The Beacon, which jumped out of the starter’s box Sunday before its planned debut, is continuing to establish itself as a source of interesting and useful local information on the Coronavirus outbreak.
As I reported earlier, The Beacon’s first story was a nuts-and-bolts piece by highly regarded health care reporter Andy Marso, one of several freelance writers that Beacon founder and editor Kelsey Ryan has engaged.
Barbara Shelly
On Tuesday came a story by freelancer and former KC Star reporter Barbara Shelly about how individuals and businesses were stepping up to help people in need. That story was accompanied by photos from a freelancer named Chase Castor.
My in-box today included a Beacon story from Cynthia Gregorian, also a former Star reporter, about the problems facing college students who have been displaced from student housing and whose classes have been converted to strictly online. That story also included photos by Castor and a sidebar — “I was tested for Covid-19” — by a female University of Missouri student.
Ryan also introduced a comprehensive “community resources” roundup.
Even in its early stages, The Beacon is helping fill the journalistic hole that has been created by the ever-atrophying Kansas City Star, and it is a welcome addition to the news/information/entertainment lineup in the Kansas City area.
Ryan is financing her non-profit enterprise through grants, individual contributions and memberships. Memberships can be purchased with a tax-deductible contribution of $50. You can read more about that here.
The biggest gap-filler so far, of course, has been KCUR, one of the nation’s most successful public radio stations.
Donna Vestal
Over the last decade, KCUR has been building a robust staff that now numbers about 60. Its ranks include, by my count, six former Star staff members: Steve Kraske, Donna Vestal, Dan Margolies, Scott Canon, Caitlin Hendel and Kathy Lu.
(Another interesting Star connection is that Traci Bauer, who was hired as KCUR’s director of journalism in 2019, is the sister of Star investigative reporter Laura Bauer.)
Even with a local newspaper that appears to be headed into ownership by a hedge fund, those of us who crave to be accurately and thoroughly informed can be grateful for a terrific information-and-entertainment source like KCUR and a promising, public-service-oriented startup like The Beacon.
The journalism scene in Kansas City is continuing to brighten and diversify. I urge all of you readers to give The Beacon a try. And, by all means, continue (or start) listening to KCUR.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
I agree with your kudos for KCUR. It looks like The Beacon will be an additional blessing for KC.
Good to hear from you, Randy. (See you when church reopens!)
One needs to keep in mind that KCUR’s main manpower resource is the Kansas News Service, an advocacy group out of Topeka. In the past they’ve had some very good journalistic talent who worked there after leaving the newspaper industry, but they’re still an advocacy organization with an agenda.
I personally think KANU is a far better station than KCUR (but then again, KU is a far better school than UMKC).
The Beacon is getting off to a very impressive start although one wonders if they won’t get lost in the 24/7 coverage of the virus.
Fitz, unrelated to this article but surely something you could potentially help with is the lack of clarity regarding the stay at home order Mayor Lucas is putting into effect starting Tuesday. Are you able to visit other family members at their house? I think it would be detrimental to the mental health of family members living alone (which I have) if they they can’t see other loved ones for 30 days. Have tried calling the news stations and city hall to no avail likely because it’s a Saturday. Wouldn’t been nice if they had a good reporter to ask that question at the news conference or if mayor Lucas would’ve just addressed it head on.
One of the exceptions to the stay-at-home order is “To care for a family member, close personal acquaintance, or pet in another household.”
That would seem to rule out casual visits with family members living in separate residences, but maybe there will be some clarification on that. Good question, Patrick.