Star editor Mike Fannin’s most recent mug shot
These are desperate times for newspapers…
And while I seem to be in a minority when it comes to optimism about their survival, that has zero to do with critiquing the current product, which most people seem to agree somewhat sucks.
That’s not sour grapes because I used to work there either, it’s simply a statement of the obvious.
In no small part because I too am a paying newspaper customer – just as I was while working there 16 years. And like other subscribers, I’d like to get my money’s worth. The frustrating fact being it wouldn’t take that much to turn out a far better end product. It’s merely a matter of setting a smarter course and steering the news ship in the right direction.
And while the solution is multifold, let’s not make this overly complex.
Quite simply the newspaper needs to hire and position the right people at the top which obviously it has not at this point in time. Painfully obviously.
Having worked directly under him, I was very optimistic when Mike Fannin was made the editor.
He’d obviously done a good job following Dinn Mann‘s lead in riding herd over the sports section of the Star. Then again, it was Mann who set the tone and installed the twin towers – Jason Whitlock and Joe Posnanski.
And while I know Fannin has felt burdened by a newsroom both run and overrun by old timers – Baby Boomers largely – he’s had six years to clear the decks and field a team more to his liking. Yet other than in the sports section, he’s failed miserably.
However, unlike television and radio, nobody up top gets held accountable in the newspaper world. That’s a tradition that continues to this day. You have to really mess up to get fired from the upper echelons of a newspaper. Not being successful is no big deal.
Make no mistake, Fannin’s a nice guy and outside of a couple DUIs, an assault conviction and an extramarital affair with one of his direct subordinates, there’s little not to like about him.
Dinn Mann
And to be fair, it’s not like McClatchy’s throwing money at him to make new hires.
But one would think that with the body count as high as it’s been at 18th and Grand – especially with an improved economy – Fannin would have found a way to bring in a couple of notable young guns, yet the newspaper’s news cupboard is embarrassingly bare.
Nor has Fannin been successful at remaking and inspiring what’s left of the current staff to achieve more. He’s guilty of playing Dutch Boy and spending all his time trying to keep the current ship afloat, devoid of significant improvements.
None of which addresses Fannin’s core problem of news judgement.
I know the staff size is down, but both the news coverage and the quality of the reporting and writing is duller than dull.
Let’s take a quick look.
Who doesn’t want to read about the mating habits of Cicadas?
On today’s front page three of the four stories are b-o-r-i-n-g.
Seriously, readers under the age of 70 aren’t looking to run over news in their driveways about Iraq war updates, the mating habits of harmless insects or dully written school transfer stories. They just aren’t.
On the front page of Sunday’s Star – and remember, they want it to be like the New York Times Sunday – all three feature stories were snoozers.
Up top was a massive, locally written story about how zoos are trying to help preserve endangered species.
National Geographic, anyone?
That story was coupled with a weak, piggybacking, Missouri House intern scandal story and an endlessly long snoozer about a 74 year-old former Chiefs player getting a college degree.
All of which was fortified inside by boring stories inside about a Ward Parkway neighborhood street festival, a Kansas law that restricts welfare recipients to a $25 ATM limit and a gaggle of wire stories from other publications.
No wonder people are raving about the obituaries – which by the way, is also an advertising section, disguised to look just as it once did when overseen by the editorial division.
Other recent front pages featured stories about how “big cats” have found a refuge in Kansas and a nuclear pact with China (5/11) and Unlocking the power of “I can” and a New York Times piece about “early births” (5/7).
These are not the sort of news stories that send people running to their driveways to find out the latest in local news
And why other than desperation are there so many phony advertorial sections?
Disguised to look like real news, bogus headlines like, “The Unparalleled Commitment of Darol Rodrock” and “Loch Lloyd; Vacation 365 Days a Year” take away from the Star’s journalistic cred.
As I pointed out recently, Saturday’s Drive section about cars has become almost exclusively the advertising domain of Chrysler, Fiat and Jeep cars.
Where did all the other car dealers go?
Nope, leadership at the top is what’s missing and wrong with the Kansas City Star.
