There’s nothing like bad news in the newspaper business to make a semi-retired blogger forgo golf on a beautiful Thursday in Kansas City.
But this is really big and unpleasant news for The Kansas City Star.
(I hate to be ghoulish, especially the day after Halloween, but, as you know, it’s still the bad news — arson convictions, super storms and the like — that prompts some of us to jump out of bed every morning.)
On Tuesday, the Audit Bureau of Circulations came out with its circulation numbers for the period from March 1 to Sept. 30. The numbers show that, over the last year, The Star has lost at least 8 percent of its subscribers in the three major circulation categories — Sunday, Monday-Friday, and Saturday.
To me, that is a breathtaking loss, even in these days of a relentless circulation retreat for major metropolitan dailies throughout the country.
It has to be terrible news for publisher Mi-Ai Parrish, who told readers in a recent column that The Star would implement in December charges for online access to The Star’s content.
As an aside, Parrish foolishly teased readers in her column by laying out absolutely no specifics. For instance, she didn’t say if print subscribers would have to pay for digital content, and she gave no idea how much subscribers and others might be charged for online access. To me, that is the equivalent of telling an employee that he or she is going to get a pay cut at the end of the year and then saying, “We’ll tell you in December just how much your paycheck is going to be slashed.”
But back to the new numbers…
As of Sept. 30, The Star’s average Sunday circulation was 275,784, including online subscriptions. That compares with 300,450 at the same time in 2011.
Not only is that an elevator-crashing percentage (8 percent), but the paper also now appears to have lost any chance to stay at or above the 300,000 mark for Sunday.
That 8 percent decrease will either force The Star to drop its advertising rates or almost certainly will drive some advertisers away.
Average daily circulation also plummeted 8 percent, from 199,222 to 183,307. Saturday circulation fell 8.5 percent, from 204,919 to 187,343.
For the daily paper, 200,000 is another key benchmark that The Star has been clinging to and which now appears out of reach.
What makes these new numbers even more disturbing is that just six months ago, ABC’s statistics for the six-month period ending March 31, showed average Sunday circulation at 310,500 and average daily circulation at 200,365.
Search me as to what went haywire the last six months, but it would appear that April stats were simply an aberration.
I suppose the new numbers shouldn’t be too surprising because a recent Pew Research Center study showed that the percentage of Americans who read printed newspapers has fallen from 41 percent in 2002 to 23 percent now. In addition, a New York Times Co. survey found that just 22 percent of 18- to 34-year olds read print newspapers, compared to 53 percent in the over-55 age category.
In the past, however, The Star, has been relatively fortunate because its circulation dipped less rapidly than that of many other papers. I attribute that partly to Kansas City being a good, deep-rooted newspaper town (thank you, William Rockhill Nelson) and The Star having maintained a quality product while the content of many other metropolitan dailies has slipped badly.
Now, though, it looks like the whirlpool has The Star firmly in its grasp.
To a blogger who spent 37 mostly happy years writing and editing for the powerhouse (still) at 18th and Grand…that is very disappointing.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Please check out the MPLS Star Tribs numbers (especially Sunday). Wow !
Just made the observation over at Landsberg’s place that McClatchy’s 3rd quarter numbers on digital advertisng forced Ms Parrish’s hand.
(Back from self-exile, I see; welcome.)
That’s speculation, NickNick — very reasonable speculation, but I really doubt if that’s what prompted the decision to go to a paywall. That is something The Star and McClatchy probably have been working on for months. That’s how the New York Times did it — studied it very carefully and introduced it gradually. Now, they’ve got more than 500,000 digital subscribers. Another thing the NYT did right is that they gave print subscribers full online access at no extra cost. If Mi-Ai is smart, that’s how she’ll do it. But the fact that she didn’t address that in her column concerns me greatly.
Yep, actually they delayed the paywall launch a couple months.
Jim,
Good to see you back.
I dropped The Star about a month ago. It’s just not worth a dollar anymore. Besides, when you look at what’s left of the content, I’m obviously not part of the target demographic. (Still, circulation has called just about every night since I left. I guess I’m part of their demographic; that is, people with money to spend.)
I feel bad for the hardworking people who are left, particularly Steve Shirk, Mike McGraw, Judy Thomas, Karen Dillon, Keith Chrostowski and Don Munday, but I have no sympathy for Ms. Parrish or Mike Fannin, who is no longer a journalist but instead is a businessman, and apparently a poor one.
Les Weatherford
Glad to hear from you, Les…I’m surprised you dropped the paper but can’t fault your reasoning. And you’re right about the top-notch people they still have; they’re the ones who make the paper worth reading.
Reblogged this on MediaKC and commented:
Jim Fitzpatrick’s first post since May (welcome back!) gives some insight into how The Star’s big circulation drop might affect ad rates.
nice to see you back at it..same numbers for the post-dispatch, readership has gone down for over a year to the point where unless you have a subscription the saturday paper was dropped from the public boxes and most days the news is from the news services unless it’s a local story. having been raised in a newspaper family (dad worked at the post for 37 years), it is hard to watch the written word slowly go the way of the typewriter.
Ah, our St. Louis correspondent is still on the job, despite my hiatus…Thanks, Gus; the check is in the mail.
