A former Kansas City Star colleague, Joe Keenan, posted a comment this morning, saying that effective next month, The Star would no longer have a business desk, as such.
That got my attention, of course, and I put out some feelers.
Turns out Joe was right on the money: The Star’s three remaining business-desk reporters and its three editors are getting new assignments under the Metro umbrella.
The changes are part of a reorganization and redesign that editor Mike Fannin announced to the newsroom a few months ago. One of the main thrusts of the redesign is to push more readers to The Star’s website and wean them away from the printed edition, which has been flagging for years. (That’s true at nearly every major metropolitan newspaper in the country, by the way.)
We have already seen strong evidence of the push to the web. The printed edition of the sports section, for example, no longer carries the results and game stories for Royals’ games that end after about 10 p.m. A text box urges readers to go to the website.
Other changes, besides the business-desk demise — are probably in the works, but so far I’m not privy to them. I also want to emphasize that The Star will continue to report business stories; they just won’t be coming from a business desk. Anyway, here’s what I’ve got. (Thanks to Joe for the tip and to everyone who provided information.)
:: The Star will no longer have a managing editor. Steve Shirk, the last person to hold that title, retired a (when). Several years before that, The Star’s co-equal managing editor, Jeanne Meyer, was cut loose. (By the way, she is married to Keith Chrostowski, who has been the business editor.) As Metro editor, Greg Farmer will be the big dog in the newsroom, under Fannin.
Keith Chrostowski
Greg Farmer
:: Business reporters Diane Stafford and Mark Davis are becoming part of a news team that Chrostowski apparently will head. Chrostowski will oversee several other current Metro reporters as well.
:: The third business reporter, Joyce Smith, who does a great job tracking restaurant and retail comings and goings, will take her portfolio to FYI, the features desk. (I don’t know if FYI will be under Metro or remain separate…Perhaps some of our commenters will clarify.)
Diane Stafford
:: Assistant business editor Steve Rosen will be a news-team editor, along with Donna McGuire, who has been an assignment editor for many years.
:: Assistant business editor Greg Hack will be a trouble-shooting, news-team assistant, producing graphics and suggesting “different ways of telling stories.”
Ed Eveld (Smile, Ed, you’re going back to news.)
:: Ed Eveld, a former Metro desk reporter who has been an FYI writer for many years, will return to Metro as the Kansas statehouse reporter…This is a key appointment because former statehouse reporter Brad Cooper left the paper recently, and some reporters feared that he would not be replaced. For the last few weeks of the recently concluded legislative session, The Star relied on the Wichita Eagle-Beacon for statehouse coverage. The Star would have bathed itself in ignominy had it continued to rely on Wichita, which, of course, is significantly farther from Topeka than Kansas City.
:: FYI reporter/gossip columnist Lisa Gutierrez will expand her sphere of writing to include, as one insider put it, “anything clickable.”
I’m told that all other current Metro reporters will continue doing what they have been doing — in other words, working their asses off to keep up with all significant developments in a metro area of 2.75 million people.
**
Several weeks ago, The Star was down to under 20 full-time Metro reporters. I would estimate that it had about 50 reporters in 2005, the year before I retired. That does not include Neighborhood News reporters, who were buzzing around everywhere, when the newspaper’s “center of gravity” appeared to be tilting toward Johnson County. (Fortunately for us all, The Star went back to its roots, covering KCMO relentlessly, as its bureau system disintegrated.)
With this change — along with what appears to be the recent hire of a couple of new hands (or maybe they’re summer interns) — Metro will be up to about 25 reporters, for the time being. All the editors, reporters and other hands left on this wayward but still-strong ship are doing great work, and we should be thankful for their dedication to bringing us the news.
Mi-Ai Parrish
Whether they are being ably guided by Fannin and Publisher Mi-Ai Parrish is another matter. The newsroom certainly isn’t getting much support from HQ in Sacramento…That would be the McClatchy Co., which paid way too much — $4.5 billion — for The Star and a couple dozen other Knight Ridder papers in 2006 and has been paying the price ever since.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
I was at a conference recently where one of the presenters was a former reporter for the Tampa Tribune and now works in public relations. Bottom line of his presentation, pr grows in importance because there are so few reporters that have the time to fully devote time and attention to researching and writing a great story. He spoke of hand-feeding reporters. There were no potential clients in the room for him, so I took his comments as being genuine.
Good time to be in p.r….Of course, it’s always been a good field, as long as you can stand being told what to write.
Damn shame. But the weaning of the KC Star on the business front reflects it’s lack of financially managing it’s resources: people, real estate (the big monument building), lack of business sense, etc. They should look to the Tampa Bay Times (former St. Petersburg Times) to see how a paper can survive, thrive and change in these times.
Kansas City DESERVES BETTER. St. Pete is my other home. At least I get a paper that reflects the past quality that KC once had. (No offense to the reporters! It’s the management and company that is the PROBLEM.)
Thanks, Bob…I know it’s frustrating but it’s not totally fair to blame management. In many other big cities, including Chicago, Louisville, Philadelphia and St. Louis, residents are bemoaning the diminution of their daily newspapers.
