Rumors of More Layoffs at Kansas City Star on the Rise

For weeks the scuttlebutt at the Kansas City Star was that more layoffs were on the way, possibly in January…

And now that the time has come the talk in the newsroom is that the cuts will be involuntary and involve as many as seven journalists.

You may recall last summer that Star editor Mike Fannin came roaring back into the office in the middle of his vacation to work out the terms for what was thought by newsies would be a major round of involuntary cuts. Instead the Star implemented a voluntary separation program and dinged staffers with mandatory unpaid one week furloughs.

The plan: “..to put

http://www.mb-kc.com/
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24 Responses to Rumors of More Layoffs at Kansas City Star on the Rise

  1. Anonymous says:

    Bob
    I told myself I’d not drop my subscription until the Star ceased publication. Now, I’m not so sure. The paper is so bare bones…they’ve done well with the talent they still have, but the content is getting really thin.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Roger
    It doesn’t help when they do lame series on domestic slavery in U.S. The way things are going with Obamacare and taxation soon we will all be slaves but they do nothing to report on that.

  3. Anonymous says:

    bschloz
    New Normal….The Star is a great product delivered with WSJ on time every day. It is very cheap at $20 per month.
    Only problem there is nobody under 30 years old that subscribes. We are watching in real time… the demise of one of the greatest industries in our history.

    I pray there is a local businessman that can keep it going. It’s very important for the city.

  4. Anonymous says:

    newbaum turk
    For whatever reason my subscription to the Star got messed up and they stopped delivering to me. Upon calling their customer service dept. and talking to “Steve” in Calcutta, I could not get them to resolve my issue. Basically, I cannot get them to take my money. It is unbelievable. I tried and tried but gave up because their customer service dept. cannot understand that I want to renew. Outsourcing has cost them this customer because they can’t understand English. That being said, newspapers going away is a terrible thing for any democracy.

  5. Anonymous says:

    craig glazer
    Again, sadly the internet has now run daily papers, magazines,records/cd’s, and just about everything we all grew up with out of biz…and there is no money at this time in websites,utube,so on, all those advertisers, huh? Its B.S….folks the bad news the net took most of your jobs….and is the NUMBER ONE REASON, we are in a deep depression(modern day type)….yes it gives us faster information,but did we need to know Lyndsey Lohanne got a DUI,Tiger is gay, and the latest on Brittney every hour? Thats mostly what we see, young folks no longer go to nightclubs…there aren’t any for the most part opening anymore…or even nightspots…our way of life is kinda over and replaced with TMZ news, you have to meet a girl/guy on the net….then at a coffee shop, nobody dances anymore…there are no dance clubs here or anywhere(thats something you didn’t know, huh) there are no lines to get in to clubs…ladies nights…..are you on the list..so on…maybe, one day it will be back, but not likely….so it ain’t just the KCStar.

  6. Anonymous says:

    rick
    Craig this simply isn’t true. You are such a doom and gloom guy. When we see video shots of Paris, Lindsey, and Tiger Woods women, where are they? At the dance clubs which you claim are extinct. One of TMZ’s favorite shot is the has been or second rate star being turned away from the what? Dance clubs. Some of these celebrities are even paid to be guest DJ’s at these…yeah you got it…DANCE clubs. See a pattern? Vegas is full of dance clubs!!! I’m aware of a club now that packs them in on Friday’s and Saturdays when ever they play some funk, soul, and disco with live bands. You can’t get on the dance floor. Shoot Craig even John Knox Village has dance nights. Get out more bro.

  7. Anonymous says:

    jojo
    glazer…where have you been. Get out of the
    legends and come out south. Listen to rick..
    he’s the swingiest guy in this town. He watches
    tv…knows all the vegas dance clubs from
    watching gossip shows and reading grocery store
    check out magazines…AND HE HITS THE OLD CHICKS AT JOHN KNOX VILLAGE during dance nights (he’s
    strictly a one grandma man!)
    Truthfully BRO…I guess yur about 60 but you
    are right…the internet has changed our lives. Heck..i practically did my divorce online!
    Its changed the lives of gavin/mr. olathe and
    rick. They once had to pay for porn at the
    quick trips and hide the magazines under their beds when mom came into their bedrooms. Now,
    these “cool” guys can get it all for free
    and not pay a dime for the “nudie” pictures.
    You are right. The internet is changing everything. How we live..how we communicate..how we shop and buy things (78% Of all auto purchases are now originating on the internet)…and how we mate!
    But BRo…absorb change. Make it fun…smile..its not the end of the world.
    There are some clubs left..mosaic..raouls…voodoo…and some others but lots of people got tired of clubs and bars
    when looking for dates.
    Now..i’ve found my friends are hitting the
    fitness clubs..like lifetime fitness in o.p.
    Man..i work out there and you can forget
    the night clubs…there’s more nice women packed
    in there sweating and heaving and bending over
    than any club in kc history. Just watch out
    for the married women looking for action!
    come hang out with jojo and see where its at.
    And rick…you casanova sweet talking romeo..
    I’ll bet you are a big hit with those old
    women with dentures! Just watch out when you’re
    romantically undressing them that you make sure
    they’re not wearing depends!