And that doesn’t even scratch the surface of obvious questions and critiques about its dated political and political correctness leanings.
The $64 million: When will somebody man up to these obvious shortcomings and at least make a token attempt at fixing some of them?
When the bankruptcy judge appoints a liquidation master.
I don’t see it coming to that, Carl…
At some point somebody will step in and hopefully buy whatever is left. With luck it will be someone from outside the industry or somebody really young with a new vision of the future.
There is probably someone or a company out in the media world stupid enough to buy a newspaper today.
They would have to be stupid rich ( Sam Zell Chicago Tribune) or living in a make believe world where newspapers survive past 2020.
I believe your optimism is hanging on to a bygone era.
Is Rupert Murdoch stupid dude? I think you’re
a fool. How about Berkshire Hathaway buying
newspapers up? warren buffet? Oh maybe
the owner of virgin enterprises…another idoit with
40 billion dollars…..how about others…obviously
newspapers can brin value to these guys
portfolio. Guess you’re smarter then them…
POINT IS…..DO SOME RESEARCH DUDE!
71 newspapers were sold last year.. Since radio
dude is not a businessman but a door to door
saleseman he wouldn’t know this.
As papers move to paid digital content they
will be making money.
eventually hearne will haveto pay the star
either to subscribe or pay for internet access.
Then there’s the Flips in newspapers…buying
cheap…selling high.
And newspapers have huge assets….buidlings…
equipments….cash flow….and right now
just like once in the housing market…smart
businessmen are buying papers and cutting
costs..and turning them into moneymakers.
With mclatchy…its tougher with so many
papers….but I’m sure they have aplan.
So radio dude…stick to pounding the pavement
with your media and don’t show your lack
of knowledge about this subject.
agin…radio dude 0
Harley wins by knockout@
come on radio dude….lets see your comeback…
or are you another phony?????????????
I am with Harley and grow a pair here. Content is the tech industry’s gold. Even a lame, dated and old AOL can fetch a pretty penny to “fill the puppies (pipes)”. This dog isn’t dead yet. This is a huge time for the Star. If this makeover works in other markets, but not here, look for some major changes at the top of the chain downtown. I don’t care rare firings are in upper management. Didn’t McClatchy just accept the resignation of or fire one of their execs? Ad lady wasn’t it? If this fails across the board, McClatchy is in serious trouble. If this succeeds in other markets but fails here, Star brass is in serious trouble. If this succeeds everywhere, we all win. It’s sure to be interesting. Imagine the scenarios.
1. Across the board failure, and we are looking for a new paper of record, or a Star we don’t recognize.
2. Success everywhere but KC, and we are looking at some radical changes among newsie powerbrokers in KC.
3. Success everywhere, and we have a Star that has engaged the market, and a whole generation of powerbrokers locking their closets.
Question to Harley?
If your comment ” as papers move to digital content they will be making money” is true. Then is it still the newspaper business?
Agree that content is and always will be king. However, how that content is delivered to consumers will continue to decline from the newsPAPER and will increase digitally.
Regarding those newspapers that were sold. Yep! And at distressed prices too.
I did as you suggested and “did some research”.
In 1993 The New York Times purchased The Boston Globe for 1.1 billion dollars.
The Boston globe was sold about two years ago for 70 million dollars. That is a loss of $1,930,000,000 to the owner of the Boston Red Sox. Sounds like a great business to be investing in. That amount is 30 million shy of paying off the Globes pension plans.
The people who are buying those newspapers reminds me of the recent Sprint commercials. The one about “stupid rich.
Verizon just bought AOL for 4.5 Billion dollars. People would day the same thing about AOL but you have to fill those puppies with something and I don’t mean to smoke with. Today content is king and those who own the pipes like Verizon att sprint need content. Even shitty content
Pipes not puppies
? I like puppies
hearne….that picture of that guy with the grey sweater on gets more play on youor
site than on the sheriffs of joco site.
but lets get real….still 300,000 readers look to the star. As much as you
hate that its still reality.
