No two ways about it, the situation is grim at 18th and Grand…
That’s where the dedicated men and women of the Kansas City Star are hard at it, fighting the good fight on behalf of the written word. A handful of years back, that might have been referred to “the printed word.” But by all account, that war has already been lost.
There’s very little pretending going on in local journalism circles that the days of print newspapers (and tabloids like The Pitch) are anything but numbered. To some extent they may always be around, but in limited numbers like vinyl records.
This past year – despite a strong uptick in the overall economy – bodies have been flying out the Star’s door at a dizzying pace.
“Advertising revenue has hit rock bottom and the numbers are grim,” said one highly placed source at the newspaper.
Let me tell you how things used to work.
Every so many years when the economy would go in the tank, editors would gather reporters and explain how the belt tightening would work. Pretty much nobody, with rare exception, would then be hired and if somebody got let go or left it was usually all but unnoticeable but they were rarely replaced.
Mark Zieman
A year or three would pass, and next thing anybody knew they’d be remodeling FYI or Sports. There’d be new hires, new sections, redesigns, salary raises – the joy would return to Mudville.
That’s the exact opposite of how things are going down now.
In 2009, 2010 and 2011, former editor and publisher Mark Zieman would blame the layoffs on the economy. And why not? Practically, everything was in the proverbial shitter.
I called Zieman out for misplacing the blame, because the problems newspapers were facing obviously went way beyond the economic downturn, dismal as it was.
And guess what?
Now that things are going mostly swimmingly in the economy, the Star and the Pitch continue to flounder. To the point that things at both papers are getting downright scary.
Insiders say the plan was to replace Star business reporter Kevin Collison last summer after he flew the coop for a job with more security outside journalism. A number of writers and journalists responded and were interviewed by the newspaper, yet none were hired.
As important as replacing Collison was, the corporate cupboard was bare when it came time to pay the piper to replace him – even at a fraction of Collison’s salary.
And you can get your bottom dollar right now that from just about anyone to practically everyone at the Star and the Pitch is contemplating his or her future in some other field.
No exaggeration.
Dugan Arnett
There are of course exceptions – younger reporters like editor Mike Fannin’s pet project Dugan Arnett, sports columnist Sam Mellinger and Jeneé Osterheldt.
Dugan’s young enough (and probably under paid enough) that he doesn’t have to worry one way or another for the time being. On the other hand, the Star runs the risk of losing Mellinger, because even as bad as thing are, there always seems to be a market for a young sports gun higher up the food chain.
As for Jeneé, seriously, where’s she gonna go? She’s got almost all the minority bases covered at an organization still dominated by white males and writes for what some still consider to be “the women’s section.”
So obvious are the sad state of affairs that former Star editors are contemplating the unhappy possibilities.
Take Jim Fitzpatrick.
Yesterday Fitz speculated about whether a new managing editor would be named to replace Steve Shirk and noted that should the Star cheap out and spread Shirk’s duties around, “so it doesn’t have to name — and pay — a managing editor, you can bet that, in short order, at least the Monday and Tuesday print editions would be dropped. We may see that anyway, the way things are going, but dropping the position of managing editor would seal the unholy deal.”
Jim Hale
Another former high level news editor at the Star commented sarcastically recently on “the digital age and all the ‘riches’ that entails.”
“I suspect they’ll eventually split into two staffs, the digital side that writes for the web Monday-thru-Saturday – after ceasing print editions- and then the writing staff that puts out a magazine style Sunday print edition,” the editor mused. “When the Sunday cow is milked dry, then it’ll be digital only with just a handful of editorial staff and very, very little revenue. Back in the good old days The Star made $300 million profit in good years – that’s net, not gross- and publisher Jim Hale once got a $1 million bonus – that’s bonus, not salary. In the future, I doubt the digital Star will be able to get beyond a six figures profit. Smaller, as we well know, is not better.
“I’m quite content in retirement (but) it hurts to see newspapers die a slow death, but that’s all our fates, right? I’m not as convinced as you that there’s much profit in the future for a digital Star, I just don’t think people will pay for what little they have to offer – I know I don’t – and soon advertisers won’t need them either. Especially retailers, whose days are numbered, too.”