  8. Anonymous says:

    jojo
    OH AND HEARNE…
    you take such delight in hearing about layoffs
    at the star. Isn’t that kind of sick hoping that
    people lose their jobs and income.
    They fired you so now you have
    a grudge against the people who survived the
    cuts.
    FYI…kc star makes money…whether its their
    outside print work..their book division…
    or their outside businesses …the kc star
    make a lot of money. Not as much as before
    the internet. But they do make money.
    Its thep arent company thats kiliing them..
    they took on too much debt and are hammering
    the star for money to make their payments.
    Stop being an animal hoping for peoples
    misfortune. You apparently were born into a
    family with money…you have money from your
    familyu and their past businesses.
    Not everyone had that advantage…you did..
    now stop wishing bad things for good people.
    Revenge is a killer emotion.

  9. Anonymous says:

    Jerry Fletcher
    There is a lot of conspiracy theory that I could spout here, but it is too late. Print media was ruined …… and it will lead to …… and ….. we are kind of fkd.

    This was/is a nationwide/worldwide plan to control …… and the plan is in place …. and working.

  10. Anonymous says:

    jojo
    JERRY…don’t forget to mention the aliens who
    have taken over the president brain or the
    vast conspiracy to close down all the
    starbucks because they are breeding grounds
    for left wing communist liberals who love
    lattes.

  11. Anonymous says:

    jojo
    bschloz:
    who said noone under 30 reads the star?
    Noone under 30 reads anything anymore…except
    twitter and facebook. I saw research that
    said the generation under 30 spends half the
    time reading that people in that age range
    used to.
    last i saw the star had 300,000 subscribers…
    thats 1 out of every 3 or 4 people in the area
    read tge star…thats still good numbers…
    but the star came to their senses too late.
    schloz…the star still makes money..they’ve
    got millions assetts they could unload.
    They just need to update the paper…make it
    interesting…and get rid of the present regime
    who has no vision for the future of the paper.
    But tv/radio etc. are also facing declining
    revenues and viewers/listeners…its just part
    of the changing world..
    and direct mail..its basically non existenet
    because people aren’t reading it anymore…
    just throwing it out…and with emails for
    about 1/20th the price direct mail is about
    to die also……so the usps will eventually
    be just in the package business…no more
    mail….and people like you will see declining
    revenues also.

  12. Anonymous says:

    Dexter Morgan
    Nobody cares what format the news comes from except the people who have some kind of vested interest in the industry. Would this blog have 1/10th the amount of readers it does if it were based primarily in print?

    Personally I prefer to get my news from the web. It’s quicker, it’s easier and I don’t get ink residue on my fingers.

    The problem with newspapers laying all these people off is that it dumps more job seekers into the pool of unemployed workers out there fighting for jobs. You’ve got people with college degrees folding clothes at department stores and delivering pizzas. Take a look at Monster.com or any job website sometime, check out the crap jobs that dominate the landscape…90% of them are $8, $9 and $10 an hour work that people can’t support families on.

    The gap between the upper class and the lower class continues to widen while the middle class continues to disappear. Layoffs at the Star are just a small piece of the big puzzle, as our dollar’s value continues to drop and our economy nosedives down further and further.

    You guys give Glazer a hard time and say he’s all doom and gloom but if you look closer you’ll see that there’s more doom and gloom coming around the bend than you think. You ain’t seen nothing yet.

  13. Anonymous says:

    bschloz
    jojo..your a smart cookie.
    Twitter hasn’t made a dime
    and just turned down 1 Bil.
    We are in the midst of a
    technological revolution…
    4-G will be the web 3.0
    Get long GOOG-INTL-MSFT-CSCO
    EBAY-T-APPL-AMZN..We will see a
    convergance of “the 3 screens”
    AMZN selling more KINDLE books
    than paper.

    Look where we are as a Country
    Post Office in the red 7bil.
    We now have Govt.Owned Health,
    Automotive,Financial,Insurance,
    Cities and States,pensions broke.
    25 months into recession..-85,000
    jobs..10%+ unemployment–17% real
    with underemployed…The Star makes
    money and the Chiefs are worth a bil?