Even if its only for the special s from price chopper….this city still reads
the star.
went to local quick trip sunday about 7pm…they were sold out of 200 kc
stars.
Of course their reporters have moved on…money led them elsewhere.
But news is changing and people want it now.
I don’t read it…I know the news BEFORE it happens so I could write
for them and prognosticate the news for tem (lol)
But fyi….loch loyd is a 365day vacation for those who live there….and soon
they’ll be seeing Harley in full styling and smiling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You have no idea how many readers the Star has, Harley…
And obviously by acknowledging that I’m a subscriber and betting that there will be a future for the Star, I’m not rooting against them.
Far from it.
Like many other former Star staffers I’m saddened by the newspaper’s current state and hopeful that there will be a wakeup call and things will improve.
That’s simply not the case now. Things are getting worse, and to some extent needlessly so.
Since you have zero insight into any of this other than to run your mouth, your opinion here rings hollow.
But thanks for thinking of me
your wife hitting you with a hair dryer in the head
really affected your ability to think straight! hahhaha!
I don’t recall that particular head hit, but there have been plenty of others….
What’s your excuse?
WRONG AGAIN HEARNE….WRONG AGAIN HEARNE.
you write about 100 articles about radio ratings every week.
DID YOU KNOW THERE’S ABC…audit bureau of circulation
that gives numbers of print circulation?
AND SO IT GOES….AGAIN AND AGAIN…
HEARNE IS WRONG…
You can get the numbers if you want…te star publishes
those stats from abc.
WRONG AGAIN.
hair dryer crushed radio dudes head!
The last numbers I can find the Star released was from 2012, when they posted overall M-F circulation of 183,307. You would have to think thats dropped considerably. But more to your point, no, its no where near 300,000 readers.
A year ago: “The Kansas City Star reported its Sunday circulation as 263,288, up from its last figure, 254,111, a boost of 9,117 or more than 4 percent. A year ago its Sunday circ was 280,790. Its average Monday through Friday circulation is 175,833, up 3 percent from September’s 169,936, but down from last year’s 180,283.”
https://mediakc.wordpress.com/2014/05/06/kc-star-wichita-eagle-see-circulation-gains-capital-journal-continues-readership-drain/
Sunday circulation has been near or mostly over 300 forever until recent years.
But they’re dropping like a rock.
And weekday circa at 175 or below doesn’t equate to 300. See my other comment.
another idiot chimes in.
I will get the numbers of readers…you’re talking papers…
let me whoop you again Wilson.
I thought you retired to carthage and writing for
the carthage and Chillicothe papers……
If you take the numbers from abc you’ll see Harley
is right again.
Please…I thought you learned your lesseon when
Harley made you look like a fool in the jewelry
heist.
Hearne is not posting the truth…but eventually
the truth will set him and you free.
you are talking circulation…I’m talking readers….just
like the radio ratings you and hearne preach about..
tjey talk listeners….not # of radios on!!!!!!!!!!!!!
please please please don’t venture where you look bad!
But hearne said there’s no way to know the
number of readers.
Where has he been the last 65 years.
seriously…guy was wrong..
admit it and move on.
We won’t bring it up again….we sort of fingers
crossed promised.
A news hound like him gets it wrong AGAIN!
oh I get it…like bush and rudio…hearne didn’t
understand the question!!!!!!!!!!!!hahahahahha
Look Genius…
The Star circulation is down – way down. You haven’t even said weekdays, Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday.
On top of which the old 2.4 readers or whatever they’re using – or used in the past – is a fantasy.
You know how many people read my STAR? On a good day one.
Unless somebody’s wife or girlfriend is older than God, there’s only one reader.
Kids reading their parents newspapers? Are you kidding, the kids have grown up and are long gone and the grandkids aren’t around enough to count in the measure.
Noop, they lucky to average one reader per paper. Because a number of readers don’t have time, let the papers build up, then throw them away unread.
