Hearne: The Bottom Line on Bottom Line Communications

Groundhog Day, anyone?

For the second time in three or so years, Bottom Line Communications honcho John Landsberg has announced that he will cease to exist. As a blogger.

The first time out, Landsberg said writing about local media was hurting his PR biz, but then had a practically immediate change of heart, relented and decided to stay in the game.

Until now.

“It is time to call it quits,” Landsberg writes. “I will be relocating to the Hilton Head area of South Carolina and my KC stories will disappear as my site morphs into a normal business site.”

That after a dozen or so years of providing at times colorful, informative and edgy news and opinion items about local television, radio and print media and personalities.

Make no mistake, Landsberg’s “coverage” could be catty and self-serving, similar in style and content to what former Squire publisher Tom Leathers used to dish out. Which of course is what made it entertaining as opposed to journalistically sound.

I’d stumble onto Bottom Line’s provocative soundbites from time-to-time in Landsberg’s early days and found many of his tidbits quite amusing. However owing to the way Landsberg played the game – courting favorites and scorning those who refused to play along – many in the media viewed him as a charlatan provocateur.

I was among those who – albeit somewhat inadvertently at first – landed on Landsberg’s shit list after refusing to play along. Whereupon I went from model citizen to goat on Bottom Line.

In Landsberg’s world I was a spoiled, over-the-hill, fired journalist to whom none of my editors and peers at the Star afforded the slightest modicum of respect.

I think he’d like that description.

My original sin, if you will, being that I failed to return his praise with coverage in my column, resulting in him viewing me as the cup half empty.

Or worse.

Ah, but let’s let bygones be bygones, because for what it’s worth, Landsberg did grow and evolve into running a site worthy of being spot checked by locals interested in the comings and goings on among local newsies and air personalities.

Nevermind that he declared a couple of high profile people dead before their time, we all make mistakes.

And as noted by a couple of readers in the comments section, it remains to be learned what will become of Landsberg’s bromance with Tony of Tony’s Kansas City.

Things just won’t be quite the same without their online circle jerks.

But we’ll all manage.

Unless of course, Landsberg pulls another fast one and decides to go Freddy Krueger again.

Stay tuned!

Or to sell his site to Craig Glazer.

Remember that one?