Nothing like a bit more drama at 18th & Grand…
And in addition to a recent wave or three of layoffs and or staff buyout at the Kansas City Star comes word that longtime managing editor Steve Shirk will be moving on early next month.
“Well, he’s got at least 40 years there, but I’m still kind of surprised he’s leaving because he’s a newsman’s newsman,” says a source.
While Shirk was highly regarded by older reporters and editors, “He didn’t have a younger vision,” adds the source. “A vision that was progressive. He was an old school, tried-and-true newsman, but almost to the point that he crippled the newsroom.
Chastain
“Like there were times he got too anxious about the little stuff like Clay Chastain. And the old school stuff they used to focus on that has gone by the wayside because the staff is so much smaller. Details that got to be overwhelming.”
The $64 million question: will the newspaper replace Shirk?
“I don’t know that anybody’s taking his place,” says the source. “I think they may just consolidate jobs.”
The Star is a dead newspaper. They’ve run the liberal slant so long they no longer know about news – everything is an agenda.
If they were to drop the liberal agenda today — it still might be too late to salvage the rag.
I hit the send button too soon . . .
Getting younger readers is similar to Churches who turn to contemporary worship to gain members — it doesn’t work. Stick to the basics of reporting the news without a slant — keep your personal views on the editorial page and no where else.
Just so nobody misses it here, the money quote in this item about Steve Shirk – who for well over a decade ruled the newsroom of the Kansas City Star is this:
“He was an old school, tried-and-true newsman, but almost to the point that he crippled the newsroom.”
And for the record, I really like Steve. He drove a Volvo Coupe convertible (the hardtop would have been hipper and less grrrl man) and even rescued me from a car wreck in my red GTI on I 70 one time!
“…but almost to the point that he crippled the newsroom…”
That’s a pretty harsh accusation without any facts to substantiate. How about some examples of how he crippled the newsroom?
It is what it is, Gerald