Now laugh like an idiot for everybody again, H
Loch Loyd residents…you are forewarned. If Harley is coming…sell now before property values hit the bottom of the barrel.
please hearne and Wilson…read my comment. I’ll buy you some glasses
at walmart for god sakes…
my comment says 300,000 readers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
come on guys get with the rea world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Have you seen a copy of the Omaha paper lately? It makes The Star look even more pathetic.
No I have not, but I’m anxious to check it out now that you mention. Shades of Warren Buffet
I’d say September.
In BOLD print—
“Make no mistake, Fannin’s a nice guy and outside of a couple DUIs, an assault conviction and an extramarital affair with one of his direct subordinates, there’s little not to like about him.”
Yeah, you really love the guy. LMAO! That is the new definition for “Damning with faint praise”.
Not to mention, you keep running the fu**kin mug shot.
What a hoot!
No doubt, Mr. Fannin is equally enamored with you and your blog.
Sheesh…
🙂
I know it’s a little cold, but I was trying to breath a little humor into things. Comic relief.
Mike really is a jolly good fellow.
His rap sheet can and does happen to the best of em!
humor? hearne? cme on…hearne you haven’t laughed since
you saw your buddy!
Huh?
We’re actually OK, Chuck…
Ewe had about a three hour lunch a year ago and shot the shit. he was disappointed on a couple of counts and tried to clarify a handful of specifics, but we always got along and had a very nice lunch.
I know he won’t like my critique here, but I think he understands that it comes from the heart and the head and isn’t based on any ill feelings.
Hey, he tried to get McClatchy to let FYI bring me back a month and a half after my round of layoffs, but they wouldn’t allow the Star to make an exception. I made my own bed on this betaking my severance in 2009 instead of 2008, despite being warned I wouldn’t be able to work for any McClatchy newspapers for 12 months.
Hey, they kept their word and I made a mistake thinking they’d make an exception. Maybe my wife did hit me with that hairdryer like Harley says.
The Lede is, “Leadership void @ 18th and Grand, Results in Poor News Quality”.
I continue to LMAO.
Really, if it were not for those pesky murders at the end of the date, Aileen Wuornos would be really good company.
🙂
Who bought lunch?
Yeah, let’s forget that the star wrote a story last week that led to the resignaton of the mo speaker of the house, that the paper is in line for a big award for stories not he umkc mess, etc and so on. lets instead make our judgement based on one sunday paper…
Nice try Billy Bonks…
However, it goes far farther than a single Sunday paper. I thin k I cited there or so others, did I not?
But it’s pointless listing dozens, hundreds of examples to make a simple point.
Yes, there are good days, like the Missouri House speaker, but those days are fewer and farther between than ever. And the balance of the news has gotten thinner and thinner.
You’re obviously part of the problem and here’s what I mean.
The Star and other newspapers have long been enamored with Award Journalism. But winning awards from like-minded peers is of little consequence in the real world.
People don’t want to read one or two maybe award winning stories, they want interesting, insightful news and opinions on a daily basis. Not one here and one there out of tens of thousands of stories a year, but dozens of them – large and small – day in and day out, week in and week out, month in and month out.
Coming soon to KC, dude. Google it.
“As far as highlighting the innovation and change taking place at McClatchy, the timing of today’s annual shareholders meeting couldn’t be better. I invite you to pick up copies here of our papers from Sacramento, Modesto and Merced.
Two days ago, these markets introduced a complete remake of their print and digital offerings. I’m not talking about a redesign or a fresh new look – but completely new products designed for the strengths of their respective platforms and the demands of modern readers. We gave the project the code name “McClatchy 2020″ to emphasize the forward-looking goals and I think you’ll agree our new print editions are a bold departure from the traditional newspaper.”
Patsy,
You will drown if you stay on that sinking ship.
Change your career and find solid ground.
Unless they can magically monetize Mission Statements, they are fuc*ed.
I dunno, Patsy…
We can hope for the best, but it’s hard to imagine the Star being able to suddenly start doing a ton of kick ass reporting and fielding a team of really excellent columnists and writers with the same old, same old.
