Enough is enough, sometimes we have to admit we made a mistake and fix it fast…
The Kansas City Star, which I do like overall, needs a shot in the arm bad. Really bad. The fix is not more big ads on page one or hiring more inexpensive young writers with limited talent. No.
HERE IT IS KANSAS CITY, DRUM ROLL..HIRE BACK HEARNE CHRISTOPHER AND JASON WHITLOCK NOW!
Both should have one-off stories on Page One for a bit, then alternate that for a couple days a week.
Lets face it THE STAR HAS NO STARS.
Right now there are almost no name writers left that anyone knows or follows. Sure we have Joyce Smith in business, Steve Kraske now and again – but he’s mostly on radio – and new guy Sam Mellinger in sports. That’s nice, but doesn’t generate the water cooler talk of Whitlock and Hearne.
It just ain’t happening Kansas City Star.
Whitlock without a doubt caused a stir. Hearne gave us an entertainment column that has never been replaced and is badly missed. Nobody covers local stars or political people at all. That’s unheard of at a large newspaper. NO LOCAL COLOR.
Whitlock and Hearne would do just that. Both well known names in this city. Like them or not, people want to read and hear what those two think about PEOPLE.
Nobody cares what Jenee Osterheldt thinks or anyone else in FYI. Or almost anyone in sports. BORING.
I know both guys. Let me tell you this as a fact; HEARNE is a hard working guy, he never is off duty, never. That guy was all over this city daily, getting stories. Whitlock found gems with sub par teams and made Carl Peterson the "evil empire." Without him, NO STORIES on Peterson.It was Whitlock who uncovered the fake world of King Carl.
Hearne made stars of local colorful characters like my dad Stan Glazer (only Hearne really covered his first run for mayor and Stan nearly won), panhandler Jerry Mazer, Holly Starr, all the nightlife on the Plaza, Westport, Downtown and out South: Only Hearne.
Now if you are a somebody with no national coverage, you get zero cover from the paper. FYI only knows two KC names, Rob Wriggle and Paul Rudd, both actors with many credits. Sorry, David Cook you are OUT.
Yes, they throw me a bone now and again.
So put up the billboards KC Star and get some action for a change. Nothing your marketing does has worked since you cut ties with these two household names. Nothing.
KC Star, here is the great news; since you guys are cutting costs everywhere: Hire both back at much less dough. Hearne, yes its true, has his own money. Jason may be down a little in that area and needs the money, but both NEED THE ACTION.
Jason was a star here, he wants to come home. Bring him back, bring him back. Having these two back would be like the first several episodes of "Two and A Half Men" with CHARLIE SHEEN BACK,and behaving..off the chart.
This is marketing genius by uh, guess who? OK, I can be a consultant for a couple of dollars.
Save the planet. Save the Paper HIRE HEARNE AND JASON BACK ASAP. PLEASE FOR ALL OF OUR SAKES. Thank you.
Yeah, but we had to work with Hearne – you didn’t – and nobody liked him. So YOU hire him.
sorry glaze…i disagree….
as much as I enjoyed reading hearnes columns in the star…he lost his edge. You can see it
here. He once had fun, inspiring news about people in the city. I think his column was well
read. But like i mentioned about whb…we all have our time and hearnes is over.
His only stories were bashing the star and its employees…smiling while people lost their
homes and careers….and he’s become old news…old day old donuts….he belongs on
tonys kc with that negative attitude. It’s hard I’m sure for hearne to speak to about
30 people on this site..nothing near the audience he had with the star…but his
glorry days are over. Better he stick here with stories that he controls about old fashioned
singers…people who change their names….and let you run this website because you still
have that “it” thing that generates conversation and controversey. You should either take over
this site or start your own.
As for whitlock…his day is over. The star doesnt need him either. Newspapers are dead.
They’re like borders book stores who are going out of business. His day too has passed.
Let it go….he’s shown complete disregard for his empolyers and noone wants him.
Maybe put him on 610 and let it rip. But his style….his columns are like the day old bread
you buy at the thrift shops. Let it go.
As for you…man you’re on fire. If the star wanted help and I ran it…I ‘d hire you…
and mermaid. You tro create and stir up shit in the city and mermaid to have her own
column just about women and being single and living in kc. That would get attention.
I;ll talk with mcclathcy board members when i’m in chicago and put in a word for you
and mermaid.
“to every day there is a season”……..let it rest.
i am in Chicago right now
On my phone, where are ya Harley? Goin down to Grant Park. Killer sweet weather.
