Liz Collin is the poster child of everything wrong with journalism today. Selective reporting of facts, ignores facts that contradict her narrative, disguises opinion as fact. The left has their own versions. I like to read conservative sources, but Collin is mostly propaganda. Glad she’s gone from WCCO.
This should be interesting — I hope she provides a big‑picture view. We should all have plenty of questions about Tim. As you know, independent of Liz and, for the most part, most of my Minnesota friends, I’ve made similar assertions about Tim and parts of his COVID, sanctuary, corruption, budgets, ICE, fraud, and George Floyd fiascos.
When the broader environment — state, political, city, business, media — censors the people who ask questions, I get worried. I’ve only listened to Liz once, when she was on Tucker, so I can’t speak to her broader biases or conclusions. However, I thought she asked reasonable questions about the handling of G.F. in the face of a strongly prescribed narrative. Without the ability to really question, freedom of speech is dead. Go ask the people who questioned Mao and the Party.
Well, for MPLS & MN it will be coming from an "alternative" media source & bias. Besides some smaller community's papers it's all left or "center" left bias. I hope Liz has the balls to pose serious questions and bring up some Tim topics that are seemingly taboo for the other regional "news" outlets. Someone wrote they expect 2/3 truth - that would be refreshing and entertaining. I glade you brought it up.
I do appreciate that Liz Collin presents herself as biased (conservative). The legacy media (whether Fox on the right or CNN on the left) pretend like they are not biased when they clearly are. Most Americans get their news from digital devices, with over half (54%) citing social media and video networks as their primary sources, overtaking television (50%) and news websites/apps (48%). Social media is clearly biased and even worse, algorithm-driven to deliver what you want to see - so it creates a bubble.
So, aside from older adults, legacy media's influence is declining. Collin/Alpha News is no longer an alternative. I was not able to find any recent “circulation” numbers for Alpha News (the most recent thing I found was that their website had 3 million visitors in 2023). Given that most people consume Alpha News content on social media, my guess is that it rivals the Star Tribune in “readership.” The Fall of Minneapolis (Collin’s documentary) has been viewed over 8 million times across various platforms as of June 2024 - I bet it is 10 million by now. Nick Shirley's December 2025 video alleging daycare fraud in Minnesota went viral, garnering over 130 million views on X (formerly Twitter) and several million on YouTube. I really think you overestimate the power of legacy media.
Everything is biased - like my interpretation. My "alternative" comment had nothing to do with media format - just media/political bias.
We have friends that are scared of different media formats - I'm not - I try to be wary of all content, but I'm biased.
Minnesota has been dominated politically by the Dems for the good part of the last 70 years. It's gotten more dominant in the last 20.
Naturally then the media environment will follow the political environment and vice versa, they align with the same world views, economic, culturally, socially etc. The talent pool, the universities, the economic incentive and the consumers organically are shaped by and shape the bias. Almost in a way, a self fulfilling prophecy. No judgement - it happens. This is the bubble you spoke of when you started writing.
It's uncomfortable when a hometown person brings on the cognitive dissonance. For me when it's the big media source like CNN, the Times or WP it's not as threatening, since they can't possibly know what we all know.
I constantl go back to my roots - the question. "What if" 13% of what Liz says is true or 37% or heaven forbid 66⅙%? What if ...? 🙃
I agree with most of what you are saying here. I had to remind myself of who has controlled the state for our lifetime. It was more balanced than I would have expected -
Since 1959, the Minnesota Governor's office has seen a fairly even split between the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) and Republican parties, with one notable four-year stretch led by a third-party candidate.
1955–1961 Orville Freeman DFL
1961–1963 Elmer L. Andersen Republican
1963–1967 Karl Rolvaag DFL
1967–1971 Harold LeVander Republican
1971–1976 Wendell Anderson DFL
1976–1979 Rudy Perpich DFL
1979–1983 Al Quie Republican
1983–1991 Rudy Perpich DFL
1991–1999 Arne Carlson Republican
1999–2003 Jesse Ventura Reform / Independence
2003–2011 Tim Pawlenty Republican
2011–2019 Mark Dayton DFL
2019–Present Tim Walz DFL
In the legislature, I did not realize this, for much of the mid-20th century, legislators were elected on nonpartisan ballots. Even though they didn't have "DFL" or "Republican" next to their names, they organized into Liberal (DFL-aligned) and Conservative (Republican-aligned) caucuses.
