The tension within American news organizations between treating readers as “customers” or as “citizens” is well illustrated at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, where publisher Joel Kramer explained to a 1995 meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors: “In Minneapolis, we're saying that marketing is part of journalism. Editors are making decisions along these lines. Their newspaper has been structured around customer units. The editor is also responsible for looking out for readers and profits.” (Manzella 1998, p. 60)

The Star Tribune has adopted many of the faddish new management techniques to deal with the realities of market-driven journalism: The traditional newsroom beat system of cops, courts, and city hall has been restructured into topic teams designed to make coverage meet perceived reader interests; editors have broken down the traditional walls between the news and business departments and work with their business-side colleagues to fashion the newspaper's marketing strategy; and the newspaper has been redesigned with more graphics, pull-out boxes, and easy-to-read bulleted items to make it more “reader-friendly.”

But much of this has upset journalists in the Star Tribune newsroom who feel the newspaper is now more dedicated to the task of making money, meeting marketing goals, and serving advertiser needs than it is to the traditional public service role of informing the public and serving as a watchdog of government and business.

“These guys are wringing their hands when they are making 20 percent return on equity,” Mike Meyers, a veteran Star Tribune business reporter, says of the newspaper's executives.