All too often the print edition of The Kansas City Star makes me wonder what’s going through the minds of the editors.
The latest puzzlement was on Sunday, when the editors relegated a timely, can’t-put-it-down story about the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and its shirttail cousins to the bottom left corner of the front page.
Darryl Levings
Below a one-column headline, only slightly more than three inches of text appeared on the front page before the story “jumped” inside. On Page 12, the reader was greeted by, or I should say treated to, an additional 82 inches of text. The writer was Darryl Levings, a highly respected senior editor and writer.
The AR-15, or variations thereof, have been used in several of the nation’s mass shootings in recent years, including the Aurora, CO, killings last July. In addition, the weapon is one of the chief objects of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s gun-control bill, which she recently introduced before the Senate.
I emphasize that the story could not be more timely and it was incredibly informative, especially for the thousands of Star readers, including me, who probably know very little about guns, other than .22-caliber pistols and 12-gauge shotguns. The story was chock-full of details, such as that the weapon had its “breakthrough” after Air Force Gen. Curtis LeMay saw its promise more than 50 years ago.
Why then, was this story not the “centerpiece” of the Sunday paper?
The centerpiece, for those not attuned to newspaper lingo, is the story that, each day, gets the biggest play on the front page. The centerpiece is always at least three columns wide and is accompanied by at least one large photograph, illustration or, infrequently, a graphic.
The editors chose instead to feature a story about charitable organizations — like The Salvation Army and Uplift — that provide meals for people who live on the streets, in the parks, under bridges and elsewhere without four walls around them.
The gist of the story was that while the agencies are rendering an important service, they probably are contributing indirectly to the trashing of neighborhoods and theft and vandalism.
This was, by no means, an unimportant story. To me, however, it paled beside the weapons story, which is probably the biggest story in the country right now.
I’ve been racking my brain, trying to figure out why the editors made the choice they did.
I’ve developed a theory…Hang with me now.
I think that one thing that boosted the “Help or Hindrance” story about the homeless was that it had four good photos with it — three of them taken on the night-time streets and featuring heavily bundled people receiving or eating recently dispensed meals.
On the other hand, the AR-15 story was accompanied by an excellent 4 1/2-column photo showing an intense gun-store manager firing a rifle that was emitting a sunburst-like muzzle flash. But that photo, which I think would have made for an outstanding centerpiece, appeared on Page 12, not on Page 1.
The more I thought about that photo the more I tended to think that the muzzle flash held the key to the story’s back-seat placement.
From my 36-plus years at the paper, I know how the editors think and the idea comparing that they go through while deciding what is appropriate and what is inappropriate for front-page display.
It’s my opinion — based solely on experience and instinct — that the editors decided that many readers would see the AR-15 photo, with that splash of orangish-yellow erupting from the rifle tip, as menacing and sensationalistic.
Certainly, the photo would have drawn some reaction from people on both sides of the gun-control issue:
Some of those in favor would have said the photo glamorized the AR-15 and its power, and some of those against would have contended that The Star was trying to demonize the weapon.
So, the editors went milquetoast, in my opinion, and opted for the innocuous, no-risk photos of the homeless and the Salvation Army trucks.
Too bad, eh? The editors had, right in their hands, an edgy, compelling story that was well illustrated and would have been read by thousands and thousands of more readers than it was. It’s a story that would have made a splash and would have been talked about at the water coolers on Monday.
Let’s strip away all subtleties, then:
This was a pitiful, gutless decision that showed, once again, why The Star is losing subscribers.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Fitz, I appreciate and respect your flair for the nuance and subtlety of newsprint. However, in this case shouldn’t you be more concerned with the news that the Star is reporting than how it is laid out?
The Stars anti-gun stance is well noted. Sans this particular piece the previous opinion pieces from the Editorial Board have been chock full of lies and misinformation. The Star still fails to call out the elephant in the room when it comes to gun violence. The story begins and ends in the black community with uneducated, undisciplined, unemployed and uninspired males between the ages of 14 and 25.
None of the murders year to date in KC have involved an AR15 or other alleged assault weapon. Same for the record breaking number in Chicago. At at recent shooting in KCK 40 she’ll casings were recovered. None were of the calibers, .223 or .308 normally associated with assault rifles.
Any number of images of black youth brandishing handguns can be found on the Internet. Those are the images that need to be shown to focus the attention where it needs to be focused. The Star is too cowardly and PC for that. The focus at the Star needs to be on substance, not style.
Just like a department store’s window display, Smartman, how a newspaper displays its wares has a lot to do with public impression and sales. The “nuances” are very important.
I appreciate your acknowledgement — “sans this particular piece…” — that this was an even-handed piece of work that (I think you’d agree with me on this) had a lot of value for people on both sides of the issue.
