Layoffs at The Star

[LenexatoKCMO]

Possible.  I just find it ironic how the libs say a paper's politics shouldn't be a purchasing factor.  But then we agree, they'd leave if it went against them.

Yeah, I would never agree that it isn't a purchasing factor - My thoughts are just that most folks who have refused to take the Star for political reasons probably have found alternative sources for their news (WSJ, USAMcNewspaper, white supremecist website, etc) and a shift in the content just isn't going to give them a reason to go back.  Better off to do your best to keep your loyalists.  

[Maitre D]

Yeah, I would never agree that it isn't a purchasing factor - My thoughts are just that most folks who have refused to take the Star for political reasons probably have found alternative sources for their news (WSJ, USAMcNewspaper, white supremecist website, etc) and a shift in the content just isn't going to give them a reason to go back.  Better off to do your best to keep your loyalists.  

True no doubt.  But what business builds their customer base around lower-income demos in low-growth areas? 


Why not go after Joe & Jane JoCo, and leave Mr. Uurbanite to Slate, VillageVoice.com, Black Panther website?

[chrizow]

True no doubt.  But what business builds their customer base around lower-income demos in low-growth areas? 


Why not go after Joe & Jane JoCo, and leave Mr. Uurbanite to Slate, VillageVoice.com, Black Panther website?

again, outside a few pieces on the op-ed page, the Star may as well be the Johnson County Star. 

[lock+load]

The Star just responds to what people want.  They don't want news, they don't care.  People want shock news, like what KCTV 5 does.  The average person on the street has no clue what's going on in KC.  What development is going on, what tiff even means.   I have come to the conclusion that people are simply clueless about anything anymore.  Everybody is just so tied up in their own worlds that it doesn’t matter what’s going on across town or across the nation.

The fact is I get my development news from real sources like the developers themselves, and the business magazines, the sports is a day old and most of the “news” I do care about is not news to me.

Big picture, development news and TIF aren't really that big of a deal to people, and never will be.  There are far bigger things going on in the city/state/country/world.  Likewise for business news.  Why does someone not in the industry or with a particular interest in the area care how Hallmark is doing or what the casinos are up to or who is building what new building.  It's specalized news and that is why you'll find better coverage in speciality publications.

[LenexatoKCMO]

True no doubt.  But what business builds their customer base around lower-income demos in low-growth areas? 


Why not go after Joe & Jane JoCo, and leave Mr. Uurbanite to Slate, VillageVoice.com, Black Panther website?

Print news isn't a "growth business" anywhere.  People who don't take a printed paper aren't signing up for the first time - of any political stripe.  The printed paper business has become a game of hanging on to what you can keep - not finding more.  

Perhaps somewhat to your point, it seems to me like you have to go digging much deeper on the Star's website to find the more editorialized content and political commentary than you have to do in the print version.  Perhaps the more growth oriented side of the business will indeed adopt a more benign editorial stance.  

[kigmee]

Possible.  I just find it ironic how the libs say a paper's politics shouldn't be a purchasing factor.  But then we agree, they'd leave if it went against them.

Lovely.  After years of being bored by James J. Kilpatrick, enraged by Wm. F. Buckley, Jr, suffering the pendanticism of George Will, being terrified by the batshit crazy ravings of Michelle Malkin, rolling my eyes at the cattiness of Maureen Dowd and Kathleen Parker, being exasperated by E. Thomas McClanahan's relentless obtuseness, and, strangely, enjoying Jerry Heaster's business columns, we agree that libs would quit reading if the editorials (which I never read anyway) went against us.

I guess forebearance is an unappreciated virtue these days.

[GRID]

Big picture, development news and TIF aren't really that big of a deal to people, and never will be.  There are far bigger things going on in the city/state/country/world.  Likewise for business news.  Why does someone not in the industry or with a particular interest in the area care how Hallmark is doing or what the casinos are up to or who is building what new building.  It's specalized news and that is why you'll find better coverage in speciality publications.

Well, I was just using that as an example.  They could do better in other areas as well.

