Well, now…The new publisher is off to an excellent start, in my opinion. And I think you will agree.
Prodded by comments from former society editor Laura Hockaday and a regular reader named Bill Hirt, I sent an email to Tony Berg this afternoon, congratulating him on his appointment and urging him to devote considerable time to the circulation and delivery problems that many people have complained about in recent months.
Earlier, I had encouraged Mr. Hirt to send Mr. Berg an email and tell him about the problems he had experienced. (If you’re interested, Mr. Hirt’s explanation of his delivery problems is in the comments on the previous post.)
…I was out for a while this afternoon, and when I got back home, I saw Mr. Hirt’s follow-up comments on the previous post, as well as Mr. Berg’s email.
First, here’s what Mr. Berg had to say…
Greetings Mr. Fitzpatrick — I appreciate the kind words and (the) welcome to the (publisher’s) post. As you did in your (blog) post, I would encourage your readers to send their concerns to me, and I’ll work diligently with our team to get them addressed. Again many thanks for the kind words and warm welcome.
Publisher Tony Berg
Then, I saw that Mr. Berg had called Mr. Hirt and told him he would get on his concern. A while later, another Star official called Mr. Hirt and assured him he would attend to his delivery problem.
I also had received an email from Laura Hockaday, thanking me for my intercession with Mr. Berg and complimenting him on his responsiveness.
Laura wrote: “If he can solve them (the delivery problems), he will make hundreds of subscribers — if they are still subscribing — overjoyed. The circulation problem is rampant and ongoing.”
Laura signed off with this…“Amazing that Tony Berg answered an e-mail immediately. Maybe there is hope.”
…Yes, indeed, readers, it appears the new sheriff at 18th and Grand is going to stir things up. Maybe he’s going to blow up the do-nothing atmosphere that permeated the four years of Mi-Ai Parrish’s time as publisher.
…You can contact Mr. Berg at tberg@kcstar.com. (With a few exceptions, the email address form for KC Star employees is first letter of the first name, followed by last name, @kcstar.com).
You can also reach employees, including Mr. Berg or his administrative assistant, by phone. Call (816) 234-4141 and follow the dial-by-name directory.
I strongly encourage you to write to or call reporters, editors, advertising executives, the publisher or any other Star employee whose name you know and would like to contact. Contrary to the impression a lot of readers have, the newspaper business is interactive. Most reporters and other employees welcome feedback. They don’t know what readers are thinking unless we let them know. Also, if readers think they’re being heard, not only will they continue to subscribe but they will spread the word about their positive interactions. That equates to happy readers and fatter numbers on The Star’s bottom line.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Ms. Parrish was almost invisible outside of the main KC Star building. This is a refreshing start.
Thanks, Jim.
Most encouraging about Tony Berg. Great to know someone will listen!
Laura
Awesome, Jim!!!! I will have an email off to him this evening, along with many a comment from our HOA website! Cheers!
Jimmy Fitz. You the man.
Thanks for those comments, Kaler, Laura, Lisa and David.
I just learned something very interesting, related to the circulation problems.
…I noticed earlier today, for the first time, that The Star has a new “audience development” v.p., a man named Phil Schroder.
I don’t look at the masthead regularly because the names of the publisher, the vice-presidents and the editorial board members don’t change very often.
But when a couple of blog readers mentioned the circulation problems, I looked at the masthead and saw Schroder’s name. He succeeded Ken Batrick, who had been circulation manager for several years.
What I learned is that Batrick was either fired or asked to resign by McClatchy corporate officials a day or two after the Royals’ Nov. 8 World Series victory parade.
Seems that on that day, retail outlets ran out of the World Series special edition The Star had published. The Star had advertised that people could come down to The Star at 18th and Grand and buy copies there. So, hundreds and hundreds of people waited in long lines on Parade Day, and when they made their purchases, many complained about ongoing delivery problems they had experienced. This was during the period after Mi-Ai Parrish had left and the publisher’s position was vacant.