Art Brisbane
Six years ago I asked former Star publisher Art Brisbane to gaze into his crystal ball and predict the future of newspapers.
“Obviously there’s something known as a weekly out there, but I don’t know the answer to that,” Brisbane mused.. “They could have a daily printed product, but maybe look at doing it differently. Maybe print a free six-days-a-week paper but with only 40,000 copies a day and on Sunday you have a mega paper with 300,000 or greater circulation. That way you preserve the single most profitable part of the paper which is the Sunday paper – that is overwhelmingly the most profitable part of the paper. The problem though is, you reduce your visibility and the newspaper reading habit.
“There’s another dimension that makes it very difficult for newspapers and that’s that it’s not going to be easy to shift from print side revenues and profits to the online side,” he added. “A lot of companies are trying to do that, to (convert) the loss of print revenues to Internet revenues and it makes a lot of sense to try to do that. But the reality is the profits from Internet revenues are a lot less. The problem is that newspapers had a virtual monopoly over print advertising, but on the Internet there is virtually no barrier to entry, so they cannot leverage their rates up because there’s so much competition. And because of that it’s hard to generate profits and what’s happening is the decline of the print side is so much greater than the rise on the Internet side.”
Brisbane’s six year old prediction for the future:
“I don’t want to make a prediction about The Star but in general a number of newspapers will probably close and some of the newspaper companies will go bankrupt. And when that happens – let’s say some newspaper that has become unprofitable – the question is will anybody step up and buy it and try to run it successfully. You would think they would but we haven’t had a situation that has tested that prospect yet.
“The danger is that because of the decline in print revenues, (companies) may not be able to sustain an enterprise the size of a newspaper. Because you’re going to need big revenues to sustain all of the things a newspaper does – and that’s a lot – and you need those big, fat revenues to sustain all that.
“They’re trying to thin (things) out but there’s still an enormous amount of expenses on the print side. People talk about the decline of circulation, but you’re still talking very large numbers…They’re chopping away at the print side expenses. The question is, can they chop fast enough and what’s left when they do? The problem is there’s this decline on the print side and there’s a natural desire or belief that the business can be supported on the online side, but the way things are working out it doesn’t look like that’s going to be the great savior – at least not in the short haul.”
speaking of uncertain futures…where’s jr. these days. His boy just keeps making
things worse and worse. And remember…Harley knocked jr. out with my stats
and figures…..
jr…jr…come out wherever you are!!!!!
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas collected $11 million less in taxes than expected this month, and top Republican legislators acknowledged Tuesday that they’ll be forced to consider larger tax increases than anticipated to balance the state budget.
The Department of Revenue reported tax collections of about $391 million in March, when officials expected $402 million, a shortfall of 2.8 percent. Since the current fiscal year began in July 2014, the state has collected almost $4 billion in taxes — still $48 million, or 1.2 percent, short of expectations.
Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and the GOP-controlled Legislature must close a budget shortfall projected at nearly $600 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Senators and House members are negotiating over a $15.5 billion spending plan and anticipated having to raise about $140 million in new revenues.
“It means I have to adjust for $11 million,” said Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican.
and wait boys….these experiments that these idiotsdid are failing everywhere!!!!!
Didn’t brownie get booed on national tv by ku/wsu fans.
How delightful!
Dude, harlinator totally knocked out jr. with his factoidsicles of Nowledge!!
Take that, hearny!!
come on dude…you can do better.
It’s been tough week for jr.
His boy pence took the hammer from 5 ft. stephanopolous.
he said “uh/uh/uh/uh/uh” and looked like a fool.
then he said lets “fix this law” when the boys withmoney
told him to stfu.
Then some redneck pizza shop said “we won’t serve
pizza at a gay wedding”…not realizing that gays don’t
have pizza at weddings…rednecks do with pabst blue ribbon.
Then asa got his rear kicked by wal mart and he wouldn’t
even sign his bill.
Brownie…well brownie is brownie is in quicksand…sinking
day by day. Even his own party is parachuting.
