Star Tribune - The Star Tribune is owned by The McClatchy Company, headquartered in Sacramento, Calif. The McClatchy Company dates to the California Gold Rush era when the company’s first newspaper, The Sacramento Bee, was founded in 1857 by James McClatchy. Today the company is both a newspaper and Internet publisher, and remains dedicated to the values of quality journalism, free expression and community service. The McClatchy Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MNI.

The McClatchy Company acquired the Star Tribune from Cowles Media Inc. in 1998, with a commitment to local autonomy in news coverage and editorial commentary. The Star Tribune’s history is interwoven with the history of Minnesota, with roots in three newspapers – the Minneapolis Tribune, the Star and the Minneapolis Journal.

The oldest of the three newspapers, the Minneapolis Tribune, was founded in 1867, when Minneapolis was home to only about 7,000 people and just half the size of St. Paul. When the Tribune printed its first edition, the city didn't have a fire department, a sewage system or even a city water supply.

In 1935, the Cowles family of Des Moines, Iowa, purchased the smallest of the city's three papers, the Star. The purchase of the Minneapolis Journal followed just a few years later. The papers were consolidated, renamed the Star Journal, and operated as an evening and Sunday publication.

In 1941, the Cowles family purchased the Tribune and merged it with the Star Journal. The two publications operated as separate morning and evening papers. On Sunday, they published one edition under the Tribune name. In 1947, the Star Journal name was simplified to the Minneapolis Star.

The evening Minneapolis Star and the morning Minneapolis Tribune were combined in 1982 to make one daily morning newspaper – the Minneapolis Star and Tribune. In 1987, the Minneapolis Star and Tribune became the Star Tribune, Newspaper of the Twin Cities, a designation that reflected the newspaper's growing presence across the metro area. That same year, Star Tribune built Heritage Center, a high-technology production facility. Today, Heritage Center is a nationally recognized leader in quality, efficiency and environmental responsibility.

In 1996, Star Tribune launched StarTribune.com, an electronic news and information service that is now the leading news and information service in the Twin Cities. The site also provides a vibrant online marketplace.

Beginning in 2003, the Star Tribune launched a series of suburban sections focused on specific geographic regions. The sections center on community news including schools, sports, road construction, crime, local government and community development.