The seminal problem was and is the Internet, which pulled the rug out from under print. Rare is the major metropolitan paper today that has adjusted and figured out a way to keep making a significant profit. That said, I sure don’t see Parrish trying to “sell” the newspaper or raise its profile. It would take dynamic leadership and an influx of money to revive The Star and bring it back to a semblance of what it once was.
Should McClatchy decide to sell The Star, it would be a very dicey proposition to see who bought it and what their intentions were. If Warren Buffett bought it, for example, things could improve. But if Cerner bought it, it could become a house ad for the company and Sporting Kansas City.
I agree, Fitz, that management should not bear all the blame for The Star’s demise. But I would like to know how seriously Star management took the Internet 15 to 20 years ago when it became apparent that it was not just some fad.
Many will look back and miss what we had with The Star.
Very true, Larry…The good times and the thick papers went away fast, didn’t they? Whoosh!
Bob Mayer, as an expert on the re-use/redevelopment of old buildings, what are your thoughts concerning the future of the the iconic old KC Star building at 18th and Grand? Some of my former colleagues from the Star say the building is in very bad shape. I think the location of the building, in the middle of the ever-more bustling Crossroads, is the most important factor. Do you think the building is ripe for re-use, or is it more likely to be torn down and replaced? What do you think the future holds for 1729 Grand Blvd.?
Glad Julius asked this question. He has mentioned this to me before, and I have given it some serious thought this morn. First and foremost, I do think the HISTORICAL KC STAR building, under the William Rockhill Nelson era, is worthy of SAVING and that adaptive re-use is in order.
Here is my vision:
1. Appeal to McClatchy to sell for reasonable price, given the building is aged, no longer useful in its current interior state. Apply for historic tax credits. Maintain the facade for tax-credit purposes but GUT the interior. (I understand the old printing presses were in the basement, so the impact of that will have to be determined. There is the potential to apply for Brownfield tax credits.)
2. Because it is in a key location in the Crossroads, the top floors could be marketed as writers’ lofts. (Any of you former reporters want a place to live, write, work?)
3. The ground floor and basement could be converted into small, retail, incubator space, perhaps geared to writers, books, WordPress, a William Rockhill Nelson Pub, etc. (This concept is no different than what is already in business/design incubators
already flourishing in the Crossroads.)
4. This project will need former reporters who want to put skin in the game,
matched by some seasoned developers who can collaborate on a specific plan. The legal structure could be an LLC, with shares being sold.
So what you say Jim Fitzpatrick, Julius Karash, Kevin Collison, Laura Hockaday, Paul Wenske to just name a few that might want to get together
over drinks and appetizers to EXPAND THE VISION ?
I would be happy to invite a couple Developer types that may have some interest in brainstorming.
Your thoughts??
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this Bob! Those sound like great ideas that should be explored further. I’d love to meet with you, Jim Fitzpatrick, Kevin Collison, Laura Hockaday, Paul Wenske, Chris Lester and anyone else who’d like to brainstorm about this.
…and we’ll each put in $1,500 toward the redevelopment cost.
That’s not even what you budget for lunches, Fitz, surely you could buy the building outright and let others become tenants.
The flaw in The Star’s vision is that in order for the website to make money they have to have ads, lots of ads. Already the name should be changed to the Daily Pop-up. Trying to do anything on The Star’s site is just annoying.
I predict the future of news gathering will be expanded newsrooms in already established TV news crews. Their websites only have to be synergistic with their main revenue source and can be (and usually are) far more pleasant to traverse than a site cluttered by continual pop up ads.
The proof of this can be seen by examining the number of “likes” the local TV news broadcasts have on Facebook and The Star (I’ve published the actual figures on a previous column on this blog). The Star has roughly half the likes of the least popular news gathering station and roughly 20% of the top two stations.
Obviously, little of what I just posted has anything to do with management, or allegations of bias (the #1 station for likes is also the most liberal), it’s simply dictated by what The Star faces in the marketplace.
Great point about TV, John…Check out this story, which ran on The Times’ website yesterday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/29/opinion/how-television-won-the-internet.html?_r=0
I’ll take Bob’s drinking money, but less optimistic about the near-term demand for that building–although it should be saved! The parking lot might be worth more than the building. I agree the web has been a major factor in the demise of The Star, but equally or more, it’s chain ownership that’s hurt papers with the insatiable demand for increasing profits. Throw in the heavy debt load of McClatchy pulling down its properties, and its a sad tale indeed.
You just seconded my emotion, Kevin…Thanks for the comment.
Isn’t The Star, as a stand alone operation, profitable? To hell with the building. Some of the reporters that have been shown the door need to do what a group of reporters in Kansas did — start their own newspaper. Rent reasonable office space or even work out of your homes and create a real newspaper.
You’re not saddled with debt or an inverted triangle for a management structure. Write about what interests you and do so honestly, and you might have a winner.
You might even partner with The Pitch for facilities, printing, etc. to keep both your costs down and share other resources like copy editing.
