The political news tragedy at KARE 11

Lonnie Hartley — one of Minnesota’s most important political news gatekeepers –was laid off this week by Gannett-owned KARE 11. Tough to best MinnPost’s David Brauer word choices when it comes to describing Lonnie Hartley as KARE 11 news room’s "heart and soul." Brauer also correctly notes Hartley is credited for substantially improving political coverage during his two-decade stay.

No
question about that. Lonnie was the only behind-the-scenes television
news person to consult people like me about stories and I’ve enjoyed
checking in with him many times over the years. If a person reviewed
the local big three stations’ (KARE 11, WCCO and KSTP) political
coverage before FOX 9 entered the market the last two decades, that
person would find that KARE 11 devoted the most time to covering
politics, and for many election nights, had the best and most extensive
television coverage and analysis. [Confession: I spent every general
election night at the station from 1990-2006.]

To call Hartley’s
departure a tragedy is no exaggeration. And certainly that tragedy is
compounded by the fact that KARE 11 vice president Tom Lindner had to deliver the news. Lindner
also deserves much credit for the caliber of political coverage at the
station. Here’s to hoping that another station snaps up the enormously
talented and hardworking Hartley immediately.

One Response to “The political news tragedy at KARE 11”

1. Anonymous Says:
   June 24th, 2009 at 10:25 am

   i was an intern in the capitol bureau a long time back, and this is spot-on. lonnie seriously cared about putting things that were important on air. kare’s politics coverage always reflected this - it always had better and more in-depth coverage of issues and policy than the other stations who were more focused on polls and politics. hopefully that tradition will continue.