Media Monitor: The all-Strib edition

Strib “bankruptcy”? The New York Post’s weekend bombshell about the Star Tribune “failing to meet its debt obligations” and teetering “on the brink of bankruptcy,” has brought a quick denial of those two claims from publisher Chris Harte and a flurry of coverage: MinnPost’s David Brauer got there first, getting confirmation that the paper has signed on the Blackstone Group to analyze their finances. He writes that he’s heard that the paper needs to show lenders how it’ll cut expenses by at least $10 million ($5 million is already identified) by late summer. This morning Brauer published Harte’s memo to staff, trying to reassure employes unnerved by the “disquieting” NYPost report. Meanwhile, City Pages is doing running updates on the story, following various threads, from Strib parent Avista Capital Partners’ part in a $4.1-billion purchase  of a Bristol-Myers Squibb entity to reactions in the Strib newsroom.

On the lighter side: Mediation tracks down an early acting gig by Strib columnist James Lileks, who, in a 1987 KTCA documentary, geeks out on Mary Tyler Moore.