Even so, other major papers cover local business / development much better than the Star and I think the Star is horrible when it comes to national and world news.  The oil story in the paper today was a good one for example.  But too many times, the front page is odd filler local stuff that wouldn't be suitable for the "local" section’s front page.

The bottom line is I wish the Star had more writers that knew KCMO better and had a more “urban” background.

For example, when the Star came up with a light rail plan, which was silly in the first place, the people that did the story admitted they had never even ridden transit before and didn’t know the first thing about it and you could tell in the story.

The Star is what it is, but I can’t live without it   Overall, I think the Star is ok.  I don't even read Yael anymore though.  That's one part of the paper I now avoid and it took me a few years to finally quit reading his column it's so bad.  Sad thing is, a lot of people do read it…

[Maitre D]

Lovely.  After years of being bored by James J. Kilpatrick, enraged by Wm. F. Buckley, Jr, suffering the pendanticism of George Will, being terrified by the batshit crazy ravings of Michelle Malkin, rolling my eyes at the cattiness of Maureen Dowd and Kathleen Parker, being exasperated by E. Thomas McClanahan's relentless obtuseness, and, strangely, enjoying Jerry Heaster's business columns, we agree that libs would quit reading if the editorials (which I never read anyway) went against us.

I guess forebearance is an unappreciated virtue these days.

Maureen Dowd is a right-winger? 


Maybe you're right.  Let's make our predictions right now on the KC Star's NOV endorsements for Prez, 6th Mo District (Graves v. Barnes), Kansas 3rd (Dennis Moore v. Tomato Can), etc etc.    Maybe they'll split evenly this time.

[kigmee]

Let's make our predictions right now on the KC Star's NOV endorsements for Prez, 6th Mo District (Graves v. Barnes), Kansas 3rd (Dennis Moore v. Tomato Can), etc etc.    Maybe they'll split evenly this time.

Have at it.  You could probably predict the Springfield News-Leader endorsements with a high degree of certainty, too.  And if you try, you could probably also explain why they are different.

[Maitre D]

Have at it.  You could probably predict the Springfield News-Leader endorsements with a high degree of certainty, too.  And if you try, you could probably also explain why they are different.

No, I couldn't.  The KC Metro is balanced politically.  Springfield, is not.

[Gretz]

It's specalized news and that is why you'll find better coverage in speciality publications.

This is a major reason for paper's, especially small city papers, decline.  People used to look to one publication for all their news.  The fact that diverse options providing specialized coverage are now available to people without getting six publications delivered makes it really tough for a generalist paper with limited resources to keep up.  The Star ends up being good at nothing instead being anywhere from piss-poor (skeletal A.P. releases for national/world news) to mediocre + (local sports; state politics) for everything.  It takes a larger population base than medium-sized cities like ours can support to make a paper good enough to be a competent news source for all demographics.  Instead specialty sources like Bizjournals for local biz savvy demos or the Pitch for young socialites end up soaking up the niche readers.  There are many other factors (classified revenue declines are one of the biggest single revenue losses as this type of thing moves online, for instance) but this is a big one.

[aknowledgeableperson]

I would actually posit that if the Star swung to the right in its outlook, they would likely loose readership.  I don't really imagine that there is really a huge chunk of conservative suburbanites out there that haven't subscribed to the paper for years but suddenly would if they found the politics more appetizing.  No doubt there are folks who are offended by the politics but most of them either aren't going to subscribe anyway or already subscribe despite their misgivings and just bitch about the content everyday (my dad). 

If the Star did swing to the right it might pick up at least one old subscriber - my neighbor.

On the other hand I don't bother me who the Star endorses.  The only time I really pay attention to that function is when there is a candidate race that I am not following very closely or have much of an opinion on.

[kigmee]

Does The Star make an acceptable return on investment or not?  If it does, is it being eviscerated to compensate for other McClatchy properties that don't perform?

The Star, with all of its deficiencies, is a hugely important institution in KC, and it looks like it's being dismantled piece by piece.

[Maitre D]

I def don't want to take away the main point (which CHRIZ & ig brought up) hurting sub #s - the onset of new media.  That is obviously the main culprit here, not political slant.


I only bring up the latter, b/c it is something they CAN control.  Not new mediums.

