As recently as four or five years ago, The Kansas City Star had an either seven- or eight-member editorial board, headed by then-Publisher Tony Berg.
The talented journalists on the board included Pulitzer-Prize winner Colleen McCain Nelson, editorial page editor; Melinda Henneberger; Mary Sanchez; and Dave Helling.
Today, that editorial board consists of two people: opinion writer Toriano Porter and “Letters to the Editor” overseer Derek Donovan.
The opinion page has suffered three big losses recently. Michael Lindenberger, who was appointed opinion page editor last July, died in December at age 51 after a mysterious illness. Dave Helling retired at year’s end. And today The Star reported that Mary Rose Williams, who joined the editorial board less than two years ago, has been promoted to assistant managing editor for race and equity issues.
…It’s a rule of thumb that in Kansas City the Royals are always rebuilding, and now The Star’s editorial page will be rebuilding.
And McClatchy, The Star’s owner, is actually acknowledging that. The company’s advertisement for a new opinion page editor starts like this…
McClatchy is seeking a visionary opinion editor – driven by a clarity of purpose and commitment to community – to lead the Editorial Board of The Kansas City Star. The person in this role will be tasked with rebuilding and energizing one of the strongest local Editorial Boards in America, a Pulitzer Prize-winning team that creates deeply reported opinion journalism and convenes conversation that inspires change.
Back in 2018, The Star may have had “one of the strongest local Editorial Boards in America,” but it’s a long way from that now.
The Star is also advertising for an additional opinion writer, which, after those two jobs have been filled, will leave the paper with four editorial board members.
The executive editor’s job is also vacant in the wake of Mike Fannin’s resignation last year, and it is widely expected that Interim Executive Editor Greg Farmer will get that job, which McClatchy is also advertising. Assuming he is named, he would oversee the editorial board, like Fannin and Berg did before him, as well as The Star’s news operation.
The Star, like many major metropolitan newspapers, has been struggling to find its way the last 15 years or so, and it’s very hard to build readership and loyalty when staffs continually change shapes like sand castles on a windy beach.
I wrote the other day about how The Star is now running a lot of goofy stories on its website with the naked aim of generating computer “clicks,” instead of publishing responsibly and strategically. The stories on the website now literally shift before readers’ eyes, like sand castles on a sunless beach.
It’s a difficult situation, and I don’t envy anyone working down at those rented offices in a Crown Center building.
Making things worse is that The Star’s former landmark headquarters at 1729 Grand, which proudly housed The Star for more than 100 years, appears equally adrift. Developer Vince Bryant took control of it several years ago, talking a big game and promising a mix of commercial and retail. But today it looks just as forlorn as it did the day The Star “left the building.”
This is most painful to us journalists who were at The Star when it was proud and powerful operation, and there’s not a thing we can do about it except stand on the shore and watch the winds of change take their toll.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Your Star updates are reminiscent of news of an old uncle on life support. I grew up in the era when we were delivered the morning & evening paper to our drive all the way up in the far far corner of NW Missouri. Now there’s not enough paper in the Sunday edition to wrap a stack of dishes. I can’t imagine trying to throw that anemic daily out of a moving car so no wonder it seldom hits the drive. I used to anguish over the decline of the Star now I want it to just die a quick death rather than watch the leprosy creep. So painfully sad just when we desperately need thoughtful editorial, reporters with depth and community coverage.
That’s a fitting, vivid image, Jayson…
You guys are geezers without a clue. We are digital now. Print is almost dead. Can’t measure the health of the paper by the weight of the paper. Newspapers exist on paper only to satisfy the few. Our main audience and attention is on line and has been for years. The Star is doing just fine.
I think you meant to say, “Newspapers exist on paper only to gouge the few.”
They should hire you and me, Jimmy. I will work for $1 a year. You deserve more. And, we can provide vital historical information like who Bartle Hall is named after and why Dogpatch is NOT named after an informal animal shelter but after that original Hillbilly Elegy — Al Capp’s Li’l Abner!
Thank God we don’t need the money, Phil…