It’s been forever since I’ve laid waste to the KC Star…
After my arguably storied career there, I spent considerable time pointing out its many deficiencies. Then again, it’s not like I didn’t launch my public writing career at The Pitch doing that very thing. But repetition gets old and I’ve long since moved on. After all, punching a lifeless corpse can be boring.
That said, now that I’m back after three years of hiding out in the desert, the least I can do is pay my respects…so-to-speak.
So let’s get started…
While some of my favorite punching bags – like former sports editor turned editor, Mike Fannin – have bit the dust, there’s still a lingering want for a “news” entity that tries to at least, try and keep the town honest.
Unfortunately, that’s not what today’s Star is doing.
Instead, the writers and editors are mostly trying to keep the wolf from the door by choking out a bare amount of actual news, while kissing as much you-know-what as possible so as to not tick off advertisers or scare powerful people who might decide not to take their calls.
Yes, it’s come to that.
Take Sunday’s “newspaper…”
A flagrant attempt to appeal to oldsters by running a full, front cover page of colorful neon signs from the past featuring Katz Drugs, Harzfelds and the I-70 Drive-In. Seriously, anybody under 40 would be hard-pressed to recognize those signs, let alone the Grand Ave Garage Park or Dr Scholl’s signs.
Then again, if you’re under 40, chances are, the last thing you’re doing is picking up a copy of The Kansas City Star for six bucks. Not when you could use the dough to buy a high quality latte.
That said, the first thing you see inside Sunday’s Star is a smattering of local restaurant stories, ranging from Panera closing a midtown location, Axois opening an eatery in Joco, an Asian eatery closing in KC and opening a “Johnson County spot” and the once wildly popular New York style pizza joint d’Bonx shutting down its next-to-last location.
And this is in the so-called “news” section of the paper?
Yeah, there are a few stories about the Israeli war, Republican’s electing a House speaker and a Maine shooters body being found, but what the heck – talk about “filler.”
The other weird thing – at first glance – was how “thin” Sunday’s paper has become since I left. Used to be it took a ton of time to “clean out” all the advertising inserts to get to the actual newspaper.
No mas.
Sunday’s Star was lucky to have three measly inserts, a tiny 8-page coupon section, a single page Medicare Advantage ad and a 12 page “Black Friday” ad from a retailer in Blue Springs I never heard of (and had to Google) named Bucheit.
I guess times have changed.
There’s almost an entire attaboy section on the area near that boring ferris wheel I wrote about recently. How it’s getting some entertainment action and a “neon museum.”
The other thing that struck me was how a number of the stories seemed to be fashioned around giving a “payback” to the people agreeing to be interviewed for a “news” story by including unrelated, positive details about their businesses.
Like the headline and story was about Chiefs star Travis Kelce having dinner with Taylor Swift at Piropos. The payoff to the eatery was five unrelated paragraphs about the owners opening the restaurant 20 years ago, a list of menu items, how draw-dropping the views there are, and what the name word means in Spanish.
Yawn…
So life goes on, and the sad skeleton of what was once a legendary newspaper is clinging to journalistic payback schmoozes to survive.
Time for me to leave them alone again, which is too bad. If only they still mattered.
Like an erection, it was fun while it lasted.
Can’t believe I’m “approving” this comment…
There’s a difference though, between basically “allowing” and “approving of”
“But repetition gets old and I’ve long since moved on.”
Yet…here’s another KC FALLEN STAR story?
Hey wild man, there’s a difference between “on ce in a blue moon” and drip torture
I just miss the way The Star was. It always had a bit of a left slant, but that was kind of a standard in print. But when it came to news in this city of about 2 mil, you could depend on good reporting, local angled columns, and somewhat careful editorializing. The mismanagement of The Star started about 20-22 years ago. Bad timing, because the digital paper era was coming and The Star was caught up in remediating chaos. They showed no strategy to adapt. All of their focus went to their Editorial Board. Actually, my politics are probably in-line on a lot of things with Toriano Porter, but man I cannot stand his editorials. They are so self righteous and full of unearned journalistic tenure. Everyone sees through The Star. It still has some brand power, but McClatchy is probably afraid to sell it.