The Star’s editorial page is about to get a jump start under new editorial page editor Colleen McCain Nelson.
A source whose tipster track record is unparalleled told me last week that longtime political reporter Dave Helling is packing his pencil bag and heading to the south wall (if, indeed, that’s where the editorial page still holds forth), and Steve Kraske is exchanging his part-time post as political analyst to part-time editorial writing. (He will continue as host of KCUR’s “Up to Date” show and as a part-time journalism teacher at UMKC.)
As I said a couple of weeks ago, The Star’s editorial page has lost a ton of credibility in the last couple of months, since opinion-page anchor Yael Abouhalkah was laid off by first-year publisher Tony Berg, leaving a near-total vacuum going into the November general election.
Since Abouhalkah’s departure, The Star’s editorial page has consisted of a disproportionate number of letters to the editor, disproportionately large political cartoons and weak-kneed “As I See It” columns that were magically transported from their would-be natural habitat — the Op-Ed page.
That should soon change. The addition of Helling and Kraske should restore a measure of credibility to the editorial page.
Steve Kraske of KCUR’s “Up to Date”
Helling and Kraske could be the two highest profile political writers The Star has ever had. Not only have both men cultivated deserved reputations as clear-thinking, steady journalists, but both have also made their mark in electronic media, which gave them a tremendous advantage over earlier standout political reporters like Rich Hood and the late Henry Clay Gold, who labored in the print vineyard their entire journalistic careers.
Kraske has hosted “Up to Date” since 2002. He has been with The Star more than 20 years and is probably in his mid-50s. In the 1980s, he worked for four years at the Dubuque (Iowa) Telegraph Herald.
Dave Helling, as a TV reporter in 2002
Helling, who is about 60, came to The Star about 13 years ago after a noteworthy career as a TV political reporter. He left KCTV5 after it took a sharp turn toward tabloid journalism in the early 2000s under a news director named Regent Ducas. The station embraced a theme of urgency and sensationalism, with the hook “Live. Late breaking. Investigative.”
Channel 5’s loss was The Star’s gain, as Helling immediately became a trusted political reporter. He and Kraske have collaborated on a readable and entertaining political column called “The Buzz” for several years.
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Even as the editorial page was falling apart last fall, I speculated that Berg, who became president and publisher last January, had a plan for creating the new, less liberal page that he envisioned.
These two personnel moves could have been part of his plan…Either that, or he woke up bolt upright one night with an epiphany.
I am told — and I hope this is accurate for the sake of Star readers — McCain Nelson will be given the luxury of hiring a couple of other editorial writers. If so, I would guess they would be younger and significantly lower paid than Helling and Kraske.
But that’s OK. It will be a sign of significant progress just to see some more names on the masthead, under the heading “Editorial Board.” It was looking quite lame for a while, when “Tony Berg” held that distinction by himself.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Great news, Jim!!
Hope lives!
This would be excellent news!
Gloria Hiller
It’s a good start, though I’ll be interested to see if Helling and Kraske are strong enough personalities to keep the new board from becoming an alt-right mouthpiece.
If the goal here is to try and pander to Abouhalkah, Shelly and Diuguid’s few remaining fans, this should do it. However, if the goal is to try and win back the vast majority of the metro area’s potential newspaper buying audience, I predict it will be an utter failure.
Had Kraske been given this position 20 years ago I would have cheered, but given that his most recent fan base is primarily comprised of his university colleagues and the Bernie Sanders for President fan club at KCUR (who knew that KANU would wind up being the rational NPR station in the area) his work has gone decidedly down hill, joining Helling at the bottom. I agree that both have the potential to do quality work, but I question their inclination.
If a paper must waste scarce resources on an editorial page, I would like to see a collection of unpredictable gadflies who actually are engaged in speaking the truth to power. I suspect that goal could be more readily achieved by selecting for reprint columns written by local bloggers who demonstrate thinking outside the usual orthodoxy for which The Star (and most major dailies) has become notorious.
By selecting unique voices from the community on local issues The Star would motivate the locals to improve their product and actually provide a community service instead of an ongoing cure for insomnia. Let 100 flowers bloom.
They’re letting the flowers bloom now, John, by running all those “As I See It” columns where there should be elucidation on local and national issues. I’m not stopping to smell many of these roses.
I guess what I’m looking for is another Christopher Hitchens, or Camille Paglia. I could be entirely wrong though. If you had told me that switching Mike Hendricks from opinion to reporting would have resulted in the best reporter in the area I’d have told you you were nuts.
Good news, Jim. I’ve always respected Steve Kraske. He’s s a talented guy with more than enough character and brass to hold his own against alt-right pressure. As you pointed out in your piece, and I’m paraphrasing, his reputation as a serious, honorable journalist has been well earned. If he and Helling are given a real chance, they’ll make a significant contribution to the editorial page.
Lonnie Shalton, a friend who was a charter member of the Polsinelli firm, sent along this help-wanted ad The Star is running for a lead political writer.
https://www.journalismjobs.com/job-listings/1635014
(Lonnie is one of the best-read people I know, but how he came up with this I do not know…)
Fitz, is it realistic for one person to have that wide of a range of knowledge and be able to cover all of that authoritatively? I can see Kraske, or Helling applying (and maybe both did), but I can’t see an outsider coming in and trying to accomplish that from scratch.
Good point, John…I hadn’t read the job description until you alluded to it. Pretty damn daunting — and, as you imply, probably a bit overblown. Of course, you can put anything you want in a job description…and then the applicants start coming and you narrow it down to two or three who might resemble the ideal candidate.
Did you notice the qualifications do not address experience in political reporting? Nothing like, “five years or political reporting experience” or “must have covered a major political beat, such as a City Hall or a statehouse.”
That tells me they’re looking for someone with more potential than experience…i.e., someone who will work pretty cheap. The whole deal now, across the country, essentially, is to replace the older, higher-paid reporters with younger, low-paid people. The higher-paid people who survive, like Helling and Kraske and McCain Nelson, get the few remaining jobs where top management is willing to pay top dollar.
Some how, some way, current journalism zeitgeist is going to have to come to terms with the reality that “reader comments,” blogs, and social media, often written by “micro experts” and with an insider’s passion almost always outshine today’s editorial content. Editorials today need to contain the power to challenge and FORCE action, much like consumer action reporters do with ripoffs and frauds. Maybe editorial boards now need to include lawyers, financiers, and freelance protest “mobs.” The days of advocating change by being “Johnny Letter” or H.L. Mencken are over. Money and power are too concentrated on their own well being to give a “god damn” about the greater good. Fear of the press is what gives freedom of the press its power.
Frankly, I don’t have much hope for the future of the Star. In particular, if Helling is supposed to be one of its saviors, he needs to do a lot better than that lightweight piece about Nixon on today’s front page. Helling should have asked more substantive questions (particularly about Ferguson) and pressed for more detailed answers.
On the other hand, Mark, I thought he had an excellent commentary on Page 2 — “America 2016: Weary to its bones.”
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/local-columnists/article122465829.html