• Home
  • About me: Jim Fitzpatrick
  • Contact

JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« Has the Steamboat Arabia worn out its welcome in Kansas City?
Let’s take the roll; class is about to come to order. »

KC Star President and Editor Mike Fannin appears to be in deep legal — and personal — trouble

June 9, 2022 by jimmycsays

Well, hell, this latest development is nothing to be smug about, even though I’m not a fan of Kansas City Star President and Editor Mike Fannin.

The Star reported yesterday that Fannin, 55, of Olathe, was arrested in Johnson County Tuesday night on suspicion of DUI.

Fannin

The story gave no other details, including what city the arrest took place in, other than to note that Fannin has two previous DUI convictions. Melody Webb, a spokesperson for Johnson County District Court’s criminal division, told me today the case had not yet appeared in the court’s computer system, so it probably is, or was, with the jurisdiction where the arrest took place.

One of the previous convictions was in Wyandotte County in 2006. I don’t know when or where the other one was.

So, what to make of this? Here are my thoughts and observations…

:: First, you’ve got to think that with three DUI arrests Fannin has a significant drinking problem. Maybe he quit at some point, since he apparently went many years between arrests, but to have been busted three times in the course of a lifetime for being over the limit is pretty damn telling. If not tragic, this is at least very, very challenging for Fannin personally and whatever family he has.

:: Second, this is possibly career ending. Fannin has been with The Star since 1997 and has been the editor since 2008, two years after I retired. He was named president in 2019 after then-publisher and president Tony Berg went to the Wichita Eagle either voluntarily or involuntarily. I would not be surprised to see a story within the next week announcing that Fannin was taking a leave of absence. The person who will determine Fannin’s immediate fate is probably Tony Hunter, who was named CEO of McClatchy, The Star’s owner, in 2020 after a New Jersey hedge fund took control of the company out of bankruptcy court.

:: Third, this must be terribly roiling and frustrating for The Star’s remaining 100 or so employees. Those employees have been looking over their shoulders for years, as the paper has lost readership, stature and relevance, and they have been badly managed (from my perspective) under Fannin. To wit, in an era when most major metropolitan dailies are struggling to cover breaking news and basic beats like cops, courts and local government, Fannin and Co. have had several of their most senior reporters on “detached” status, letting them spend months or years on “enterprise” stories of questionable consequence in the hope of winning Pulitzers or other major journalistic prizes. At least the employees knew, until yesterday, that McClatchy supported their top leader. Now, the question mark hanging over his head also hangs over theirs. (Footnote: A former Star reporter, who left the paper in recent years, told me Fannin “fought pretty hard to make hires” — which is not the case with many newspaper editors working for corporate owners these days.)

:: I wonder if this will delay or change McClatchy’s plan to inhabit 8,500 square feet of space in a Crown Center office building. The lease was announced last year, but I understand The Star has not yet moved in. With Fannin’s future very murky, is Melchiorre having second thoughts about the lease?

**

The first person to write about this story, after The Star reported the news, was the godfather of KC bloggers, Tony Botello, proprietor of Tony’s Kansas City. In his report, Botello made a strikingly insightful comment, writing, “The Star really isn’t the paper it was years ago and there’s no reason to dwell on the misfortune of this far less important newspaper dude.”

Unfortunately, that is indeed the case. Whatever happens at The Star these days — short of going out of business — it does not rate big headlines.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in Uncategorized | 8 Comments

8 Responses

  1. on June 9, 2022 at 6:43 pm pksteel

    It’s strange to see you compliment Tony’s KC, whose online publication seems focused on breeding racist blogs and completely inappropriate racist comments sections.


    • on June 9, 2022 at 9:03 pm jimmycsays

      As a rule, I don’t read it, pk, but I figured he’d have a post on this. All I said was he had an insightful sentence. Don’t read any more into it than that, please.


      • on June 9, 2022 at 9:46 pm pksteel

        Fair enough. Thanks


      • on June 10, 2022 at 9:55 am gayle

        I dunno … from today’s post about you, sounds like you all are pretty cozy…🤔


  2. on June 9, 2022 at 6:58 pm Vern Barnet

    Fannin spoke earlier this year to my retired clergy group and made, I think, a favorable impression. But I still don’t like either the Sunday or Wednesday editions — often filled with soft stuff, but the editorials have often been worthy of applause. I hate to see him damaged and The Star inflicted with injuries.


    • on June 9, 2022 at 9:04 pm jimmycsays

      As usual, Vern, you’re on the high and empathetic road.


  3. on June 9, 2022 at 11:30 pm Allison Long

    Did he work as hard to make sure journalists didn’t get laid off as he did hiring new people hoping to win awards?


    • on June 10, 2022 at 8:34 am jimmycsays

      Well, that’s the flip side, isn’t it? Certainly it’s easier to push for new hires after you’ve duly complied with upper management’s directive to lay off higher-paid, longtime employees, with the goal of saving money.



Comments are closed.

  • Pages

    • About me: Jim Fitzpatrick
    • Contact
  • Archives

    • February 2023
    • January 2023
    • December 2022
    • November 2022
    • October 2022
    • September 2022
    • August 2022
    • July 2022
    • June 2022
    • May 2022
    • April 2022
    • March 2022
    • February 2022
    • January 2022
    • December 2021
    • November 2021
    • October 2021
    • September 2021
    • August 2021
    • July 2021
    • June 2021
    • May 2021
    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 563 other subscribers

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


  • Follow Following
    • JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC
    • Join 563 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • View post in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: