Howie on Local Media: Pine Knot News racks up statewide honors, KBJR the gold standard in regional television news

CLOQUET — The Pine Knot News, a plucky independent weekly launched barely six years ago to fill a void in Carlton County coverage, has again proven it’s among Minnesota’s best. The newspaper brought home two more honors from last week’s Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists Page One Awards, reinforcing its rapid rise as one of the state’s most decorated small publications.

Reporter Brady Slater received third-place finishes in two tough categories: profile writing, for his portrait of 91-year-old jockey Jack Carter still taking the reins, and government reporting, for detailing how Moose Lake leaders voted to disband their local police force in favor of sheriff’s coverage. The SPJ contest drew over 500 entries statewide, underscoring the significance of the recognition.

Answering a community need

The Pine Knot News was born out of frustration — and fierce local pride. When the Cloquet Pine Journal, a paper with deep roots, was absorbed by a larger chain and scaled back, longtime editor Jana Peterson and several like-minded journalists and community boosters believed Cloquet and the broader Carlton County deserved more robust local coverage.

So they built it themselves. Locally owned and fiercely independent, the Pine Knot hit doorsteps in late 2018 with a promise to cover stories others wouldn’t. The gamble paid off almost immediately: just over a year later, the paper was named the Minnesota Newspaper Association’s best weekly in the state. More honors have rolled in since, for everything from hard-hitting investigations to evocative features and sports photo spreads.

A lean, loyal newsroom

The paper’s award-winning work stems directly from its tight-knit staff. Peterson, who guides the ship, previously reported and edited at the Pine Journal and the Duluth News Tribune, giving her deep ties throughout Cloquet. Her leadership has shaped a newsroom known for tackling sensitive stories without losing its neighborly feel.

Slater, who joined after a long run at the News Tribune, brings both sharp investigative instincts and a genuine curiosity about people’s lives — whether he’s tracking city hall maneuvering or chronicling a nonagenarian’s enduring passion for the racetrack.

On the sports side, veteran editor Kerry Rodd has made Pine Knot pages essential reading for local fans. A familiar voice at countless Carlton County gyms and fields, Rodd’s decades as a broadcaster and writer mean he knows the backstories behind the box scores. Under his eye, the paper’s sports section doubles as a community scrapbook, capturing everything from a kid’s first varsity bucket to the emotional journeys of state tournament teams.

Backing them up is a rotation of deeply local contributors — retired teachers, longtime city clerks, people who’ve lived in Carlton County for generations. They supply columns and features rooted in personal experience, ensuring the Pine Knot’s pages sound unmistakably like Cloquet.

More than just a newsroom

Unlike many small papers hollowed out by budget cuts or distant ownership, the Pine Knot’s modest downtown office remains a lively hub. Readers drop by to pay subscriptions, slip engagement announcements over the counter, or tip off staff to the next big council fight. In return, the paper has become an unblinking watchdog and trusted chronicler of daily life.

Its walls may be light on decor, but its trophy case grows ever more crowded. And for a region long wary of outsiders telling its stories, the Pine Knot News has become exactly what it set out to be: Carlton County’s own voice.

KBJR still sets the pace for Northland local news

DULUTH — If you care about what’s happening from Moose Lake to Grand Marais — which contractors are breaking ground, how local boards are squabbling over budgets, or which high school team’s loading the bus for state — chances are your TV is tuned to KBJR 6.

The station, which first lit up screens in Duluth in the early 1950s, has been covering blizzards and barn burners longer than most local households have had color sets. Back then it was simply Channel 6, sporting that peacock logo and chasing stories in battered station wagons. The vehicles have changed, but the station’s appetite for chasing down what matters hasn’t.

A tradition built on tenacity

KBJR earned its stripes the hard way: through ice storms that snapped towers, through dogged city hall stakeouts, and through decades of determined local reporting even as ownership groups and technology evolved. It switched to color long before it was easy, rebuilt more than once after nature had its way, and stuck with stories that mattered to viewers — whether it meant digging into property tax hikes or just explaining why last night’s squall turned morning roads to hockey rinks.

Today, under the Northern News Now partnership that pairs KBJR’s NBC roots with the local CBS affiliate, Duluth sees more hours of live local coverage than ever. And it’s not just quantity. The station fields a mix of sharp young reporters and seasoned veterans who know the difference between Knife River and Knife Lake — and why it matters.

Credit where it’s due

Guiding it all is General Manager Todd Wentworth, a veteran who didn’t just helicopter in from a big-city office. Wentworth knows the quirks of Duluth, from its freeze-thaw craters to its stubborn civic pride. Under his watch, KBJR has embraced new digital platforms, brought more local broadcasts to living rooms and phone screens, and kept traditions alive — including the Christmas City of the North Parade, a regional fixture the station helped cement into local culture.

Behind the scenes is a crew of producers, photographers, digital staff and assignment editors who make sure the broadcasts hum along even before most of the city’s scraped the frost off windshields. That’s why, when the weather turns or political news breaks, KBJR tends to be first with a microphone on scene — often held by someone who might’ve grown up skating on the same outdoor rink as the interview subject.

Still the gold standard

Plenty of solid journalists work across this market, but by sheer consistency, reach and depth of local roots, KBJR remains the station others measure against. And that’s a good thing. A city that knows where its tax dollars are headed and how its teams are faring is a city that can steer itself wisely.

So here’s to KBJR — and to Wentworth and his team. They’re not just airing newscasts; they’re living right alongside the rest of us, day after day, storm after storm. That’s what keeps the Northland well informed — and well covered.