Alternating Current? Lawsuit Aims to Void WCAL Sale

City Pages on WCAL suit: St. Olaf College’s abrupt sale of classical music station WCAL to MPR nearly three years ago ruffled feathers at the time — and, as City Pages’ Jonathan Kaminsky reports, the rufflin’ continues unabated. St. Olaf alums are mounting a lawsuit in an attempt to void the $10.5 million sale to MPR, the 38-station media entity that now uses WCAL’s spectrum slot for The Current. Opponents of the sale of WCAL, the first listener-sponsored station in the country, claim it is a charitable trust, hosted by the school but supported financially by countless alumni and donors, rather than a college asset to be sold off. Final arguments in the suit, writes Kaminsky, will be filed by July 20.

Even the media blames the media: As filmmaker Michael (“Sicko“) Moore tells “Good Morning America” that “3,500 soldiers that are dead today may not have had to die had our news media done its job” — i.e., challenge the Bush administration’s justifications for war in Iraq — Fox News concludes an online story about the arrest of mosque bombers in Baghdad with this line: “FOX News’ Jennifer Griffin and the Associated Press contributed to this attack.”

A few more farewells: A day before some 50 newsroom staffers say goodbye, Star Tribune readers representative Kate Parry shares reflections by two more people who are taking buyouts, online news assistant Mary Harnan and night assistant city editor Nancy Olsen.

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