''The Minnesota Independent'', formerly ''Minnesota Monitor'', and sometimes known as MnIndy, was an independent online news website. It launched in August 2006, with a focus on coverage of political issues. The website was funded by the

American Independent News Network The American Independent Institute is a nonprofit organization which funds liberal investigative journalism efforts. According to the organization, its aim is to support journalism which exposes "the nexus of conservative power in Washington." The ...

. The website was closed down in 2011.

Background

''Minnesota Independent'' was staffed by both salaried reporters and paid

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

s who received a stipend for their writing contributions. The initial pool of writers included a number of journalists and liberal Minnesota

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

gers, including original site editor Robin Marty, Somali journalist Abdi Ayne, Joe Bodell and others. Later, the site brought on board professional journalists, such as Eric Black, who had written for the ''

Star Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

'', and former

City Pages ''City Pages'' was an alternative newspaper serving the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area. It featured news, film, theatre and restaurant reviews and music criticism, available free every Wednesday. It ceased publication in 2020 due to a ...

writers Paul Demko and Molly Priesmeyer. The site was edited by Paul Schmelzer, and received about 150,000 unique visitors per month. Traffic surpassed 250,000 in the month preceding the 2008 U.S. elections and surpassed 260,000 unique monthly visits in April 2009. A week after election day, the Center for Independent Media cut funding for two of six full-time staff members, Andy Birkey and Molly Priesmeyer, and for the entire freelance staff. Birkey has since been hired back, and a freelance budget, albeit smaller, was reinstated.

History

''Minnesota Independent'' broke a number of stories. During the

Keith Ellison Keith Maurice Ellison (born August 4, 1963) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the 30th attorney general of Minnesota. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Ellison was the U.S. representative for from 2007 to ...

Qur'an oath controversy, the ''Independent's'' Abdi Aynte reported that Keith Ellison would not change his mind about being sworn in on the Qur'an. The ''Independent'' was the first to report that Living Word Christian Center may have violated

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...

guidelines during a speech at the Church by

Michele Bachmann Michele Marie Bachmann (; née Amble; born April 6, 1956) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for from 2007 until 2015. A member of the Republican Party, she was a candidate for President of the United States in the 20 ...

. The story resulted in an ethical complaint being filed by

CREW A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the tasks involve ...

against the church. The site also broke news that Minnesota

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

Rachel Paulose was under investigation for mishandling classified information, and that a staffer for Rep.

had sent out an emailed plea for support that violated house ethics rules. ''Minnesota Independent'' reporter Andy Birkey won a 2010 Page One Award from the

Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, letter ...

for best continuing coverage of the controversial Christian ministry You Can Run But You Cannot Hide. Media writer Paul Schmelzer won a 2008 Frank Premack Award for Public Affairs Journalism from the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and a 2nd Place in the 2006 Society of Professional Journalists Page One Awards. The site was nominated for the

Koufax Award Koufax may refer to: *Sandy Koufax (born 1935), Major League Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher *Koufax (band), an indie rock band **'' Koufax EP'', an extended play by the band Koufax See also *Kofax Kofax Inc. is an Irvine, California-based intel ...

in 2007, and Andy Birkey was a finalist for the 2007 Online Journalism Award for his coverage of

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

issues. In 2008, the site won three Society of Professional Journalists Page One Awards, and in 2009 increased the number of SPJ prizes to eight, including four first-place awards. Among independent online news enterprises it won best single news story (Paul Demko), best use of multimedia (Newsroom), best use of video (Paul Schmelzer) and best news blog (Newsroom).

Editorial stance

The ''Minnesota Independents focus and editorial slant was politically

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * L ...

. Fellows were drawn from media outlets including ''

'' and the ''

'', as well from the left-of-center blogging community in Minnesota. The site featured a code of

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...

that reads in part, "New Journalist Fellows should be honest, tireless, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information for the public."Minnesota Monitor:: Code of Ethics
/ref>

Contributors

* Andy Birkey * Patrick Caldwell * Luke Johnson * Paul Schmelzer (Editor)

References

External links

The Minnesota Independent
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minnesota Independent 2006 establishments in Minnesota 2011 disestablishments in Minnesota News magazines published in the United States Online magazines published in the United States Defunct magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 2006 Magazines published in Minnesota Mass media in Minneapolis–Saint Paul Magazines disestablished in 2011