Put away the black armbands, lose the hankies, this is a time of hope!
That’s right, after upwards of nine years of layoffs and buyouts, the Kansas City Star is in a position where…it could.just.go.all.the.way!
Don’t rub your eyes, you heard me.
The past week’s buyouts of over-the-hill reporters and columnists at 18th and Grand may have finally paved the way for a generational beginning, a fresh start. You know, out with the old, in with the new. And it’s about time!
When it all started – this layoffs and attrition business – 10 or so years ago, it was ugly.
Ugly, but necessary…seriously.
Think about it; there were nearly 2,100 staffers at the newspaper, a ridiculously bloated number. That included business “reporters” who spent the majority of their work day monitoring eBay; editors who wrote food books chocked full of factual errors that nobody bought; and editorial writers, columnists and reporters who blathered on about their love of cats and comic books; and self-indulgent news editors who thought they were all knowing and too smart for the room.
Because they operated as news media monopolies and could pretty much mint money, there was little to no accountability. If readers or advertisers didn’t like it, they could lump it. With rare exception, pretty much everybody at the Star was dead certain they knew more than the readers and didn’t really give a fig if anybody thought differently.
It was the Golden Era of Newspapering...for those on the inside looking out, cashing paychecks and mailing it in. But see, now it’s over – really over.
I spoke with the Star’s editor two years ago and he told me he was about two years away from clearing the decks of washed up, tired hangers on and being in a position to repopulate the newspaper with younger reporters, writers and editors who could give it a chance of surviving.
The $64 million question: Did he wait too long?
If you read my column two weeks ago – and even if you didn’t but have thumbed through the all-important, money-making print edition of the Star you probably noticed that a preponderance of the advertising is for things like hearing aids, retirement villages, erectile dysfunction, funeral planning, blue hair activities and the like.
How sad; how depressing; how totally lame!
Star editor Mike Fannin
They waited too long to meaningly repopulate the paper with enough “youngsters’ to make a difference. To young things down to the point that anyone under 50 would find it interesting or appealing, other than for the fact that it’s still pretty much the only news game in town with any depth of coverage. And that despite the lackluster reporting and writing.
So let’s have a moment of silence for one of the most one dimensional, boring editorial writers ever, Barb Shelly (aka no mistake, a nice lady); for a very creative arts and entertainment writer who got stuck in a rut 15 or so years ago and had to write kid glove reviews of The New Theatre and other inconsequential plays and musicals, Robert Trussell; and arts writer-turned editorial misfit Steve Paul, who’s farewell column was so inconsequential that the vast majority of the 20 or 30 people who bothered to read it were friends of his from the newspaper who weighed in merely to wish him well.
That’s the good news, now here’s
the rest of the story:
The bad news is that it’s taken so long to clean house that the vast majority of readers and advertisers are at death’s door and no matter what they do in the way of hiring Millennials and the like it would take a minor miracle to lure back enough readers in their 20s, 30s and 40s to matter.
Oh, it could be done. However who in their right mind would allow the same editors and watched over the decline to continue on now? And yet that’s exactly where things stand with editor Mike Fannin – with twin DUIs and an assault conviction under his belt – and parent company McCatchy VP Mark Zieman – who is arguably the poster child for all of the company’s newspaper’s steep decline.
Why leave the captains of the Titanic in charge during the most precipitous voyage ever?
Why indeed.
Life is one mountain. We face the ups and downs of that mountain.
For those who have lasted til the lights go out I wish them luck and
godspeed.
We are all on a short string. Life is short. We cherish our moments
with family and friends.
But life is also not for the faint hearted. The faint hearted find their
role and stick to it.
For those of us who choose the roller coaster life we understand that
life will bring us up to the highest point we can fill…down to the lowest
point that we can experience in our shor time here on earth.
For those who chose the ups and downs (like you hearne) we can only
wait til we feel the emotional tie of what being at the top feels like.
We who choose that life are accustomed to that gut feeling. You hearne
have felt it as you ski down the mountain to the adrenaline rush of
the utmost feeling that humans experience. It is only until we feel the
lowest feeling that what we dreamed of and felt is crushed as we
hit what we feel is the lowest we can get.
To all my readers/disciples/followers….remember life is a miracle
of god and we are mere mortals living the life that has been bestowed
on us.
May god or your higher power give you the strength to keep moving.
God bless you all.
Love is the answer.
