Minneapolis’ Star Tribune has named former Time Inc. (NYSE: TWX) exec Michael Klingensmith as its new publisher, the paper reported. He replaces Chris Harte, who stepped down as chairman and publisher last June as the company was working its way through bankruptcy. Separately from Klingensmith’s hire, the paper, which emerged from Chapter 11 last September, also said it was laying off 30 newsroom support staffers, the AP reported. No reporter or editor posts were lost in the job cuts.

Klingensmith was most recently a managing director at M&A adviser AdMedia Partners, where he has been since June 2008. He held a number of posts during his roughly two decades at Time Inc. In 1989, he helped create Entertainment Weekly; before that, Klingensmith was Time Inc.‘s CFO. He ended his tenure at the publishing company as president of Sports Illustrated, a post he held from 1998 to 2002.

While the paper has exited bankruptcy, it still faces the same problems with ad revenues and costs plaguing the rest of the industry. Mike Sweeney, the current Star Trib chairman said that Klingensmith was chosen as the publisher in the hope that, despite his traditional media background, he would be able to update the newspaper’s business model.

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From the Star Tribune:
By 11:40 -- a full 20 minutes before her scheduled noon event -- Palin ascended the stage to cheers from the crowd, joined by baby Trig and her husband, Todd Palin.

Within moments, Palin began signing books, taking about five seconds apiece to shake with one hand while autographing with the other. Todd cracked open volume after volume to hand to his wife while someone offstage held Trig. She finished signing at 3:37 p.m.
Also an after action-report at Free Republic:
"We had been standing there awhile when there was a stir and bustle, with lots of people ahead of us bunching up in the walkway and taking pictures. It turned out it was Trig Palin being held by a woman, with everyone crowding around. He was wearing a red outfit with silly round plastic glasses. And that's not all -- Sarah Palin's mother, father, and aunt were there, signing books as well (great way to keep the crowd happy while waiting, by the way). I felt sorry for the young woman who was coordinating this, as she kept trying to usher the family to another part of the amusement park to rest and/or meet and greet other people in line, and the line of people kept straggling up for autographs, over her feeble protests that 'we can't sign any more we have to move on.'"

[...]

"One person -- I wasn't close enough to see if it was a man or a woman-- was in a wheelchair at the side of the stage, and Sarah and Todd *stopped* the assembly line to go over to greet and sign their book and greet them in person. To the thunderous applause of all of us near the stage, by the way."
The complete articles from the Trib here and FR here.

- JP