Minneapolis newspaper offers class of 2023 free one-year digital subscriptions; response exceeds expectations

This year the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, Minnesota’s largest newspaper, offered an unusual gift to the state’s entire graduating high school Class of 2023: a free, one-year digital subscription.

The initiative, which was first announced in late April, is the latest expansion of the Star Tribune’s News in Education program. Just before the 2020 presidential election, the newspaper expanded NIE to offer free digital subscriptions to all Minnesota school districts with the goal of strengthening news literacy through access. Since then, 287 educational institutions have signed up for that program.

Star-Tribune Education Audience Development Manager Ken Lawrence said that the graduation offer supports both the Tribune’s journalistic mission and its digital growth goals. The newspaper set 200 graduating seniors as an “original modest benchmark” for signups but has already surpassed 250.

Graduates can sign up in a simple Google form, and do not have to provide payment information — just their names, high school and personal email addresses, the high school they’re graduating from, and their ZIP code. “We know young people can be hesitant to make long-term commitments and to provide payment information. Signing up for a free subscription is the kind of ‘micro-commitment’ research shows young people are more inclined to make,” said Lawrence, who also noted that many young people lack the means to pay for a news subscription.

“In addition to aligning with our journalistic mission, this program supports our goal, we hope, of demonstrating the importance of Star Tribune, which will lead to more people making the choice for the Star Tribune — to make it part of their day, and part of how they understand and engage with their community,” he said.

May 31 proved to be more than just the end of the month as I found myself with a crushing feeling in my chest and tingling in my left arm.

The pain, which didn’t go away for an hour, was recognizable to me. I was having a heart attack, and I was rushed to our local hospital, Helena Regional Medical Center.

The good folks at HRMC stabilized me, likely saving my life in the process, but almost immediately, I was placed on a helicopter and 25 minutes later, found myself at Methodist Hospital in Germantown in Memphis, Tennessee.

The Cardiac Care Unit there would be my home for several days until June 15, ironically my 59th birthday, when I was released to return home to Arkansas.

A regular regiment of eight medications taken at all hours of the day and night, but here I am, alive another day, and able to write this column.

As news spread of my episode, I was grateful to learn of all the thoughts,