One other thing, KC metro 2.75 million? That’s about 750,000 more people than the Census bureau thinks!
I ran with the first number that popped up on Google…I don’t verify quite as carefully as I did when a printed correction was the price to pay.
Kevin: Julius just gave me a pass on a correction. Here’s what he wrote:
“I think the population statistical error Collison pointed out can be handled with a clarification rather than a correction, so don’t fret. I’m sure it will be forgotten by the time your next evaluation rolls around!”
I love reading all this Star banter from reporters. FYI my great, great Uncle was A.B. MacDonald. Never knew him.I live in St. Louis and am a subscriber.
Good to know, Thomas! A.B. was one of our shining lights.
OK…Neither Tom nor Julius told us just who and what A.B. did — and I, frankly, didn’t remember specifically. So, I turned to my old Wiki friend.
Here’s what Wiki says:
A. B. MacDonald (born c. 1861, date of death unknown) was a journalist for the Kansas City Star who won a Pulitzer Prize for Reporting in 1931 for “his work in connection with a murder in Amarillo, Texas.” On that assignment, he “solved a murder mystery . . . and brought a guilty man to justice.”
Earlier, he had been “sent to Oklahoma to cover the chase of Harry Starr, a bandit who rode safely through a surrounding posse because his sweetheart was on the horse with him and the posse men were too gallant to shoot.”
After he was assigned to interview evangelist Billy Sunday, he took a leave from the Star to go to New York to work as Sunday’s publicity agent.
…Even back then, you see, good reporters were being lured away by the p.r. biz.(A.B.’s capitulation wasn’t as bad, though, as Paula Barr dropping the notebook to marry death-row-inmate Dennis Skillicorn.)
I am an 18-year subscriber to The Star, and over the last several years the content in the paper has dwindled to the point where it only takes minutes to read. If the goal is to force readers to the digital version they will lose me as I am still the type that enjoys taking the paper to the table or better yet to the outside table with a cup of coffee to read it.
I read plenty of news on other websites, just not the Star’s website. Customer service is another issue as I experience continuing delivery problems, poor phone service both through the reps in Singapore and in the local management. I expect there will be no more Star in less than 10 years. Management seems to be doing all they can to ensure their demise. Such a shame.
Thanks, Jeff. Welcome to the Comments Dept…If I had to pick one mistake The Star has made that stands out above the others it would be the elimination of someone you can talk to, here in Kansas City, about delivery problems. There’s nothing like calling a company with a problem and getting someone on the line quickly whose goal is to set things right. But routing people to Singapore or wherever is just ridiculous. It sends this message: “Too bad; we really don’t want to be bothered.”
With circulation as low as it is, I think one or maybe two full-time employees could handle the customer service job. It would cost the paper about $100,000 a year, including benefits, and it would cultivate immeasurable goodwill and keep hundreds of people a year from canceling their subscriptions.
Jeff, you are wise beyond your years, and a definite anomaly for your demographic, I would imagine .
The trouble with “one or maybe two full-time employees” is that may not be enough to handle the suspected dearth of c.s. complaints.
Fitz, you didn’t have to answer all those Sunday morning calls that I and my fellow newsroom clerks had to take on for lost and wet newspapers…*grin*…I WISHED we received $100,000/yr for our efforts…but I agree with you about having live, U.S.-based and most importantly, LOCAL customer service reps…
FWIW, there is no “Wichita Eagle-Beacon”. It’s now Kansas.com/The Wichita Eagle.
They only dropped the dash-Beacon part 26 years ago…I’m trying to catch up.
Gayle — I think you read the first line of Jeff’s comment like I did — thinking he was 18 years old! No, he’s an 18-year-subscriber…Tehre’s probably not an 18-year-old in town who has a subscription to the print product.
…As for the customer service department, if you have a good one, you generally reduce the number of complaints.
Ah! Weird what the mind does to the eye! My proofreading skills failed me.
Don’t be too hard on yourself, Jim. I still forget once in a while and ask the corner newsboy for the Kansas City Journal-Post. And besides, you always lead the pack when it’s time for last call.
Very interesting comments, as a long time reader and advertiser, I remember when The Star ran an x-tra and hawked it on the street. Perhaps the paper could survive with Buffett money and better management.
Great to hear from you, Ed…Buffett is my savior of choice, too. Hell, we’re just down the road from his great city!
AND regular contributor to Letters to the Editor!
That’s Gomer…not Warren.
That’s who I meant. Was adding to his long-time reader and advertiser reference.
When faced with a challenge to its existence a business can choose one of two paths.
1) The business can reinvest profits in itself until it achieves a level of excellence that makes it essential to its community.
2) Or the shrinking business can keep profits up by cutting wages, benefits, staff and the overall quality of its product.
The first path is risky, but the second is suicidal.
The Star chose suicide.
Great to hear from you, Roch…Thanks for the comment.
I agree, except it’s not fair to put all the blame on The Star. McClatchy managers pointed the way.
KC still has a paper?
Yes, great to hear from you, Roch Thornton! I enjoyed that all too brief time when we were on the Star business desk together.