Your friend and guidance:
Harley
We are awaiting your call. But first—
If you are killing yourself because you think Hillary is going to be indicted, don’t. chuck says Loretta Lyn(ch) will stand by her gal and employ the phrase “Prosecutorial Discretion” and cringe as the entire FBI resigns, right down to the janitors.
If you are killing yourself because you think your “Yin and Yang” metaphor was clumsy, sophomoric and replete with syntax and punctuation errors that would render the Rosetta Stone an easier read, then don’t, there is a Jean-Francoise Champollion app from Apple we all use here.
If you are killing yourself because Lois Lerner might go to jail after all, well…, lets table that and get back to the Election.
If you are killing yourself because you want Hearne to obsess over your death and funeral, I don’t blame ya, but, remember, fame is fleeting in this room as Smartman well knows.
If you are killing yourself because you want to go and be with Smartman, give him my best and tell him we miss him.
We are standing by the phones.
wrong again….Harley hits another homer…headed to vegas
for the good life.
Harley just wants those who are experiencing hard times
(including hearne who has had to go sell cars) and glaza
who has lost many of his friends and media contacts and
going thru those tough times that we (including Harley) chose
to go on our own. No bosses…no clock in….no politics…we
made our own decisions.
Some great…some bad….
but it’s the life we chose and we do it because we love it.
It’s likebeing at the crap table (which I love). You see the
dice roll and they’re hot for 15-20 minutes. Then things change
and they get cold for the next 15-20 minutes.
Hearne/glaze and I love the chase.
Glaze loves the chase…whether its women…business…his
reality show…being on the radio….filling his comedy store
some nites then having a slow crowd another…..it’s the
gamble self employed people take…..its the adrenaline rush
when glaze scores that keeps him going. It’s the same for
all of us.
The workers at the star chose a cushy job….do your work…
go home at 5….forget your work on weekends….and never
really feel what it’s like to run something of their own.
Don’t need the suicide call sir….I’m in the game and loving
it.
It’s what I do and what I am.
Win baby win….and when I lookat people like chuck who
will never feel the feeling of accomplishing something in his
life…or building something…I realize I GOT IT MADE…AND
AS MY HERO SAID….I DID IT MY WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dead Chicks Can’t Say No ?
Seriously ??
Hearne seems like the kind of guy who would like to have sex with dead chicks if not children (dead or alive on the children, I presume)
Wow.
What did Hearne do to you?
Just, wow…
What did Hearne do to me? Nothing other than paste a photo of a bumper sticker with the saying “Dead chicks can’t say no” to an article that has nothing to do with having sex with dead chicks. I assumed he was trying to tell us something albeit at the wrong time and place. I’m assuming that you understand that that the meaning of the bumper sticker is about having sex with dead chicks. Granted, the children part might have gone a little to far, but since we are talking about sex with dead chicks, I think we’ve already crossed the bridge.
You shouldn’t be surprised; he’s shown his colors before.
Damn reply placement. I was responding to chuck.
That’s it? Really? You got nothin more than that? Jeez. Why even bother
Is that living breathing paragon of journalism, Lewis Diuguid in danger of meeting the “Turk”?
Thanks for thinking about me chuck. I know you read all of my columns and I really enjoy the comments as I cash my checks.
Look, as the end draws nigh, I gotta come clean. Every day for the last 25 years I would wake up and think, it’s just gotta be today. I never really put anything in my desk, because I was sure I would have to clean it out every day. I mean, come on! At some point, you would think that the swells at the Star would notice that my “One Trick Pony” columns were pretty much, sans a few names and nouns, all the same exact thing. I didn’t just beat that dead horse, I skinned him, ate the meat, made three piece suits out of the hide, sucked the marrow our of the bones and used his tail to jump the broom when I got married. I made a metric fu*k ton of money from the taxpayers…er…, Kansas City Star over the years and really, I should have bought a horse. I should have bought a horse and named that horse, Emmet Till. Gawd did I ride that horse. I think I wrote what seemed to me (And no doubt many others.) around 100 articles every year about Emmet Till.
It’s been a hell of a ride on that horse, but he wore out. chuck wants me to get another one and name it Barbaro. Huh…
Gotta go now, another grueling day in store tomorrow, stating at that blank page until inspiration hits. Usually that is right after we all watch “The View”.
Thanks again chuck.
Now if Yael and Lee Judge get the boot, my subscription resumes.
Don’t hold your breath, bub.