    As far as direct mail as a media…
    I trade the market thats in front
    of me. All want to be there..just cost
    prohibitive. 10,000 pc. post card is $2,500
    ouch. Shared approach has good track
    record with tangible results.
    I appreciate your comments.

  14. Anonymous says:

    jojo
    thank you bush and the republicans…you
    took this country down the drain…
    billions to the bankers…billions in tax
    breaks to the insurance comapnies (long before
    obama was even a senator)…billions of
    dollars in tax fraud…a war that cost billions…
    thanks bush you filthy piece of shit.

  15. Anonymous says:

    Jerry
    This was planned. I was worried back in the late 1990s when they dropped the interstate banking laws that we might be in for big trouble. Thiose laws protected the country in case one bank failed, it would be limited to one state, but they removed them ..WHY ??it was part of the plan.

    Combine that with a shift all manufacturing to China, combined with China cheating on the exchange rates, and in a mere 20 years we have shifted all of our wealth to China.

    Every America, YOU AND I AND hearne too…now owe $110,000 each in public debt.

    But no one does a thing. Very few even care. I write my congressman, all three of them, but all I get in return in a boiler plate letter.

    2% now own 40% of the wealth in this country …. and what are YOU worried about ?? installing full body scanners in airports to combat an imaginary threat ….AND … and creating a health care law where YOU ARE REQUIRED to have health insurance OR BE FINED $700.00 ….

    WHO IS MINDING THE STORE??

    DO YOU CARE???
    read this from today NY times…

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/opinion/10rich.html

    “”What we don

  16. Anonymous says:

    Bill Zimmerli
    Seriously Hearne, you call this a story… get a life man.. this is old news. Everyone is doing layoffs. The Star gave you a name in this city – you would be NOTHING without your STAR column. Why are you such a hater? We are lucky to have a major daily in our city … what would you rather have .. The Sun??? Really?

  17. Anonymous says:

    rob lane
    Jo Jo you almost make sense. I think Glazer is early to mid 50’s. He is right Rick the days of Studio 54 and the like are long gone. Even in California, I do get out. In San Fran. we have maybe one, if that, busy nice dance club. Just a few years ago there were at least ten.

    Blaming the net, maybe. It has cost millions of folks their job in one way or another. We can’t deny there is no record industry anymore. Warners even closed theirs. That is too bad. What next.

  18. Anonymous says:

    Rainbow Man
    The Star’s superiority complex had a hell of a lot to do with where they are now. They cater to the Brookside Merlot sipping know-it-all dog park elitists. Their management is a joke. They want to run downtown. They want to run our lives.
    They do not have a clue who makes this city what it is. It is not the Hall’s.

  19. Anonymous says:

    Kingfish
    I still love clubbing….. waiting for the new one in Leawood to open. It’s about time!
    Stay warm…. Kingfish

  20. Anonymous says:

    jojo
    jerry..you’4re right…we need to revolution to
    take back this nation…but it won’t happen.
    This country is now filled with lazy/stupid/
    easy going/fat/losers who don’t care where we’re
    headed to.
    I voted for obama and i can tell you that i have
    lost all faith not in just the repubs…but also
    the dems to get this country fixed.
    We’ve been fucked…we’ve been lied to…and
    now we’re the suckers we allowed ourselves to
    be.
    Last week i saw on 60 minutes where 20,000
    american had bank accounts overseas that were
    costing the american feds over 100 billion
    dollars a year. The 20,000 americans illegally
    avoided paying their vtaxes…which is a
    crime. Now…obama is negotiating with these
    thieves and crooks and the banks taht set up
    these illegal phony accounts to avoid paying
    taxes. If i was running the show..i’d parade
    each one of them into an office…put liens
    on everything they owned…all their houses..
    boats..bank accounts…cars…businesses…
    until they paid every last dime that these
    fuckers owed. Dems and repubs allowed this to
    go on…and i believe the leaders of america
    were involved in this scam.
    WE’RE ALL SUCKERS…WE’VE BEEN FUCKED…and
    now we just wait for the bad news to ke3ep
    coming…its time for a revolution….

  21. Anonymous says:

    jojo
    hearne is full of shit. I caught him lying about
    his visitor counts and now he’s hammering for
    more people to lose their jobs/homes/ lives/
    etc…
    hearne…you’ve got yours because who you were
    born to…now leave the rest of us alone….
    bills right..without the star you’d just be
    some trust fund baby spending daddy’s money
    and not doing a damn thing on your own..
    get a life…bill is right.

  22. Anonymous says:

    So…
    So is anyone going to announce who’s being laid off?

  23. Anonymous says:

    Conspiracy Theory Jesse Ventura
    * Episode 7 Apocalypse 2012

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