisions of its editoral board and columnists do not reflect on the news sections of the paper, which are claimed to be objective. In 2004, however, some of the perceived liberal bias of the paper was questioned when it refused to honor an agreement with the Twin Cities' GLBT Pride Festival to trade advertisements, because of an advertisement featuring two men kissing.