They had change the look and tweak it beyond belief, but the same people will be turning in the same 40 hours a week. Can a corporate decision from on high change the personalities and skill sets of reporters and editors simply by decree?
Guess maybe we’ll see.
There is no such thing as news unless it’s from a public official or PR’s mouth.
Enterprise (actual) reporting comes few and far between, as Hearne mentioned.
Modern reporters have been castrated; too afraid to cover a story because the editor/publisher doesn’t want to rock the boat in fear of black lash.
Every paper is at the behest of a corporation’s communication department.
Somebody give them the final nail. They’re over.
(And I really don’t give a damn if used cliches.)
There definitively are limitations that reporters and editors know and understand…
Like the time the big ad dude from Nebraska Furniture Mart came down and Mark Zieman – then the news editor -called in my editor Mary Lou Nolan to hold court on my writing about them in my column.
Naturally, wasn’t invited.
And not surprisingly, I was told not to write about Nebraska Furniture Mart anymore after that.
Now who do you suppose is the Star’s biggest advertiser today?
And do you think you’ll ever read an honest review of a New Theatre dinner show production fro Robert Trussell? Ever notice how huge and frequent their print ads are? Don’t kid yourself.
I asked brian McTavish to review one of their plays early on here on KCC and OMG, he butchered the New Theatre like never before. I was shocked, but it was excellent and amazing.
Oh yeah, and honest.
Would love to be a fly on the wall during their daily budget meetings and learn how they reach decisions on what to put on the front page. What could have been the pitch on the cicada mating habits story, anyway? Or do they just play pickup sticks?
There wasn’t really anything wrong with the bug sex story, Lydia…
It was kind of interesting. Hey, I leaf through the National Geographic when I see one in the waiting room at the doctors office or wherever.
But it’s an example of using local reporters to cover broad, general feature stories at the expense of delivering daily local news that matters.
Billy Bonka chastised me for picking on last Sunday’s front page when the Star had a hard hitting story about the speaker of the Mo. House texting a young page.
The Star needs stories of or near that calibre DAILY.
Let’s look at today’s front page…
Check this headline: “WHO’S A GOOD DOG/ SHE IS”
That’s the lead front page story, about how “pets help people with disabilities work the land.”
How is McClatchy going to implement a program company wide to get that story ff the front page and replace it with actual local news that matters?
The other two front page stories today are a New York Times piece about military gear for police being curbed and opposition to a bioscience bill in Topeka.
To paraphrase former business columnist Jerry Heaster, wake me when you got something interesting to tell me.
Have you reviewed the 3 section redesign of the print circulation. Patsy I think was alluding to this. If you read the SEC filings and follow other holdings of McClatchy you will see that local stories are going to be the focus of one of the 3 sections. I got to this comment section a little late and it has already matured, so I won’t waste the space to further detail. Just a tidbit, “the printed paper’s role has changed to become more of a record of the past day, anchored by a middle section diving into investigative and enterprise journalism and insights, pillars on which the company has built its brand.”
I think we are more aligned than opposed on the tribulations facing McClatchy and the Star specifically. But I am happy to see SOME sort of change, you can’t hit it outta the park if you don’t swing. You should read up on the SEC filings and recent releases from McClatchy if you haven’t already. Hopefully, what you wrote about is going to change. But I, like you, question whether we will see a paradigm shift at the Star equivalent to the redesign. It all boils down to execution.
Lydia…it probably was more interesting than a story about your
mating habits!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (hahahahahaha)
If you’re needing to do some research on mating habits I suggest
you call glaze! Heck that guy would do anyone..anytime.
good luck.
hope you learned something from that insect sex story….
I thought the Bobby Bell article was cool.
Hmmm.
Glad you enjoyed it, Lib…
There’s no doubt that for every story ever told, there’s an interested audience.
Me, I got that news that Bell got his sheepskin out of my system just hearing the basic news. I didn’t have 15 or 20 minutes to spend reading the War & Peace version of the story.
The point being that instead of catering to mostly oldsters – a percentage of which might find it interesting – there are 8 million stories in the Naked Cowtown that cry out for the telling.