It will be interesting to see where these trends in information distribution all end up. Regardless of whether or not one agrees with what one reads J schools put out a noble product that used journalistic standards and maintained some sort of playbook for ethics that we all could use. Now we’ve evolved into the slow extinction of news papers and the rise of electronic info distribution where every one is a reporter and author worth tapping into regardless of whether they can spell, think, or write. Now that is something to look forward to and get up for everyday! Glad to see you back in action fighting the good fight. Thought you’d died and gone to newspaper heaven, which is probably the only place it will be published in the future. Happy Halloween, Jayson
You can’t have a happy Halloween on Nov. 1, Jay.
Jimmy C.,
We will always subscribe; everything changes. There is a limit to Internet apps and online maneuvering, and the more technical the news delivery becomes, The Star may see that they have readers in the smartphones and tablets. But it does not take a journalism professor or managing editor to see that everything is changing. The data plans will allow people to view my premier-tiered cable with my login. Movies are adapting, electronic giants know down the road there will be significantly less televisions and more tablets and handsets. The model for all entertainment will change, too. The newspapers and other periodicals will be hit first…Be Well, Jimmy C.
With your extensive experience in telecommunications, Larry, you know what you’re talking about…Me? All I’ve got is a flip phone that will take some grainy pictures and allow me to do some slow texting. It’s good enough for me, though; I will always want to cradle, gently, in my hands the newsprint of The Star and the NYT in my hands.
Haven’t seen you blog in awhile. Like your use of graphics in the blog below . . . ;=)
Tomorrow is the “Day of the Dead.” Any connection? Coincidence? Personally, I don’t believe in coincidence.
Long live The Star!
The STAR is tethered to the sinking Mother Ship McClatchy… which overbought and now must squeeze it’s properties continually to get enough to make the mortgage. In doing so McClatchy has put the goose on death row. Very typical of Wall Street now-a-days… bottom line ahead of product. It’s just the opposite at Apple and it’s the highest valued corporation in the world. You’d think they’d learn…
you did not play golf!?
No, I mulched leaves. Our estate on The Corridor is pristine..even though it’s the most modest house on the block.
My previous post should have read I will be able to login to HBO, The Smithsonian Channel, ESPN, NATGEO or any of my premium-plan channels anywhere, with the username and password. And, Fitz – you give me way too much credit…
Not only a telecommunications expert but the best and most entertaining copy boy The Star and Times ever had…Anyone ever heard of The Luper Report? Amazing stuff…
For the sake of my former colleagues_ many of which remain good friends of mine_ I certainly hope this paywall works and brings at least enough financial stability that they won’t have to worry about losing their jobs. For the last four and a half years, they have gone into work everyday not knowing if they are going to have a job at the end of the day. That is an absolutely horrible way to live your life. Good to see you back in action, Fitz.
That from a good, former Star reporter who had the rug pulled out from under him….Happy to tell everyone (my hordes of readers, anyway) that Mike is settled into a new job as a para-legal with a highly respected firm in Independence.
Thanks for the comment, Mike.
Welcome back, Jim. About damn time!!!
Welcome back Jim.
Welcome back. Good to see you writing again. They need to figure out that they have too many chiefs for too few Indians and that they need to get rid of the entire editorial staff (is anybody waiting breathlessly to see what position they take on any given issue?).
Thank you, John, John and Super Dave and everyone else who has said they’re glad to see me back with my reporter’s notebook and Pilot G-2 pen.
Jim,
I checked this site just a couple of days ago and saw that there was nothing new since your Washington Post blog, and so I’m visiting KC Confidential earlier this evening and learn that you’ve “risen from the dead” (and on All Saints Day at that) and are back at it. Good to hear from you again! Hey, I’ve been helping our mutual friend in Leavenworth with her campaign a bit since she and I are members of the same church and not because of her party (Democratic) affiliation. For the record, I am a registered unaffiliated voter and would be willing to help a fellow church-goer running as a Republican if the opportunity arose at some point. Anyway, she faces an uphill battle since her district has more registered Republican voters than Democratic voters, and she tells me that the Koch brothers have plowed some money into her opponent’s treasure chest. He has a lot of signs up, but many of them seem to be in the public right-of-way and not in a particular homeowner’s yard. She’s done a lot of door to door work and has put together a good flier, but that may not be enough in the end. We shall see. Anyway, the new Star circulation figures are most disturbing, as is the alleged behavior of Mr. Gusewelle. Would you care to opine on that matter? I sent the Star publisher an e-mail and did receive a nice reply. She said that they had talked to Mr. Gusewelle and made him aware of the letter to the editor that was to run in the paper, but that because he is technically not an employee he is not subject to company discipline, nor do they try to tell him what to write about in his columns. I had suggested to her that I hoped he would address the matter in his next column, offering an apology, if warranted, in the process. We shall see. So far we have yet to hear anything official from him, but if the allegations are indeed true, it reflects rather poorly on The Star, which needs all the love it can get these days, not to mention subscribers and advertisers. Hey, there is still a spot around the long wooden table for you any time you wish to join “the Brooksider gang”. Jim Murray, former Star cartoonist, is a newcomer to the group and a welcome addition.
P.S. – I do want to put in a little plug here for the Coat & Blanket Drive to be held Saturday, November 3 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on behalf of Project Warmth. The Star and KCTV are sponsoring this annual event, which benefits the needy in the Kansas City area. For more information see the piece in the Op-Ed section in the November 2 issue of the paper.
Welcome back Fitz.
Good to know you’re still around, Chuck…I haven’t been reading any blogs the past six months.
Ya didn’t miss much.
:)
Ouch!!