James Schugel is under the microscope.

​The Asian American Journalists Association is demanding an apology from CBS corporate in the wake of affiliate WCCO's admission that it botched the October 31 story that has become popularly known as "Duck/Dog."

"We were disturbed by an Oct. 31 broadcast by your Minneapolis affiliate, WCCO, in which its I-TEAM reported about an alleged Minnesota "puppy mill" sending dogs to a Chinatown meat market in New York City. The report was false and helped perpetuate harmful stereotypes of Asian Americans," reads the letter. "WCCO should be embarrassed for its mistake."
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Minnesota Independent editor Jon Collins was laid off yesterday.

​The Minnesota Independent is shutting down, according to its editor and the company's CEO.

Jon Collins took the job as site editor earlier this summer but was laid off yesterday around noon, Collins confirmed to City Pages. The move came as a bit of a surprise to Collins, who thought the site was doing well.

"The Independent's been around for quite a while, five or six years; a lot of awesome reporters have gone through it," Collins said. "I kind of thought it would be around for a little bit longer, but what can you do?"

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Richard Carter McComb: the man whose suicide inspired the Star Tribune's yuk yuks

​The nephew of a man whose suicide was mocked by the Star Tribune is speaking up about the questionable judgment of the local daily.

"Thank you for pointing out the horrible decision the Star Tribune made by making light of Carter's situation," writes Mike Healy, the nephew of Carter McComb. "Editorializing in that situation was crude and disgusting."

As City Pages pointed out on Wednesday, the Minneapolis daily chose to lede its article about McComb's suicide with a trite cliche about death and taxes. Hours later, the article was removed from the Internet and has since been replaced with a more conventionally written death notice.
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Richard Carter McComb: the man whose suicide inspired the Star Tribune's yuk yuks

​An early candidate for worst lede of the year award goes to this Star Tribune story about the suicide of Lifelink CEO Richard Carter McComb.

We're not sure which is worse: The cringe-worthy use of the world's oldest cliche, or the fact that the goofy wordplay is the beginning of a story about a man who shot himself in the head.
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Michele Bachmann on Newsweek

​Michele Bachmann has truly made the big-time: She is featured on the cover of the  August 15 Newsweek.

Of course, this may not be how she would have liked her close-up.

The photo of Bachmann makes her look like some sort of manic street preacher. And the headline, "Queen of Rage," hardly speaks to her Christian values.

Is this some gimmick by Newsweek to goose newstand sales? Cause they couldn't have picked a crazier picture and headline to entice supermarket shoppers.
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​Tim Pawlenty's presidential campaign is Dead On Arrival, according to his hometown newspaper.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press hilariously ran the announcement of T-Paw's presidential campaign on the Obituary page this morning.
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Dead air for Dayton.

​Jesse Ventura had one. Tim Pawlenty had one. But Gov. Mark Dayton has decided that he won't have his own radio show, even after sending out a 16-page form to local media so they could bid on the project.

Even reliably lefty AM950, where "what's left is the truth," didn't make the cut for our DFL governor.

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Jason DeRusha: Speechless.

​Maybe it was because he was updating his Twitter feed, or his Facebook status, or his blog, or penning another food column for that fancy magazine across town, but for whatever reason, WCCO's Jason DeRusha forgot to update his TV script this morning -- and hilarity ensued.

For those of looking elsewhere, the evening newscast's Good Question man has been taking one for the team the past few mornings, subbing in on the super early shows for Mike Binkley.

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Gary on TV.WineLibrary.com

​"The larger the crowd, the more I curse," admitted the man who would be the highlight of yesterday's big marketing conference at the downtown Hilton. Wine entrepreneur and lovably crass motivational speaker Gary Vaynerchuk kicked off The Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association summit with a bang at 9 a.m., waking up the 1,000 attendees better than 5 cups of cold-press coffee could.
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When will Wall Street decide to bail on the Strib?

​The Star Tribune is among the papers featured in an intriguing look at the potential for hedge funds to further disrupt the already fragile business model of local daily newspapers.

The article spotlights Angelo, Gordon, & Co., a hedge fund that has quickly become a major media player in several markets, including the Twin Cities.

[B]ecause they are opportunistic traders by nature, not long-term owners, their presence is likely to be disruptive. Their objective from Day One will be seeking the most profitable way to turn their investments back into cash. And that will likely mean a restless quest for value-creating exercises like spinoffs, acquisitions, recapitalizations and other sorts of transactions that will keep the newspaper industry in a state of flux.

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