Anyway, word of the discontent got back to McClatchy, which asked for Batrick’s resignation or sacked him. He stayed on a while until his successor was named.
Schroder, I’m told, came from the West Coast, perhaps Sacramento, where McClatchy is based.
Along with Berg’s appointment, this is another badly needed change.
Onward and upward with new management!
Good digging, Fitz! These are encouraging developments at the Star. One of the most egregious aspects of the circulation mess was that the Star gave its customers no warning that a big change in the distribution system was coming. And after the changes were implemented – with poor results – customers couldn’t get a clear explanation of what had happened and the Star didn’t do any reporting on the debacle. It sounds as if the new folks in charge care a lot more about customer service and the Star’s reputation.
First time commenter, long-time reader. I just sent off an email to Mr. Berg as well, based on reading this post. I actually cancelled my subscription three days ago after finally being fed up with the delivery problems. Of course the delivery has been on-time in solid plastic bags every day since then. In theory, my subscription ends today based on the cancellation confirmation that I got, but we’ll see. This will be the first time in my nearly 50 years on this earth that I won’t live in a house that gets a daily paper delivered. If Messrs. Berg and Schroder can truly fix the circulation issues while keeping the Star relevant, I would gladly jump back on the subscriber bandwagon without hesitation.
Thanks for your efforts on this, as well as your other musings (lighthearted and otherwise) on your blog.
My concern, Maneesh, is that if your cancellation stands, you could have difficulty reinstating it in these turbulent times. I suggest you call or email Rae Hammontree, a supervisor in subscriber accounts and cancel your cancellation.
You should be able to reach her by calling 234-4141 and following the prompts or emailing her. I would expect her email address to be rhammontree@gmail.com, although I have never sent her an email. My only dealing with her, when I was trying to get the retiree subscription rate, was in person at The Star.
…Thanks for the compliment — that is, reading and enjoying the blog.
There’s a retiree rate? Sweet. Will be checking on that. Thanks. BTW, we have always had home delivery. Our current delivery person is fantastic. We send him a check every year because he provides us with his own cell phone for any questions we have. The one we had before him was horrible, and no matter how many time we called the Star it never got fixed until the new one came along.
So before my cancellation could take effect, Tony Berg responded to my email (within a couple of hours!) and after a couple of brief but seemingly candid emails, he turned me over to Phil Schroder. Phil arranged to call me at my convenience, and we had a very frank and open discussion–although completely pleasant. When all was said and done, he offered to refund me the balance on my account and to give me a 2 month free trial subscription to give them a chance to prove themselves. He made it clear that the subscription would not auto-renew, and that he would make a point of reaching back out to me before it was over to see how things were going. He asked me to contact him if I have any further delivery disruptions during the trial period. Of course I accepted, but I mentioned to him that I had asked for much less than that from the Customer Service department to mollify me, and that clearly he needs to work on empowering his limited customer service staff. He fully agreed.
There were several times during the conversation and in my emails with Tony Berg that I noted that it must be difficult to try to save the Star one subscriber at a time, but they both shrugged it off and said “that’s my job.” It was truly refreshing. He then went on to ask me about my feelings about the content of the paper. I was mostly complimentary, and noted my pride in the Star’s coverage of the “collapse zone” tragedy as particularly notable. He specifically told me that he has heard mixed things about that, due to the controversial nature of the story. I was passionate in my defense of the Fourth Estate as watchdog, and commended the Star for the role it plays in the community. We also discussed print vs. digital. By the end, we had talked for 15-20 minutes. Amazing that he took that much time to talk to one subscriber.
One last note: Mr. Schroder was quite open in stating that they seem to have had particular difficulty with home delivery in Overland Park (where I live), and that they were adding resources to address the problem. Time will tell.
If nothing else, the level of accountability and access can do nothing but improve people’s attitudes about the Star. It’s a fantastic start.
