Star Tribune begins reorganization aimed at digital future

The Star Tribune's CEO announced Tuesday his first set of sweeping changes aimed at hastening the company's digital transformation.

Chief Executive Officer and Publisher Steve Grove is creating a number of new executive-level positions that reflect his background in the fast-moving tech industry.

"Our vision is to create the leading model for local news in America – driving innovation in media to make every Minnesotan's life better," he said Tuesday.

Grove, who became publisher in April, inherited a host of challenges facing newspapers and traditional media around the country, including declining print revenue, slowing digital subscription growth and ever-increasing competition for people's attention, from TikTok to Netflix.

The new roles include chief product officer, senior vice president of consumer growth and vice president of communications and brand marketing.

Assistant Managing Editor of Diversity and Community Kyndell Harkness will expand her responsibilities beyond the newsroom as the head of culture and community for the entire company.

Chief Revenue Officer Paul Kasbohm is being promoted to executive vice president overseeing the print product. He will continue to oversee Sales and Marketing.

The print distribution and production teams will be combined into one division, and David Diegnau, senior vice president of operations and IT, will take on distribution responsibilities as a result.

A former colleague of Grove's from his time leading the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Amy Schrempp, will join the Star Tribune as the director of planning and innovation.

As is often the case with corporate restructurings, other positions will be lost. Two Star Tribune veteran executives, Chief Digital Officer Jim Bernard and Chief Marketing Officer Steve Yaeger, are scheduled to leave at the end of the month.

Chief Financial Officer Chuck Brown announced his retirement Tuesday and will stay on until a new CFO is named.

In total, the moves are aimed at "building a sustainable business model in a digital era, developing new strategies to grow revenue and listening to our customers," Grove said in an interview.

"You've got to have the right teams and the right leaders in place and also create opportunity for new people to come in and bring additional fresh pairs of eyes," he said. "If I was the only new person coming in at this time, I don't think that would be enough."

Grove replaced Mike Klingensmith who retired after 13 years.

"Minnesota deserves an excellent modern media company to build stronger journalism for our state," Grove said. "Wrapping ourselves up in the values of Minnesota and delivering for our subscribers, that's going to be a big part of it. This change gets us in a position to do that better."