WINONA Minn. – The Winona Daily News informed online subscribers of a walloping 56.5% rate increase – to $17.88 a month. The increase was mailed in an unsigned letter from corporate headquarters in LaCrosse. The letter thanked subscribers for “supporting local journalism” and promised “inclusive local reporting.” Ironically, the Daily News staff has shrunk to one reporter, Rachel Mergen, who although talented is stretched unreasonably thin. The lone photographer left weeks ago and hasn’t been replaced. There hasn’t been in-residence editor for three years. Some days have no local stories. When there is a local story, more often than not it’s what journalists derisively call “shovelware” – self-servicing news releases from local institutions that are shoveled into the paper unedited. There is not even such basic news elements as a police blotter anymore. Uncovered is the City Council. And the County Board. The School Board. Property transactions? Not here. Rarely any court coverage.
Local journalism, not here. The front page has no staff-generated Winona news. The stories are from LaCrosse, St. Paul and Wyoming. The Winona State story is word-for-word from the university’s public relations staff, whose job is image-building, not news. Local news inside? Nope.