Joel Kramer, former publisher of the Minneapolis Star Tribune is starting an Internet-based newspaper for the Twin Cities area. MinnPost will use a donation model similar to public radio and television to cover its operating costs.

Joel Kramer CEO and editor of the new venture has has raised $1.1 million in startup funds with $250,000 coming from the the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. $850,000 in funding came from private funding.

"MinnPost.com is all about substantive news for Minnesotans who are intensely interested in the world around them and want more insight and analysis than they’re getting from their media choices today,” said Kramer, who served as editor of the Star Tribune in the 1980s and as publisher and president in the 1990s. “It will combine the best of traditional journalism with new forms of newsgathering and storytelling made possible by the Internet. MinnPost.com will emphasize original, high-quality content five days a week, plus carefully chosen work from other sources. You can read it online, or in a printable newspaper format, MinnPost in Print."

Not just online. The daily will be available in printed form called the MinnPost in Print, which will be in a 8.5 x 11 format suitable for printing on an office printer. Plans also call for distribution at high-traffic locations over the lunch hour.

The daily will be published online at http://www.MinnPost.com.