I don’t know how many people noticed (probably not too many because The Star didn’t publish it, to the best of my knowledge), but The Star is losing another key cog in its editorial operation.
Anne Spenner, who has been assistant managing editor/metro the last few years, is leaving later this month to become vice chancellor of marketing and communications.
In UMKC’s website announcement on Aug. 30, Chancellor Leo Morton put Spenner’s title in capital letters and said, “Anne will direct UMKC’s marketing, branding and communications efforts and will play a key role in developing a comprehensive strategic communications plan.”
Well, you get the idea: She’s going to be the school’s chief flack.
Anyway, good for her; she’s getting out at a good time after a nice run of more than a decade at The Star.
Among other accomplishments, she founded the paper’s online Midwest Democracy Project, a successful vehicle for keeping abreast of political developments and linking readers to local blogs of interest (including this one, sometimes).
Spenner’s defection follows that of former Metro Editor Randy Smith by two years. Smith, who had moved on to the paper’s business side a few years in about 2007, joined MU in 2009 as the first Donald W. Reynolds Endowed Chair in Business Journalism. His job involves, among other things, developing, testing and writing about new digital models of journalism and advertising.
When Smith resigned, The Star did not write about it. I thought they should have run at least an item because of the high profile he had enjoyed at the paper.
Although Spenner maintained a lower profile, I think that her move also merited at least a mention in the paper. The metro editor is a mid-level manager who comes into contact with many members of the public and whose name is recognized by more people than any other desk editor.
My personal theory on why neither Smith nor Spenner got a mention is that The Star is embarrassed about the defections of high-ranking people. It’s another sign that the ship at 18th and Grand continues to take on lots of water.
***
Hendricks
Congratulations to Mike Hendricks, who had an outstanding A1 story Tuesday on the KCK elephant that seemingly cannot be brought to the ground — the old Indian Springs Shopping Center.
To the readers’ benefit, Hendricks has been doing a great job since he returned to full-time reporting recently after years as a metro columnist. He was the lead reporter on the Kansas City curfew story a few weeks ago, and yesterday he jumped the state line to report on an issue that continues to flummox Wyandotte County’s Unified Government.
Among other things, Hendricks contrasts the mushrooming growth out west — at the Legends shopping center and the adjoining Village West development — with the frustrating situation at Indian Springs, I-635 and State Avenue.
The Unified Government thought it had a deal worked out for redevelopment of the shopping center a few years ago, and it borrowed $11.4 million to get things going. Unfortunately, the deal fell through, partly because of the Great Recession.
Now, only about 30,000 square feet of the mall is occupied — all, or almost all of it, accounted for by city-related programs — but the city is paying $635,000 a year in debt payments on the loan. That amount will jump to $1 million in 2015, Hendricks reported, “whether there’s an income stream of sales tax revenue from the project or not.”
In Kansas City, it’s the still-new-looking Power & Light District that’s draining millions of dollars away from neighborhood and community services. In KCK, it’s a moribund, 40-year-old shopping center. Let’s hope it comes down within at least a few years of the razing of the World’s Worst Development Gone Awry — the West Edge project on the Plaza.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Jim:
I did not know about Anne Spenner’s move. She was my editor in FYI during my last years at The Star and she was a fine one. I wish her the best in her new title.
Thanks for telling.
Laura
Jim:
Meant to add that I agree Mike Hendricks is doing a fine job covering the community. A fine reporter.
Laura
For the record: Bottom Line broke the Spenner story. She and Randy Smith terminated a lot of fine journalists and then moved on to nice positions.
http://www.bottomlinecom.com/kcnews/starsspennertoumkc.html
Many of those who were let go have misplaced anger toward Anne and Randy. Anne and Randy certainly had a role in deciding who went, but it was somebody out in Sacramento, McClatchy headquarters, who gave the order to cut personnel company wide. I guess either Anne or Randy could have said, “No, I won’t do that,” but it wouldn’t have changed the number of employees who were given their walking papers. There’s certainly nothing immoral or Machiavellian about letting people go when the order to cut comes from the top. It’s just a dirty duty to have to carry out. That’s why top brass passes the duty down the line.
Fitz, The Hendricks story didn’t go deep enough into the facts about Indian Springs and the UG.
The UG had an opportunity to bundle redevelopment of Indian Springs as part of the Village West/Legends giveaway package and get it off their books. They refused to play hardball with the developers for fear that requirement would muck up the whole deal.
In reality it would not have. Those numbers would have gotten buried 12 decimals places out by a creative accountant.
Indian Springs is a morphodite piece of real estate in one of the deadest areas of KCK from 27th to 64th.
Mike Hendricks needs to Paul Harvey this feature and get “the rest of the story”
The UG has gotten snookered by every developer and Western Wyco is nothing but a glamorous facial reconstruction on a cancer-ridden body.
One of the things the jimmycsays staff loves about Smartman is that he almost always makes us think. Consider, for example, his use of the word “morphodite,” as in “Indian Springs is a morphodite piece of real estate.”
When I first read that I thought, from the context, that “morphodite” had something to do with being dead, as in the shopping center is long dead. But then I looked up the word, and it’s unclear exactly what Smartman is saying (stimulating nevertheless).
The first definition of “morphodite in the online Urban Dictionary is: “derived from hermaphrodite, describing an individual with both male and female genitals. Usually true for other organisms and extremely rare for humans, but it can be used as an offensive term against an individual.”
The second definition is for “Morphodite” with a capital “M.”…”This word does not exist in the English language. It is a misheard version of the word hermaphrodite from the book ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee. This interpretation is made by the narrator Scout Finch: “She said the snowman looked like a morphodite.”
‘Round and ’round we go, but what he means only Smartman knows.
Once again, little or no mention beyond the Dems and the GOP!
Come again?
Fitz, my use of the word morphodite was to suggest that it’s not really useful to any serious person/developer in a meaningful way as a person having both sets of genitalia might find it hard to find a normal relationship. Is it a stretch of the English language? Absolutely. Is it a creative use of the word? Maybe.
I was introduced to the use of the word morphodite by a high school teacher who frequently needed to say something was a useless piece of (4 Letter Word) aka fesces. When we first heard him use it we too sought the advice of Mr Webster. When we questioned the teacher about the word we got the stare and extra homework. Through osmosis, telepathy and fear we quickly understood what he wanted the word to mean.
The word has been in my lexicon for ages and those closest to me understand what I mean when I use it. Those that don’t often pretend they do.
On behalf of the class, thank you for both the education and reprimand.
No reprimand intended, Smartman. I love your explanation of how the word worked its way into your lexicon and what it means for you. Your teacher would be proud.