Hearne is a moron
Hearne could never write and his columns, then and now, were riddled with such inaccuracies that they were a regular embarassment to the Star. Just because he has your cock in his mouth all the time doesn’t make him a star.
Ill buy ya a Mojito at Havana’s
At 6:30
Who’s Rob Wriggle? Wrob Riggle?
I’m so confused.
Jerry Mazer is alive?
So Hearne made homeless asshole Jerry Mazer a star, then proclaimed him dead awhile back. But now some girl in a coffee shop tracks him down in Frisco smoking pot? Nice journalism Hearne. Did you retract the whole Jerry’s Dead thing?
Cheeze Whiz
This may be the stupidest thing you’ve ever written.
Hearne and Jason were icing on the cake. The problem with the Star wasn’t/isn’t the icing it’s the fucking cake!
Until it does an about face from being a leftist rag and gets right of center like most white people with jobs in the greater metro area it’s dead in the water.
The Star with its’ commie uber liberal intelligentsia/academia, social engineering agenda has had a huge hand in fucking up KCMO.
Just look at the public school system! They sucked the government cock dry on the whole shebang. The Star said it was gonna be a utopian example of why the government needs to feed, clothe, educate, employ and wipe our asses after they tell us to shit.
They single handedly elected Funk and The Squid. Downtown and P&L, the Star shoved it up our asses. Obama, they licked and still lick his sweaty balls with an ocassional rim job tossed in.
Understando el realo problemo beforo
you-o offero el solutiono,
… huh?
… still on drugs, Glazer?
Newspapers are DEAD…. the problem is the delivery. Paper & ink are so 20th century …
But of course, content sucks too in the Star’s case…
BTW; what’s with the math quiz? 2+2 DOES = 5 !
…DITTO, smartman
100% on the money …
Well Some Good Points So Far
Well smartman made some good points as did Harley and others. Thanks for saying I am an “it” guy, but thats today when I write something you don’t like than I suck too. I get it. I think if someone sat Hearne and Whitlock down and went over the “new” rules the “new” people it could work. I agree that it needs to go younger. You guys think that the Newspaper is like Westport, just a matter of time before its gone? I hate to see that, but the way the world is with “everyone is everything all the time and nobody matters past one hour” you both may be correct. Hey its worth a shot, maybe it helps the paper live a bit longer. By the way Hearne said teh same thing, the paper was dying out here and everywhere, I just hate to see that, I really do. I find it so sad. Just like people don’t know who Greg Peck is or Paul Newman, christ…it hurts.
Why would he quit such a well-respected and highly profitable blog to go write for dead media.
Off Base
Hearne’s columns at the Star were stinking up the joint. He never wrote anything of interest and was on “vacation” a lot. It was not a loss for the Star to lose him. However, the loss of JW and JoPo stings a lot more.
KCS Listen To Glaze before we’re ..SOL
Would love to see The Star bring back Whitlock, Hearne, Hall–and yes Glaze…get back to local roots……..I know very little about the Newspaper industry…but I know what I like. I remember a vibrant sports section ..Whitlock, Jopo, J.King..D.Dodd ..B.Kerik. ..Flanagan….Now the Tuesday ,Thursday, Friday…feel like the Monday? Whats that tell you….how much more can you skinny the thing on Subscriber basis. I’m really on the fence right now and that’s saying a lot.
Look its clear the Tablet revolution is upon us, Amazon, Sony, HP, all announcing entries into the market…and of course Mr iPad – $22 will go pretty far with regard to online content.
Time to innovate , change the model around a little.
Glazer Might Be Right
I think it wouldn’t cost them all that much. It would have the city buzzing somewhat. Whtilock is still a hot topic, Hearne was less known, but known none the less. His artilcles where the who’s who of the town. He made stars out of some nobodys and disrobed some stars into the fire. He was Johnny on the spot for sure. Hey at least the guy gave us some glam, we have none now. I like the idea very much, it may be a short term solution but its better then no solution at all. Which is where they are at with the Star.
Hey I Want To Hear About Our Local Studs
Yeah this is the only place I can read about people Johnny Dare, the Star doesn’t do much with him at all and he is our number one media guy. Hell does he have a girlfriend, where does he live? What does he drive? Who does he hate or like? Nothing from the Star. Same with Matt Cassel or Eric Hosmer. Yes I even like to keep up with the Beav, I mean Glaze. He is an awesome character in this city. In trouble, than he isn’t, who he dates, why, Stanfords, movies, I love it, but nothing much in our paper anymore. George Brett? Whats up with him? Nothing. I agree Hearne and Jason are way better than nothing at all!
