Media Monitor: May 17

MNSpank: MNSpeak “was better when Rex was here.” Or so goes an oft-repeated (and now jokingly rehashed) comment about the good old days when MNSpeak creator Rex Sorgatz, who sold the site when he took a job with Bill Gates in Seattle, ran the show. Now, Metroblogging Minneapolis writes, the site’s snarky commenters make for  a “pretty hostile environment for the weak,” one that can be a “pretty big turnoff to someone who casually happens across MNspeak these days.” But some commenters at Metroblogging — including many of MNSpeak’s more prolific — suggest there’s a bigger problem: the breakdown of the site’s imminently useful RSS-driven aggregator of local blogs.

Strib 26th of 30 in Web stats: The New York Times again topped the rankings for major newspaper websites, logging more unique visitors, page views and time of use in April than any other site, according to new Nielsen/NetRatings data. Of the top 30 newspaper sites, the Star Tribune, Minnesota’s only listing, ranked 26th, with 1.4 million unique vistors. The average visitor that month spent 23 minutes and seven seconds on the site, which compares favorably with the Times’ stat of just over 34 minutes.

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News from the neighbors: In Nebraska, an anti-immigration group is running billboards that urge citizens to “Report & Deport ALL Illegal Aliens,” which one commenter notes has a suspicious similarity to a scene in the post-apocalyptic sci-fi film Children of Men (2006). At our sister site, Iowa Independent, Chase Martyn takes a look at the TV spots Democratic presidential hopefuls John Edwards, Chris Dodd and Bill Richardson are already running there, finding that “the Edwards and Richardson ads are so unique that one might call the more boilerplate Dodd ad ‘distinctively normal.’”

Media on the Media: On Sunday night at 9 p.m., KFAI is hosting a two-hour discussion on changes in the Twin Cities mediascape. The show “Truth to Tell,” co-hosted by Andy Driscoll and former Center for Independent Media Fellow Craig Cox, will focus on the status of the metro dailies and the future of alternative news sources. The line-up includes University of Minnesota journalism professor Kathleen Hansen, Mary Turck from Twin Cities Daily Planet, Ed Felien from Pulse, Alberto Monserrate of the Latino Communications Network and others. Tune in to 90.3 or 106.7 FM, or listen online.

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Correction: Minnesota Monitor erroneously referred to MNSpeak as a product of The Rake.  Although the site is owned by Matt Bartel, son of Rake’s Tom Bartel, the two sites are unrelated.  Minnesota Monitor regrets its error.