I had terrible problems with circulation also when trying to go to an on-line only subscription. I didn’t get any action until I wrote snail mail letters to the publisher and every writer and columnist I know.
Too bad that’s what it takes sometimes. But those of us who will not be deterred — and who sometimes have the benefit of connections — will do whatever it takes. It would be a helluva note, wouldn’t it, if you had to wage a battle to get Minsky’s to deliver a pizza?
To follow up on Jim’s comments, I received two more calls last night. One was from Phil Schroder, the vp of audience for the Star, who assured me the delivery problem would be solved. I also received an email from him. The second call was from the Northland circulation manager stating he would be following up on my information.
This morning, I got up shortly before 7. I was happy to look out and see both the Star and NY Times lying in my driveway.
I already have sent a thank you email to Mr. Schroder and Mr. Berg thanking them and hoping this was the first day of routine on-time delivery.
According to Mr. Schroder’s email, his official title is…
Regional VP of Audience Development
The Kansas City Star | Star-Telegram | The Wichita Eagle | Lexington Herald-Leader | Belleville News-Democrat
Hell, Bill, I’m going to start going through you when I have delivery or subscription problems!
In the last 24 hours you have really shown what can be done when you complain appropriately and contact the right people. Of course, you have to have a willing recipient on the other end, and we’re seeing strong signs of an awakening at The Star.
The volcanic eruption that has been voiced here further muddies the tenure of Mi-Ai Parrish. I think it’s safe to say she just didn’t give a shit. I pity — really pity — the readers at the Arizona Republic in Phoenix. They are in for some frustrating times. How she got another publisher’s job is beyond me, and it reflects poorly on Gannett — or whatever the Gannett newspaper spinoff is called — which hired her.
Finally, great information about Mr. Schroder. Those are all McClatchy papers, and I have to think Mr. Schroder is based in Kansas City. How he’s going to handle circulation in five cities I don’t know. It wil all hinge on having good managers in the tier below him.
We have a joke around our house about why incompetent, rude, dismissive people get promoted over and over again. “They must have photos” :-)
Jim- Over a month ago you and I exchanged emails regarding my adventures in the quagmire known as customer service at the Star. Following your advice (while engaging in additional fruitless attempts at meaningful contact) I eventually sent a fully documented snail mail to Ms. Rai Hammontree shortly before Christmas.
Yesterday, I received a very nice email from Ms. Hammonotree that completely resolved the issues I have been dealing with since September. I am now subscribed to the Star again and am completely satisfied with the current situation. Your post today may very well shed light on the sudden change, as I am sure my letter was simply a restatement of three months of struggle.
Thanks for the insight and the help.
She is very good, and she cares. I’m glad it worked out for you, Cal.
Bill Hirt passed on the email address of Phil Schroder, the new “audience development” v.p. He would be the right person to receive questions and concerns about circulation matters. (I would assume Tony Berg — as willing as he is to field emails and calls — would pass almost all such concerns along to Schroder.)
Schroder’s address is pschroder@mcclatchy.com
(It’s a McClatchy address, not Star, because he handles circulation at four other papers.
Fitz, I think you should inform Jim Romenesko about this situation. Seriously: McClatchy, has taken significant steps to improve customer service in Kansas City. That is NEWS – even by Michael “O.J.” Nelson’s definition (i.e. “the first three letters of news are NEW …”).
It would be nice if The Star once again included an online phone directory for its reporters. It can be very difficult to get through to them anymore.
I don’t have any trouble with my paper delivery, what I can’t stand is the Nebraska Furniture Mart ads that pop-up when I read an article online. I never shop at NFM, and am never, ever interested in that ad in the least. And yet every single time I have to close it. I understand the Star is trying to figure out how to make money through the online platform. But I wish as a paid subscriber, I didn’t have to see all those ads.
There’s no cure for that, Kate. That’s the present and future of much of print advertising.