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Fox 9′s Heidi Collins raises eyebrows for ‘insanely hostile’ interview with Mark Ritchie

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By Andy Birkey | 11.04.10 | 2:08 pm

Fox 9 News anchor Heidi Collins’ seven-minute interview with Secretary of State Mark Ritchie Wednesday night has drawn fire from media critics for her combative tone. Collins attacked Ritchie for connections to the now-defunct ACORN and appeared to blame him for the close race between gubernatorial candidates Tom Emmer and Mark Dayton.

Credit crisis hits local media

By Chris Steller | 08.26.09 | 3:48 pm

MinnPost’s David Brauer takes the Star Tribune to task today for failing to credit Minnesota Public Radio on an MPR story that the Strib got via the Associated Press. Irony alert: Frustrated by just such uncredited…

Favre comes to the Cities, gets hired by… the Strib?

By Paul Schmelzer | 08.19.09 | 4:52 pm

Picture 5Brett Favre mania has struck the mainstream media, with the former Packer’s signing with the Vikes getting big play at the dailies, MinnPost and local TV newscasts. But unbeknownst to many, Favre may have landed a local sideline job…

Media Monitor: Seeing double on daily covers

By Paul Schmelzer | 06.23.09 | 11:40 am

Identical shots of Sunday’s implosion of Minneapolis’ Lowry Avenue bridge grace the covers of both dailies… just a day before both papers run the same New York Times story on Iran on their covers. Plus, Fargo’s Roxana Saberi inks a book deal, and the Examiner(s) examined, inside.

Media Monitor: Pilfering pix at City Pages; ‘Collardgate’ blossoms

By Paul Schmelzer | 02.12.09 | 11:44 am

In its humble return, this edition of the intermittent Media Monitor catalogues: Ed Kohler’s latest analysis of City Pages (charged with rampant photo-swiping), a look at how a local Black History Month supermarket promotion has gone national, an acknowledgment of the power of “Brautweets,” and more.

Fox, with Pawlenty’s help, continues spreading car-ballot fiction

By Paul Schmelzer | 11.13.08 | 9:32 am

“The recount has not even started in Minnesota and somehow Al Franken has already shaved nearly 500 votes off the incumbent lead.” So said Sean Hannity on Fox’s Hannity & Holmes yesterday, in a segment featuring Gov. Tim Pawlenty. While Pawlenty pointed out concerns about “statistical irregularities” in the changing vote tally in the race between Al Franken and Norm Coleman, he repeatedly said there’s no evidence of wrongdoing. Still, Hannity continued questioning that: “Is the fix in? … Do you suspect cheating is going on?”

What Hannity — and to a lesser degree, Pawlenty — fail to acknowledge is the history of vote tallies changing pre-certification. And both pass on the lie that Minneapolis’ election director found, as Hannity erroneously puts it, “32 absentee ballots hiding in the trunk of her car — all of them conveniently going to Al Franken.”

Media Monitor: RNC tweets, Secret Service tip-offs and an ode to ‘Ameirca’!

By Paul Schmelzer | 09.10.08 | 9:55 am

Today’s media round-up: The Secret Service warned mainstream media sources about alleged threats against them by RNC protesters (this independent media site didn’t get such tips). A look at how Twitter served as the “police scanner of the 21st century newsroom.” And more.

Media Monitor: Huffington, a muffed moment for KSTP and the Muslim meme

By Paul Schmelzer | 05.12.08 | 2:34 pm

Sarah Jane… Coleman? A reader tips MinnPost’s David Brauer off to a big-time goof at KSTP in March. In its coverage of the premature release of jailed Symbionese Liberation Army member Sarah Jane Olson, the station showed…

Media Monitor: The all-Strib edition

By Paul Schmelzer | 05.05.08 | 4:53 pm

bombshell about the Star Tribune “failing to meet its debt obligations” and teetering “on the brink of bankruptcy,” has brought a quick

Your local alt-weekly: Putting the “sex” back in sexism

By Molly Priesmeyer | 05.01.08 | 11:06 pm

Let me be the first to admit: Media stories about other folks in the media tend to be self-aggrandizing, self-referential, and just plain self-absorbed. This isn’t to say that I don’t think there are important media stories to…