The Star Tribune Media Company, the largest news organization in the Midwest, has announced advancements of its newsroom structure and leadership to better serve Minnesota. Going forward, the news outlet will re-align news coverage and resources around its five key topic areas of News and Politics, Business, Sports, Food and Culture, and Outdoors.
“Within these key areas, we’re re-framing our coverage to produce more relevant, useful and impactful journalism, from breaking stories to utility information to in-depth accountability reporting,” said Suki Dardarian, editor and senior vice president. “Members of the news staff helped guide this approach, partnering with others in the company to review reader research and brainstorm new coverage and potential new news products. So now we’ll focus more on areas such as outdoors and the environment, food and restaurants and Minnesota culture, along with expanding our coverage of the suburbs of the Twin Cities.”
To lead these newly established departments, the Star Tribune has hired five new senior leadership roles. These editors will work cross-functionally with colleagues in growth, product and sales teams to ensure alignment towards growing the Star Tribune audience. These new leaders include:
Erin Golden, News & Politics Editor. Golden has served as Minneapolis team leader since last summer, when she returned to the Star Tribune after two years working as director of public relations at St. Olaf College. She first joined the Star Tribune in 2014 and spent seven years as a reporter covering Minneapolis City Hall, state politics and statewide education. She was previously a reporter at the Omaha World-Herald and The Bulletin in Bend, Oregon, covering beats including public safety, courts, the military, business and local government. She is a graduate of the College of William and Mary and has a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University.
Kristen Painter, Business Editor. Painter has spent the last decade in business news at the Star Tribune — both as a reporter and, most recently, a team leader. Before that, she reported for The Denver Post in both the business and metro news departments. She was a key contributor to teams awarded the Pulitzer Prize (2013) and named a Gerald Loeb Awards finalist (2016, 2019). She has a bachelor’s degree in history with a minor in ethnic and racial studies from the University of Wisconsin — La Crosse, and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Ryan Kostecka, Sports Editor. Kostecka, a California native, grew up in the newsroom of the Napa Valley Register, where his mother worked for nearly two decades as the advertising director. After attending the University of Oregon, he launched the University of Oregon website for Sports Illustrated. He was the sports editor of the Park Record in Utah, and sports director for Park City Television. In 2021 he joined the Utah Jazz as a digital content writer on the social media team that helped the NBA franchise achieve record gains in followers and traffic.
Sue Campbell, Food & Culture Editor. Campbell has been a leading editor in Twin Cities journalism for 30 years, most of that time at the Pioneer Press with teams covering everything from food and entertainment to outdoors and metro. She subsequently worked for digital-only projects, notably at PBS Twin Cities' Next Avenue, where she increased traffic 300 percent over two years. For the past nine years she has led arts, food and features content for the Star Tribune, guiding dozens of award-winning stories, including news projects on past sex abuse at a local theater, Garrison Keillor's tribulations and Prince's death. She spearheaded a Virtual State Fair during the pandemic, a guide to the Twin Cities for the Super Bowl and one to Twin Cities Black musicians.
Andrew Putz will join the Star Tribune to launch and lead its new standalone Outdoors department. Putz comes to the Star Tribune after more than two decades of experience in magazines, newspapers and digital media. Most recently, from 2014 to 2022, he was executive editor and then editor-in-chief of MinnPost, during which time it saw significant audience and membership growth while being named one of the best digital news operations of its size in the country. Before his tenure at MinnPost, Putz spent much of his career as a writer and editor at several city magazines, including Boston, Philadelphia and Minnesota Monthly. He grew up in Stillwater and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“We’re excited to focus our coverage on the important topic areas that uniquely define Minnesota and help us deliver on our mission to connect the people, stories, and ideas that strengthen our communities,” said Eric Wieffering, managing editor and vice president for the Star Tribune. “We know through extensive research and conversations that our readers care deeply about these topics, and we look forward to elevating our coverage to create stronger digital and print products for all Minnesotans.”
In addition to these new roles, the Star Tribune has announced the following deputy editor appointments:
Allie Shah is now the Deputy Editor for Food & Culture. Shah has served as a deputy in Metro since early 2020 — starting just days before the first confirmed case of the coronavirus in Minnesota. Among other things, she oversaw local coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, including a long-running pop-up team. Previously, she was a team leader working with reporters covering K-12 and higher education. For many years, she was a reporter covering education, immigration, suburban communities and health — both in Metro and Features. A Pakistani-American from Iowa who loves basketball, she graduated from the University of Minnesota’s journalism school.
Phil Pina is now the Deputy Editor for News & Politics. Pina joined the Star Tribune newsroom in 2022, first as a team leader overseeing coverage of Minneapolis city government and its communities, as well as surrounding suburbs. The past year he has been a deputy metro editor helping to guide editors and reporters as the newsroom expanded its emphasis on digital publishing. An Ohio native, he previously spent more than 20 years at the Pioneer Press in a variety of reporting and editing roles.
In addition, the Star Tribune is hiring two additional leadership roles including a deputy sports editor and a director of preps sports. A variety of open roles at The Star Tribune can be viewed here.
Continued Progress at the Star Tribune:
These leadership announcements continue a steady stream of rapid progress under new CEO and Publisher Steve Grove’s plans for a reorganization aimed at a digital future. The Star Tribune has hired a slate of new strategic leadership positions including a chief product officer, a new chief financial officer, vice president of communications and brand marketing, a senior vice president of consumer growth, a new community engagement director, its first head of philanthropic partnerships, and a new vice president and opinion editor.
They also recently announced plans for expansion into Greater Minnesota and significant investment in breaking news resources.
The Star Tribune is also making dramatic enhancements to its digital presence and products in partnership with tech powerhouse Code and Theory. At the same time, it has tapped creative agency Colle McVoy to lead a rebranding effort aimed at modernizing the Star Tribune brand.
About The Star Tribune Media Company:
Building on an extraordinary 156-year legacy that includes seven Pulitzer Prizes and hundreds of other awards, the Star Tribune Media Company is the Midwest’s largest news organization and is an unrivaled force for journalistic excellence in Minnesota. The Star Tribune has a vision to create the leading model for local news in America — driving innovation in media to make every Minnesotan’s life better.