I’ll settle for one out of two.
Didn’t they hire that young Andy McCullough for the Royals beat writer position, who turned out to be one of the, if not the, most social media savvy sports writers in America..and then just treat him so badly he happily hightailed it to Los Angeles(as in the Los Angeles Dodgers) in early Jan?
I don’t think the dude was here in KC for even 2 freaking years.
Poz, Whitlock, Babb, Manley. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
Service station attendants, rejoice. There is a job for you. Pencil makers, you too may be hired. It is not, nor has it been just the Star. With three shares of McCarthy stock, you can get a paper. The Missouri Democrat, also a McClatchy rag just recently played musical chairs.
WITH ALL THAT COMPANIES PROBLEMS….
THE PEOPLE WHO BITCH ABOUT THEM MAKE IN A YEAR WHAT MANY
OF THEM MAKE IN A WEEK OR MONTH.
SO WHO’S THE WINNER IN THE END.
I don’t read the star….see the headlines when I go to QT…that’s it….get my
info from great writers/sites and informed real life stats and the analyze the data and information and then
write for some of the biggest blogs in the nation. It’s a blast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jenee survives. W H Y?
Really? You have to ask? Can’t you imagine the black, feminist (and corresponding supporters) uproar? Plus, the Millens love her.
Actually, Jenee did a speaking engagement at the Plaza Library and turns out she’s a blue hair magnet
Are you sure it wasn’t just because it was free?
Thank God Hoopz is still there, I don’t know where I would get my serious in-depth journalism without her. Who thinks a business model like this can survive? Way less content for more and more money. I read the Star for years and wish it was worth a subscription but it cannot be justified. What is the point of letting talented people walk in order to fulfill some racial quota if it sinks the paper? Pretty hard to keep Hoopz employed when there isn’t a paper to write for.
What I don’t understand is how every time the Star hands out a new batch of walking papers, garden-variety lefty sycophants Yale Abadabbadoo and Lee Judge always seem to keep their jobs. I mean, these guys’ political perspectives are more pedestrian than the undertaker and gout ads that seem to litter to Star’s pages nowadays. What dirt must those two old battle axes have on some of the higher ups there in order for the two of them to have such an incredible run of luck in the job retention department? Good grief, already.
Lee Judge’s high water mark.
http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorial-cartoons/lee-judge/capol9/picture452095/ALTERNATES/FREE_960/010114.png
So funny. So eviscerating. The man just kills.
Lee Judge is about as funny as Nancy Pelosi. In fact Nancy is more funny albeit unintentionally
I’ve always wondered why newspapers press their ultra-liberal agenda and alienate those who don’t agree with their views, which is a significant number of prospective subscribers. Why not “ride the fence” to some degree and seek all those who want unbiased news without the liberal slant? The same could be said for those with an ultra-conservative slant. How about a paper with just news — as in a “newspaper,” plain and simple? I’m not even sure why editorial sections are needed any longer. All they do is tick off about half of your possible subscribers, leaving you with less money to pay quality reporters and editors.
Interesting points, Harold…
Allow me to help.
The reason they press their agendas is because they can. Simple.
However, in the past their monopolistic status combined with the ability to print money enabled them to do so. Today they’re just going through those same motions, effectively fiddling while Rome burns.
And a number of major newspapers are abandoning ship on editorials and political endorsements because they realize there no longer is a market for them.
The Star it appears will be among the last to get this message
It’s been so long, and we are so far removed from it, that people forget (or never knew) that that was the original intent of “newspapers.”
I have to admit at least one thing: The KC Star and Times were great for many, many years. At a minimum I read their sports page from around 1975-2013, a total of 37 years. And I followed Royals beat reporter McCullough religiously during the last 2 great seasons. We had Joe Posnanski, Jason Whitlock, Wright Tompson, Kent Babb, Joe McGuff, and Adam Teicher. I also have to add Martin Manley as he wrote the best articles on sports statistics ever. If there is a top ten in such a category Martin is #’s 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and others around the country are #11 on up.
Anyway, all these sportswriters are gone. A few of them left because they saw the writing on the wall and I can’t blame them one bit. We were lucky to have them here in good ole’ KC.
The KC Star is dead. Long live the KC Star!
Here is a concept. How about a newspaper in K.C. that aims to serve all residents and not just the Ultra Leftist and lifel0ng Democrat voters? Hence more readers and subscribers???