But then menendez gets indicted …no big deal boys…its
JERSEY…where politics are for sale 24/7.
SoI’m waiting for jr’s next article.
A conversationon the constitution…
maybe an article about federalism.
Maybe he’ll get another whuppin from Harley…
but whatever it is….its not going to be a good time.
But I’m sure him and hs cronies are glad Stewart is leaving.
He’s made them all look like the fools they are.
And hearne will give him an unfair advantage again by
keeping my stats off kcc. But that’s okay…Harley is doing
damn well.
Hey..anybody know a good florist or cake maker for
the dude…everyone’sturning him down. (lol)
While the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who’s to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you’re looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn’t be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense.
When can we start placing our bets on the day it finally stops it’s presses?
You’ll say the rag will fully transition to digital, but in this day and age what’s the point? Not a viable model when you have to rely on Google surveys for revenue. Forget pay walls.
Digital subscriptions will have to rely on (quality) content alone. Therefore, the Czar will have no choice but to return to the Star and actually report. A fat chance of that happening, though, when you have corporate dictating your every move.
In order for journalism to survive, the independent kind needs to rise. Broadcast is threatened too with the advent of Meerkat.
There will always be news. The question is how do you make a buck off it with dwindling ad accounts? Everyone in media is asking the same thing.
Thanks for the babe nostalgia BTW. Watson’s Girl will always have a special place in my heart. I’m sure Glaze could write a post on her, if he hasn’t don’t so already.
Kinda sad but the situation is so dire it’s akin to the lifelong addict who finally OD’s: It’s more of a relief and because of the finality you can finally go on with your life.
Bias = layoffs
I agree with Lydia to an extent. I actually miss having the Star. But I got so fed up with the extreme liberal bias of the Star, I couldn’t in good conscience continue to give even $20 a month to that organization. If they’re still paying Lee Judge a salary, they won’t get a dime from me.
But even if they were objective in their coverage, it probably still wouldn’t change the underlying problem that the business model has been rendered obsolete.
My concern is for the people who’ve made this their career and their calling. How will they pay their mortgages and provide for their families? I wonder if Martin Manley would have killed himself if he’d worked for a modern industry.
The problem is truely a market shift. Now, printed newspapers are directly in competition with television and radio, on-line. Radio has found a new nitch, with conservative thought, the morning guy on 710 being a vast improvement. News has to be delivered with a smile and an edge, and when it becomes old, there have to be changes. Newspapers can’t change, and the continued attempt to find the next Watergate is hampered by the bias of ignoring it when it comes. But that’s not news. That’s an editorial. The only mistake here is the assumption that the economy is humming, but that gets into an analysis of the definition of leading and trailing indicators.
Mellinger is a very biased writer. He should change his middle name to ‘ku’ or ‘jayhawk’ or ‘fake chicken’.
The Star needs to abandon their left wing agenda and just report the news. Keep views on the editorial page. If I were the publisher, I’d look into printing the newspaper as a tabloid design, hire real reporters that are not ku graduates, and fire the editorial page staff.
I miss the Watkins broad and her sweet rack.
Does anyone know what Cindy Hoedel is doing? Is she staying on her “farm?”
Besides being a Liberal rag …….why would I want to get news 24 hours after I see it on T.V, Facebook, Twitter, or pretty much any other site that is free and I do not have to hear the slant of the morons that write for them? I used to get on their website occasionally but then they went to the pay per view model and the content is not worth paying for, so…I went elsewhere. The news station’s websites have more info on their sites than the Star and they have very little slant if any to the style of writing. The Star needs to get back to the roots of KC or just go away, and honestly I do not care either way.
Bringing back a million memories from 15 years ago: Jennifer the Freakin’ Watson’s Girl!! (As pictured with Zieman). Is that broad even still alive??
HEY HEARNE….THEY CRACKEDTHE JEWELTHIEF RING IN O.P.
too bad it wasn’t the one you and Wilson were after.
Maybe next time you’ll beat the star and tv stations to the story.
Strange story …but lots of women are probably wearing the hot merchandise.
good luck!!!!!
Harley