Minnesota paper looking to add biz reporter in Washington

David Brauer of MinnPost.com reports that  the Minneapolis Star-Tribune is advertising for a reporter who would cover the intersection of business and government in its Washington bureau.

Brauer writes, “According to an internal job posting (below), ‘…we may expand our Washington bureau by adding a correspondent who would focus on how politics and business intersect in the nation’s capital, through a Minnesota lens.’

“It’s not quite a reporter focusing on ‘regulatory agencies, economics, education,’ but managing editor Rene Sanchez says, ‘Every Minnesota industry, every big Minnesota company has pretty substantial interest in the politics and policy of what happens in Washington. Everything from issues of regulation, to issues of lobbying, to what extent Washington and its assorted agencies are affecting Minnesota businesses. It’s a pretty big landscape of prospective stories.’

“Although the ad hedges on a commitment, Sanchez says, ‘We’re not certain we’re doing it, but I think you could call it likely.’

“The job won’t represent a staffing increase. Someone will have to be moved from Minnesota-based coverage, and we don’t know how that balance of interests will play out.”

Read more here.