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明尼苏达明星论坛报希望，未来5年的付费数位订阅量成长200%。（纽约时报）

Defying Crisis in Local News, The Star Tribune Expands

对抗在地新闻危机 明星论坛报逆势扩张

Many metropolitan newspapers across the country have narrowed their ambitions in recent years, closing regional bureaus and cutting back statewide coverage in an effort to trim costs.

全美各地许多都会报纸近年来已缩减它们的雄心，关闭地区采访办事处，并且砍掉全州范围的报导，以努力削减成本。

The Star Tribune in Minneapolis is taking the opposite tack.

明尼阿波利斯的「明星论坛报」正在反其道而行。

The paper will now be called The Minnesota Star Tribune, and it will use an injection of money from its billionaire owner to expand its coverage beyond the Twin Cities into other parts of the state.

该报现在将被称为「明尼苏达明星论坛报」，它将运用其亿万富翁所有人注入的资金，将报导扩大到双子城以外，进入该州其他地区。

Steve Grove, the publisher and CEO, said the push, which includes hiring reporters in various parts of the state, was part of an effort to as much as triple the publication’s paid digital subscriptions over the next five years.

该报发行人兼执行长格罗夫说，这项行动包括在该州不同地区聘雇记者，是未来5年内将该报付费数位订阅量增为3倍努力的一部分。

The expansion is a rare big bet in the newspaper industry. Local newspapers have been shrinking across the country in recent years. A 2023 report from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern found that almost 2,900 newspapers had shut down since 2005.

此次扩张在报业是罕见的重注。近年来，全国各地的地方报纸一直在萎缩。西北大学梅迪尔新闻学院2023年的一分报告发现，自2005年以来，近2900家报纸已停刊。

But the Star Tribune has remained a bright spot: It hasn’t made major layoffs in recent years, and its newsroom has remained around 225 people for years.

不过，明星论坛报仍是一个亮点，它近年来没有进行重大裁员，其新闻编辑室人力多年来一直保持大约225人。

The Star Tribune is owned by Glen Taylor, a billionaire who bought the paper for about $100 million in 2014, several years after it filed for bankruptcy.

明星论坛报为泰勒所有，这位亿万富翁于2014年该报申请破产数年后，出资约1亿美元收购。

Taylor declined to disclose how much he was investing. But he said in a statement that he had decided to inject capital because of “my belief in the team’s plan, and in our audience’s demand for quality, objective local news.”

泰勒拒绝透露他投资了多少资金。但他声明表示，他已决定注入资本，因为「我对这个团队的计划及读者要求优质客观地方新闻的信念」。

Grove’s mandate is to help the publication have a more digital focus. When he joined, the print newspaper generated 70% of the company’s revenue, but subscriptions were falling 15% a year. Digital subscriptions have hovered around 100,000, he said.

格罗夫受命进行的工作，是要帮助该报更加专注于数位。当他加入时，印刷版报纸占公司营收的70%，但订阅量一年下跌15%。他说，数位订阅量一直在10万左右徘徊。

“You can’t manage decline toward a profitable future,” Grove said. “You’re going to have to at some point take a pretty big swing.”

格罗夫说，「你无法透过管理衰退走向一个获利的未来。在某个时刻，你必须做出非常大的转变」。

Grove embarked on a tour last year across Minnesota to hear what people had to say about local news. He hired some new business leaders and directed an overhaul of the technology used to power the Star Tribune’s website and mobile apps and a redesign of the homepage.

格罗夫去年在明尼苏达州各地旅行，倾听人们对地方新闻的想法。他雇请一些新的业界领袖，并指示彻底修改用于驱动明星论坛报网站和行动应用程式的技术，还重新设计首页。

He has also made plans to share content with hyperlocal news organizations across Minnesota. He is looking at possible subscription bundles and says he will start a philanthropic arm.

他也制订计划，跟明尼苏达州各地的超在地新闻机构分享内容。他正在研究可能的订阅组合包，并称他将启动一个慈善部门。

文／Katie Robertson 　译／周辰阳