Stories that are not easy to write and report, feature kinda tales, but rather stories that represent news people can use. Edgy, informative, insightful, compelling.
I seriously doubt very many people would apply any of those adjectives to senior citizen Bobby Bell getting a degree. Not that it’s not interesting, but I think most of us could have gotten it out of our systems in maybe five or 10 paragraphs (or less) somewhere inside the newspaper, rather than clogging up the front page.
No way in a town of 2 million people there wasn’t a more compelling story that could be told. I’d classify it as filler.
yeah..like the story about your move?
jeez hearne….what do you call that story
I call it a lame sounding excuse, probably the same as you call it
finally we agree. Next time you move…
call your key news hound reporter. Maybe you’ll get a few free
boxe to move all those gold bricks daddy
gave you.
“there are 8 million stories in the Naked Cowtown that cry out for the telling.” This is exactly why I still hold hope for the Star. Their LACK of reporting over the last decade meant that many stories have passed their expiration date, but the well is still FULL of potential stories because none have been reported. It is going to take a homerun to turn this around, but the ingredients are there. A deep bench of possible stories, and a corporate redesign and paradigm shift. Now, how will the Star handle this defining moment?
Did the Star cover the OP nanny cam robbery? It was all over Facebook and TV.
As I see it, the biggest problem is still the TIFF financing of the Star building, well kind of. I do not live in Kansas City. Nor do I legally work within the confines of its borders, huge as they are. Yes, I see clients in the city, but I do not have an office there. I am the portrait of Commercial Flight. Part of my job is tax avoidance, and I would be a poor advisor if I did not follow my own advice.
For 3 shares of McClatchy stock, you can get the paper. That is an achievement that has only been equaled once, by Office Max, when for 2 shares of Office Max stock you could buy a pencil. The cancer here, however is deeper. At another McClatchy organization, the Missouri Democrat in Harrisonville, McClatchy sacked management, when the circulation of the Pleasant Hill Times, a private enterprise was found to be greater that the Democrat. Even I read the Times, despite the fact that the Editor and Chief and I are on opposite ends of the spectrum, politically. It’s not McClatchy.
But, it’s not just McClatchy. It’s Times Mirror, Time Warner, Chicago Tribune, New York Times, and even AOL. One would be hard pressed to think of Verizon buying AOL, but times change, the once powerful AOL with a growth rate of 300%, the company that bought Netscape, controlled a hefty portion of internet, a company that thought it could buy Time Warner, has now been reduced to little more than its name.
Kansas City has bigger problems than the Kansas City Star. The fun part will be watching who in the news service picks up on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Maryland and how long it takes the City of Kansas City to realize that they just lost a chunk of revenue, as well as potentially having to refund 30 years of Earnings Tax for those souls living in Kansas City but earning their paychecks in Johnson County. Kansas City may finally have to compete.
For the company itself, the Star and McClatchy, the TIF financing is anything but a problem. The business benefits from TIF financing. So its not a “problem” with the Star from the Star’s point of view, however it could very well be a problem with the Star from the public’s point of view. McClatchy and the Star get to book the value of the Asset against any liabilities they have. I am not sure of the particulars with the building financing, but if they are they can they are cashing in on the equity.
I have never understood a business model that throws away its one edge over the competition while retaining an element where it not only fails to compete, but is detrimental to its bottom line.
Why a newspaper would get rid of its institutional memory on the news side (and let’s face it, a paper as big as The Star can attract some pretty good talent) while retaining a tedious collection of highly paid, completely predictable bores on its editorial page is beyond me. Not only they contribute nothing unique to the paper’s content, thy actually consistently insult a major portion of the paper’s potential readership and yet every RIF sees yet more talented reporters walking out the door (this last time Steve Everly, one of my favorites chose to leave), taking with them contacts, sources and historical knowledge that would take years to replace (if they actually chose to replace it) while retaining the same tiredeasily replaceable editorial writers that few, if any, respect.
So long as they follow that model there is no hope, nor any reason to care for The Star’s continued existence.