1959–1962, the House was Liberal (DFL) and the Senate was Conservative (GOP)
1963–1972, House and Senate were Conservative (GOP)
After that, a divided legislature has been the norm (or even when the same, offset by a Governor of a different party. However, there were three trifectas thrown in there:
1973–1978, DFL controlled both the House and Senate (with a DFL Governor, too).
1979–1980, the House was tied, and the Senate was DFL
1981–1984, the DFL had both House and Senate (but with a Republican Governor for most of this period).
1985–1986, the House was Republican and the Senate DFL
1987–1998, The DFL had both the House and the Senate, but for 8 of those years, there was a Republican Governor
1999–2006 The House was Republican and the Senate DFL - overlaps with Gov. Jesse Ventura.
2007–2010 House and Senate are DFL, but with a Republican Governor
2011–2012 House and Senate are Republican with a Republican Governor - GOP "trifecta"
2013–2014House and Senate are DFL with a DFL Governor - DFL “trifecta”
2015–2016 a Republican House and DFL Senate
2017–2018 Republicans control both the House and the Senate, but with a DFL Governor
2019–2022, the House was DFL and the Senate was Republican
2023–2024 DFL trifecta (House, Senate, Governor)
2025–Present House is tied, and the Senate is DFL
So all and more evenly split and divided than I realized.
Id looked also. No proof, but a personal (biased) opinion, the republican party during my years never seemed to be as well organized or as powerful as the Dems. My time at the U, if im remembering correctly (the political science department) had one republican professor, one communist and the rest dems except for visiting Norwegian socialist professors. Im bouncing on a treadmill
Liz Collin is the poster child of everything wrong with journalism today. Selective reporting of facts, ignores facts that contradict her narrative, disguises opinion as fact. The left has their own versions. I like to read conservative sources, but Collin is mostly propaganda. Glad she’s gone from WCCO.
There is a fat fuzzy line between journalists and influencers these days - if there are journalists at all. Liz is an influencer with a resume.
I will look forward to the documentary being maybe 2/3 accurate 😉
So you are an optimist 😆
This should be interesting — I hope she provides a big‑picture view. We should all have plenty of questions about Tim. As you know, independent of Liz and, for the most part, most of my Minnesota friends, I’ve made similar assertions about Tim and parts of his COVID, sanctuary, corruption, budgets, ICE, fraud, and George Floyd fiascos.
When the broader environment — state, political, city, business, media — censors the people who ask questions, I get worried. I’ve only listened to Liz once, when she was on Tucker, so I can’t speak to her broader biases or conclusions. However, I thought she asked reasonable questions about the handling of G.F. in the face of a strongly prescribed narrative. Without the ability to really question, freedom of speech is dead. Go ask the people who questioned Mao and the Party.
It will likely be entertainment vs journalism.
Well, for MPLS & MN it will be coming from an "alternative" media source & bias. Besides some smaller community's papers it's all left or "center" left bias. I hope Liz has the balls to pose serious questions and bring up some Tim topics that are seemingly taboo for the other regional "news" outlets. Someone wrote they expect 2/3 truth - that would be refreshing and entertaining. I glade you brought it up.
I do appreciate that Liz Collin presents herself as biased (conservative). The legacy media (whether Fox on the right or CNN on the left) pretend like they are not biased when they clearly are. Most Americans get their news from digital devices, with over half (54%) citing social media and video networks as their primary sources, overtaking television (50%) and news websites/apps (48%). Social media is clearly biased and even worse, algorithm-driven to deliver what you want to see - so it creates a bubble.
