Star Tribune hires Katherine Kersten as Metro Columnist

Minneapolis/St. Paul - (March 22, 2005) - Katherine Kersten, a high-profile newspaper and broadcast commentator the past decade, will join the Star Tribune staff as a new metro columnist, Star Tribune Editor Anders Gyllenhaal announced today.

Kersten worked as a contributing editorial page columnist for the Star Tribune from 1995 to 2003. During most of this time, she also was a senior fellow at the Center of the American Experiment, a nonpartisan Minnesota think tank focusing on conservative and free-market ideas.

In addition to writing for the Star Tribune and other newspapers and magazines, she has worked as a commentator for “All Things Considered,” practiced law, co-written a book and worked as a banker.

“Kathryn brings a wealth of experiences and local connections to our columnist line up, long one of the Star Tribune’s strengths,” Gyllenhaal said. “Her new column fits into the Star Tribune’s commitment to broaden the reach of the paper and to add new voices to our pages.”

Kersten will join the Star Tribune in early May and begin her column later in the month. She will write two columns a week, plus an occasional Sunday column.

“I want to bring a perspective to Minnesota news, and Minnesota stories, that’s often been in short supply,” Kersten said. “I want to enhance the paper's capacity to speak to a broad community, to all the people of this state. There are so many great stories out there that are waiting to be told, and I’m eager to start telling them.”

A graduate of Notre Dame and Yale universities, Kersten began her career as a financial analyst with a Chicago bank, then became a budget planner with the University of Wisconsin system in Madison before moving to the Twin Cities. She graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School and began work at a Minneapolis law firm. She stopped working when the second of her four children was born in 1985, which eventually led to her work as an opinion writer and commentator.

Kersten was a founding member, chairman and senior fellow at the Center of the American Experiment. That led to a writing career for publications from the Wall Street Journal to Christianity Today and speaking engagements and public appearances on such national programs as MSNBC, CBS, NBC and the Canadian Broadcasting Company, as well as extensive local appearances. As a mother of four children (now 15 to 21) and a long-time resident of Edina, Kersten has also been active in a long list of educational and civic groups.

“Over the past 20 years, I’ve gotten to know people across the state in public policy, business, non-profits, religious groups and parent and educational organizations,” Kersten said. “As I write the column, I’ll be drawing on all these contacts.”

About the Star Tribune

The Star Tribune Company, a news and information company serving the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, is owned by The McClatchy Company of Sacramento, Calif. (NYSE:MNI). The Star Tribune newspaper is one of the top 20 largest newspapers in the nation, with a daily circulation of 381,094 and a Sunday circulation of 678,648 (per Audit Bureau of Circulation report 09/04). The company’s Web site, www.startribune.com, is the most frequently used local news and information service for the Twin Cities market. The Star Tribune Foundation has been supporting Twin Cities’ communities since 1945 and currently distributes about $3 million annually. On the Net: The Star Tribune Company: www.startribunecompany.com, and The McClatchy Company: www.mcclatchy.com.

Contact Ben Taylor
Phone: (612) 673-7457
Email: btaylor@startribune.com