'Star Tribune' Losing Money, Blames Craigslist

Revenue at the Star Tribune is continuing to fall and the newspaper has hired a consultant to help it map a turnaround, its publisher told employees in a memo.

Publisher and Chairman Chris Harte wrote to workers on Tuesday night that total revenue has fallen by almost $75 million in the past two years, and that operating cash flow had fallen by half during the same period. He said November ad revenue was "slightly better than recent months" but December "was right back to the pattern of steep revenue declines that we'd seen since early in the year."

Newspapers have been struggling as advertisers and readers shift online, often to free sites such as Craigslist. Newspapers have seen online revenue grow, but not fast enough to keep pace with the dropoff in print revenue.