Strib union to new bosses: Investigate

In the wake of the fairly startling claims aired in the Pioneer Press' lawsuit against former publisher Par Ridder, the Star Tribune unit of the Newspaper Guild has formally called for an independent investigation of Ridder, who was recently annointed the Strib's publisher.

In the April 17 letter to Chris Hart of Avista Capital Partners, the Guild said the lawsuit "raies questions about the credibility of the Star Tribune." The full text of the letter, published here, follows.

Dear Chris,

We are writing to respectfully request that the Star Tribune conduct an independent inquiry into the serious allegations made against Star Tribune publisher Par Ridder in the lawsuit filed last week.

Without commenting on the merit of the allegations, we want to convey that the lawsuit raises questions about the credibility of the Star Tribune and affects our work as journalists. We know this because of the flood of questions and comments we've received from readers, sources, acquaintances and others with whom we're in contact.

In our view, an independent inquiry, and a full report of the findings, is the best way to end the ongoing distraction caused by the allegations, as well as to ensure the credibility of the Star Tribune.

Respectfully,

Jaime Chismar, Chris Serres, Pamela Miller and Pat Doyle
On behalf of the journalists of the Newspaper Guild's Star Tribune unit