So, aside from older adults, legacy media's influence is declining. Collin/Alpha News is no longer an alternative. I was not able to find any recent “circulation” numbers for Alpha News (the most recent thing I found was that their website had 3 million visitors in 2023). Given that most people consume Alpha News content on social media, my guess is that it rivals the Star Tribune in “readership.” The Fall of Minneapolis (Collin’s documentary) has been viewed over 8 million times across various platforms as of June 2024 - I bet it is 10 million by now. Nick Shirley's December 2025 video alleging daycare fraud in Minnesota went viral, garnering over 130 million views on X (formerly Twitter) and several million on YouTube. I really think you overestimate the power of legacy media.
Everything is biased - like my interpretation. My "alternative" comment had nothing to do with media format - just media/political bias.
We have friends that are scared of different media formats - I'm not - I try to be wary of all content, but I'm biased.
Minnesota has been dominated politically by the Dems for the good part of the last 70 years. It's gotten more dominant in the last 20.
Naturally then the media environment will follow the political environment and vice versa, they align with the same world views, economic, culturally, socially etc. The talent pool, the universities, the economic incentive and the consumers organically are shaped by and shape the bias. Almost in a way, a self fulfilling prophecy. No judgement - it happens. This is the bubble you spoke of when you started writing.
It's uncomfortable when a hometown person brings on the cognitive dissonance. For me when it's the big media source like CNN, the Times or WP it's not as threatening, since they can't possibly know what we all know.
I constantl go back to my roots - the question. "What if" 13% of what Liz says is true or 37% or heaven forbid 66⅙%? What if ...? 🙃
I agree with most of what you are saying here. I had to remind myself of who has controlled the state for our lifetime. It was more balanced than I would have expected -
Since 1959, the Minnesota Governor's office has seen a fairly even split between the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) and Republican parties, with one notable four-year stretch led by a third-party candidate.
1955–1961 Orville Freeman DFL
1961–1963 Elmer L. Andersen Republican
1963–1967 Karl Rolvaag DFL
1967–1971 Harold LeVander Republican
1971–1976 Wendell Anderson DFL
1976–1979 Rudy Perpich DFL
1979–1983 Al Quie Republican
1983–1991 Rudy Perpich DFL
1991–1999 Arne Carlson Republican
1999–2003 Jesse Ventura Reform / Independence
2003–2011 Tim Pawlenty Republican
2011–2019 Mark Dayton DFL
2019–Present Tim Walz DFL
In the legislature, I did not realize this, for much of the mid-20th century, legislators were elected on nonpartisan ballots. Even though they didn't have "DFL" or "Republican" next to their names, they organized into Liberal (DFL-aligned) and Conservative (Republican-aligned) caucuses.
1959–1962, the House was Liberal (DFL) and the Senate was Conservative (GOP)
1963–1972, House and Senate were Conservative (GOP)
After that, a divided legislature has been the norm (or even when the same, offset by a Governor of a different party. However, there were three trifectas thrown in there:
1973–1978, DFL controlled both the House and Senate (with a DFL Governor, too).
1979–1980, the House was tied, and the Senate was DFL
1981–1984, the DFL had both House and Senate (but with a Republican Governor for most of this period).
1985–1986, the House was Republican and the Senate DFL
1987–1998, The DFL had both the House and the Senate, but for 8 of those years, there was a Republican Governor
1999–2006 The House was Republican and the Senate DFL - overlaps with Gov. Jesse Ventura.
2007–2010 House and Senate are DFL, but with a Republican Governor
2011–2012 House and Senate are Republican with a Republican Governor - GOP "trifecta"
2013–2014House and Senate are DFL with a DFL Governor - DFL “trifecta”
2015–2016 a Republican House and DFL Senate
2017–2018 Republicans control both the House and the Senate, but with a DFL Governor
2019–2022, the House was DFL and the Senate was Republican
2023–2024 DFL trifecta (House, Senate, Governor)
2025–Present House is tied, and the Senate is DFL
So all and more evenly split and divided than I realized.
Id looked also. No proof, but a personal (biased) opinion, the republican party during my years never seemed to be as well organized or as powerful as the Dems. My time at the U, if im remembering correctly (the political science department) had one republican professor, one communist and the rest dems except for visiting Norwegian socialist professors. Im bouncing on a treadmill