JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC

The Star’s announcement today that Greg Farmer will be the new metro editor is another signal that the paper is continuing to push its digital offerings.

When Anne Spenner, the former metro editor, left recently to take a job at UMKC, I was convinced that her successor would be Charles (Chick) Howland, who has worked as an assistant state and metro editor and currently is news editor, recommending, among other things, which stories should go on Page 1.

(For the record, I’m not even sure that Howland applied, but I’d be surprised if he didn’t.)

I worked with Howland in The Star’s Johnson County bureau (now closed) in 2004 and 2005, and he succeeded me as Johnson County bureau chief after I was transferred to the Independence bureau, where I finished my career.

Howland has an even temperament and is widely admired by the reporting staff.

Problem is, his background is on the print side.  So, when I saw that Farmer was selected, it said everything about the paper’s direction and intention. Farmer, 40, has been an assistant managing editor, with emphasis on developing website content.

In the story about Farmer’s elevation, Editor Mike Fannin and Managing Editor Steve Shirk credited Farmer with cultivating strong growth in traffic at KansasCity.com.

“Greg will not so much be leaving the Web world as he will be working to better integrate an urgent, digital-first strategy,” the editors wrote.

I am sure that The Star’s new publisher, Mi-Ai Parrish, had the final voice in this appointment, and I feel sure, again, that she put her blessing on Farmer because of his website experience.

At her previous paper, the Idaho Statesman, Parrish introduced new print and digital products and increased digital traffic.

And, like Farmer, she is 40. (At least she was when she was named publisher in June.) Howland, by contrast, is probably about 50.

So, as the printed product continues to shrink, look for the website to expand and get stronger.

It’s the trend, of course, with all papers, including the best of all, The New York Times.

The Sept. 11 edition of The Times carried an interview that Art Brisbane, former Star publisher, did with Jill Abramson, the paper’s new executive editor.

In the interview, Brisbane noted that Abramson was detached from her regular duties as managing editor last year to study the digital product.

“What struck you most?” Brisbane asked.

“…I have been saying for years,” she replied, “that The Times was so far ahead and so smart in integrating the Web and print, but the reality was there was still something that everybody here called ‘the Web newsroom.’ I was very determined that we have just one newsroom that is integrated, where people are comfortable in both the print and digital realms.”

With Farmer’s appointment in Kansas City and Abramson’s in New York, the newspaper industry continues to reflect the new reality: As the print product continues to shrink, newspaper managers are pushing their ink-stained wretches (who still are legion) either out the door or into the digital wave.