MinnRipostes and ‘Liberal Tropes’

MinnSpeak: Congrats to MinnPost on yesterday’s launch. Shortly after Thursday’s 11 a.m. debut, bloggers started weighing in. Steve Yelvington, the founding editor of the Star Tribune’s online operations, said it’s “a mid-20th century product in a strange 21st century world, and I found it needlessly dull.” Dan Gilmor at the Center for Citizen Media says it’s “one to watch,” but calls it “quite traditional” and adds, “it has nearly zero to do with edge-in community journalism.” The Strib devoted 80 words to the launch (more than I’d expected), and The Daily Mole’s post sparked a good comment thread.

White male: News about minority groups a “waste of space.” In his “six rules for MinnPost,” Adam Platt calls for the site to “Stifle the Social Agenda” — and takes aim at the liberal “trope” of multiculturalism. “In an era of dwindling resources,” he writes, “celebrating multiculturalism is a waste of space, yet seemingly every [Star Tribune] Metro section covers [sic] for years had a daily story validating some ethnic or racial group.”  When you’re white and male, maybe it seems like “validation.” But to those ethnic groups it could be construed as, y’know, representation.

Correction of the year? Sheesh: Talk about kicking a woman when she’s down.

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