[KC0KEK]

Is there a KC media blog?

www.bottomlinecom.com/latestnews/kcstarlayofflist.html is okay, while www.gatewaycityradio.com has a mix that often leans more toward sniping than analysis.

[trailerkid]

How did Hearne Christopher not get fired, but the arts critic did? That's gotta be a slap right in the face.

Hearne Christopher getting fired would've made so many people in this town happy. Talk about a no-talent hack...I'm still waiting for him to start a blog for the Star so I can read daily updates on Tommy Morrison and the owner of Kief's Stereos in Lawrence.

[Jess]

The Star just responds to what people want.  They don't want news, they don't care.  People want shock news, like what KCTV 5 does.  The average person on the street has no clue what's going on in KC.  What development is going on, what tiff even means.  I have come to the conclusion that people are simply clueless about anything anymore.  Everybody is just so tied up in their own worlds that it doesn’t matter what’s going on across town or across the nation.

The average person reads the sports section and maybe the opinion.

What is the Star to do?  I think they do a good job for what they are.  I wish the business section of the paper was larger, more in depth and more accurate, but I know I'm in the minority though.  The Star has always come across to me as a small town newspaper serving a big city.  Way too much emphasis on sports, not enough on business, the national/world news is all but ignored, even the font sizes and colors make the paper look a bit cheesy for a big city paper.  But worst of all, the paper is run by suburbanites, the powerful opinion section should be renamed the “Why KCMO isn’t as good as Johnson County” section. 

The fact is I get my development news from real sources like the developers themselves, and the business magazines, the sports is a day old and most of the “news” I do care about is not news to me.

Having said that…

I have to have the paper.  The real paper.  I need my hard copy of the paper every day and always will and it has nothing to do with me not being tech savy or not doing the internet.  I just got to have my daily paper and it doesn’t matter what city I’m in.  I always grab the local daily when traveling.

Anyway, I think the Star is losing subscribers because people don't care about real news anymore.  They don't read it and just don't care.  More and more people are getting by without reading the paper (hard copy or internet) every year.  And more and more people seem totally clueless about what’s going on around them.  I guess that’s a coincidence?

That's my opinion anyway.

In the fall, I left print journalism after nearly a decade, both by choice and because I could see the handwriting on the wall.  It makes me sad, but print journalism is not valued enough to remain a sustainable career choice, at least for me.  I didn't want to spend all my time worrying about when the axe was going to fall, especially while maintaining an exhausting 60+ hour a week regular schedule filled with evening/weekend work in addition to the regular workweek. For that type of grind, I needed more security.  And I worked in a market of newspapers that is one of the few that hasn't seen tremendous cuts...yet. 

The Star isn't in trouble because of anything specific to the Star, it's in trouble because newspapers overall are in trouble.  It's not politics, it's that people are by and large increasingly uninterested in news - in print on paper, or in print on the web (which is why blogs that aren't filled with drivel are so comparatively rare).  If it's not about pop culture or sports or something with shock value, it will get a cursory glance at best by most people.  Actual news junkies, God love 'em, are overrepresented on internet forums, but are not the majority overall.  The fact that many people simply don't care to be informed at this point says little about the newspaper industry, and plenty about the state of society.

[AJoD]

How did Hearne Christopher not get fired, but the arts critic did? That's gotta be a slap right in the face.

But how would you keep up with Stan and Craig Glazer?

And local TV newscasters?

Get it while it's hot!

[KC0KEK]

other major papers cover local business / development much better than the Star

Over the past 20 years, most major dailies have ceded business coverage to the business journals. More recently, some (e.g., the Orange County Register) have eliminated their business sections.

[KCMax]

How did Hearne Christopher not get fired, but the arts critic did? That's gotta be a slap right in the face.

Hearne Christopher getting fired would've made so many people in this town happy. Talk about a no-talent hack...I'm still waiting for him to start a blog for the Star so I can read daily updates on Tommy Morrison and the owner of Kief's Stereos in Lawrence.

Or Jeffrey Flanagan? Seriously, he has the laziest column I've ever read. All he does is update the sports radio talk show ratings, and tell us what crappy former Royals are up to. Wonderful.