Star Should Hire Nick Wright
Hire Nick for sports to replace Whitlock.. That would be interesting. To replace Hearne, maybe Katie Horner, she likes to go out late and see whats up!
Sure You Are Right
Please, Katie Horner can’t talk let alone write.
Barriers to Entry
Like the rest of the industry, Star circulation and ad revenue were in steep decline well before Whitlock and Hearne left the newspaper. As much as I enjoy reading both of them, bringing them back is not going to change that trend. Simple reason. The barriers to entry in the business have been reduced to a fraction of what they were. Just about anyone can reach an international audience through the internet for far less than one percent of what it costs the Star to publish and distribute newspapers. And because there are so many competitors whose content is free and whose ad rates are low, newspapers can no longer generate the type of advertising revenue necessary to support a large and expensive editorial staff.
Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, had a great quote about newspapers a couple of years back. He said that their basic strategy was to keep cutting costs and stay afloat hoping for a business miracle to turn them around. There are a lot of really smart people in that industry, but nobody has yet been able to identify that miracle. I don’t think it exists. And while I love reading Hearne and Jason, who would both clearly represent an improvement in quality, unfortunately it is highly unlikely that they could perceptibly move the revenue meter. The industry structure, readership patterns, and competition for ad dollars has permanently changed, and adding some good writers who couldn’t reverse the trend when they were there the first time isn’t going to reverse that.
long as we’re dreaming…
why can’t the star re-hire terry teachout? the paper needs a culture writer with some heft and i’m sure he’d like to get out from under rupert’s thumb, especially now. also, is donald hoffman still writing about architecture somewhere? re-hire him, too.
New York Times…Wall Street Journal…KC STAR
@George …good post.
I know nothing about Newspaper Industry. I always thought KC Star was one of the Crown Jewels in the business. Did a lot of the heavy lifting for all the conglomo’s that owned it.
Just like the post office..Newspapers are in survival mode for the first time in a 100 years.
Is it going to look different in the future– of course..it looks different right now. Give Monday a rest and hire some players that can get the heart rate up a little. I’m sure everbody’s # and expectations have shifted in the last few years. Leverage the internets to make a more viable print product. God gave us the PDF for a reason.
When dust clears and debt is re written…I can only hope a local entrepreneur can figure out how to keep it going—make it more visible. World News. Local News. Entertainment..Sports..Schools..Obits… SOS!
hey glaze…..death at beaumont
Girl slips at beaumont club. Hits her head then collapses
and dies. Horrible tragedy. Westport takes another hit.
Feel pain for the family. Probably someone spilled a drink on the flor
and the girl slipped on it and had serious head injuries.
Really, really sad………..
Wow, didn’t know
When did this happen? Was it in the paper?
Harley Right This Time
I will write about that and the shooting at P&L, a sixteen year old girl was shot in the garage after the RKelly concert a couple weeks back. Of course these stories are played down in the press for obvious reasons. Thank you for the tip
so says tkc
TKC claiming some kind of rumble and po po putting the smack down in westport last night.. See whats going on with that while you are at it. News had nothing so it may just be TKC tipster bull shit.
Thank You I Will ChecK It Out
Will look into it, thank you.
Hire Jason
Hearne put him on this site!
I Still Love The Whitlock Man
They sent me hom early cause a vice cop said I was too naked to work tonight. Ain’t that a crazy bitch ass story. Mother fucking vice bastards, a white one of course. He is in love with my nice ass and always buggin me to go out, now he do this on me. I will never go out with your creepy old ass cop ass liar. Every other girl was just as nakes as ME. Damn I lost out on some damn good tips and money. I am pissed off as a bitch can be. But yeah hire the man, he is a good man. He always tipped me very nicely. Not like Craig and Johnny who still owe me like 500 dollars for that song they stoled from me. Both you guys are jerks. I am suprised at you Johnny I always like you and you teat me bad now. Craig he always took me for granted he sorry now I bet. Look at my new photos Craig, you bitch.
You Go Sister
Love the Barbie girl, she is the real shit.
Miss Jason
I think he is missed. I miss his work more on the paper than radio. Yet I see that the KC Star will likely not exist sometime in the not too distant future, like five years. I’m not happy about that, its just the world has changed. Not always for the better either. Maybe KCconfidential.com will replace the Star; it could happen.