I agree that Mr. Levings piece was well done and evenhanded. Nonetheless the blather from the Editorial Board only subverts his attempt at honest journalism.
In her current screed, Barb Shelly makes the recent shooting in Riverside, where a marijuana and tequila infused felon, “accidentally” , shot a friend, a Second Amendment issue. It is not. It is an issue of existing law(s) not being enforced.
Until the issue of gun violence is dealt with from a position of logic and not emotion, no progress will be made.
I haven’t read the piece. haven’t read anything in The Star since the paywall started, but I can tell you it’s just more of the same crap that Bill Grady published a week, or so ago.
There three approaches you can take to this current debate. You can take the sycophant’s path and write about the guns. This is the path our leftist media is taking (see http://newsbusters.org/blogs/geoffrey-dickens/2013/02/05/study-abc-cbs-nbc-slant-8-1-obamas-gun-control-crusade). Despite the fact that hundreds of thousands of Americans own these weapons and millions more own various other weapons without harming anyone, they pursue the authoritarian’s path by focusing on the guns and not those who abuse them.
Another approach would be to take note of the fact that the people doing most of the mass murders tend to be nuts. indeed, nutty enough that others have taken note of the fact that they’re nuts. Journalists don’t write too much about the mental health angle since a) the ACLU doesn’t approve, and b) it doesn’t fit the official narrative that guns must be controlled.
A third approach, and one the media seems completely blind to is to take note that across the country county sheriffs are refusing to enforce any federal legislation they feel is unconstitutional and indeed, are even threatening to arrest any federal authorities who try to enforce them. Legislators are proposing legislation to enshrine our 2nd Amendment rights in their state Constitutions. In addition, upstate New York is in open rebellion against Cuomo’s new wave of uber authoritarianism while across the country millions of citizens are emptying the shelves of guns,and ammo and record numbers of citizens apply for concealed carry permits.. If there’s one part of the economy Obama has finally stimulated, it’s the firearms industry. But try and find an establishment article that talks about this fervor. It’s not there and I suspect it’s not there because a significant part of the explanation has to do with a distrust of this president that they’re not prepared to deal with.
Instead shills like Bill Grady take their already written stories out to look for people to fill in the blanks and it never hits these duds to try and explain why it is that people are buying weapons and ammo all around them at a record breaking pace. Instead they lockstep behind King Hussein’s totalitarian agenda and talk about the guns and the non-existent “Gun Show Loophole”. Can you still buy a weapon from a private party in America without forcing the seller to do a background check. God, I hope so. We’re in trouble if we can’t.
Well said John! As for the Star pay wall, either turn off or clear your cookies and the info flows freely.
I am a gun nut. I also advocate responsible gun ownership. I have sold many firearms over the years, many to close friends or family, and have always had the transaction take place at my gun store with the store doing the background check. This, in my opinion should be federal law. If someone sells a firearm in an undocumented transaction and that weapon is used in commiting a crime, there should be consequences.
The slippery slope is that these private transactions become part of a database. I could care less if the government knows about what weapons I own. My insurance company already does as does American Express.
Most weapons used in illegal activity are either stolen or purchased in an undocumented transaction. As inconvenient as it may be to require background checks on private transactions, as well as reporting stolen weapons within a reasonable amount of time, these steps will help promote a safer society.
I realize that serial numbers can be filed off. Manufacturing technology allows for guns to be fingerprinted in tamper proof ways. I believe that we, as responsible gun owners and citizens, do have a moral obligation to try and idiot proof the system.
“Happiness is a warm gun.” – John Lennon
I read somewhere that the Beatles’ front man was actually referring to the organ of procreation, as my Bible discreetly describes it, when he used the word “gun,” but at any rate, for far too many Americans these days, it’s actually a just-fired pistol or rifle that gives them a great deal of pleasure. But on to your point, Jim. Given the ongoing debate over gun control in the wake of the Connecticut tragedy, The Star would’ve done well to give this story more play on the front page and let the Help or Hindrance piece dominate the Local section. But what do I know, he who ultimately prefers substance over style? Truth be told, my favorite story on the front page was the one about all the money being spent on new highways when the old ones are going to hell. It’s just further proof that the road construction industry probably has too much influence in the halls of government both on the national level and at the state level.
Universal back ground checks means universal registration which has led inevitably to confiscation. Why should a father have to do a background check to loan his son a rifle, or for a grandson to inherit his grandfather’s shotgun. This is just more totalitarian nonsense from an increasingly authoritarian federal government.
Thank God our Kansas legislature is actually broadening our 2nd Amendment rights while proposing measures to restrict oppressive measures from the Obama regime. One can only wish that some of our representatives in Congress were doing the same.