Layoffs at The Star

[TheLastGentleman]

Seems like there should be a better revenue source than a subscription fee. Maybe patreon?

[FangKC]

I agree that $6/mo seems a bit much for the amount of coverage he was providing. I may do it just to help subsidize and support the model though.

He should really consider joining forces with the Shawnee Mission Post folks and any other independent news bloggers in the area. They could potentially rival the Star in their coverage.

I think a better route for Kevin would be to do a Kansas City thread for Curbed. New Orleans and Austin have threads on Curbed, and they are smaller metros than Kansas City. Kevin could do the Kansas City news, as well as write national general topic stories for them. He might do coverage on St. Louis and Omaha as well. You can do a lot without traveling since most of the reportage can be accomplished by reading council news on city websites, and by phone, email, and receiving press releases and photos from the developers themselves.

I think a lot of developers read Curbed to see what is happening in other cities, so it would benefit Kansas City to have a dedicated thread of news.

I read Curbed regularly to see what is happening in the covered cities. I'm actually surprised there isn't a St. Louis thread already, but there aren't dedicated threads to many large metros.

https://www.curbed.com/

[TheLastGentleman]

That’s a fantastic idea! Curbed is great

[beautyfromashes]

I’d like to see Kevin add a food review/lifestyle reporter to cityscene. It seems to connect with the theme and might bring in more revenue from restaurants/bars/events Looking to advertise. Make CityScene Kansas City’s concierge.

[flyingember]

Food review is expensive to do right. You have to spend money buying meals multiple times to get a fair view. It could be $100+ per review.

Independent of him, the market has traditionally been pay to play because restaurants won't advertise if they get bad reviews and people are wary of a good review + the place buying advertising because of this.

[beautyfromashes]

Food review is expensive to do right. You have to spend money buying meals multiple times to get a fair view. It could be $100+ per review.

Independent of him, the market has traditionally been pay to play because restaurants won't advertise if they get bad reviews and people are wary of a good review + the place buying advertising because of this.

How about a combination CityScene and JoyceKC?

[smh]

Food review is expensive to do right. You have to spend money buying meals multiple times to get a fair view. It could be $100+ per review.

Independent of him, the market has traditionally been pay to play because restaurants won't advertise if they get bad reviews and people are wary of a good review + the place buying advertising because of this.

How about a combination CityScene and JoyceKC?

Joyce is a hot ticket though, apparently. They've moved her under the "subscriber only content" umbrella.

[bspecht]

I think a better route for Kevin would be to do a Kansas City thread for Curbed.

Curbed just shut down New Orleans, Philly, Seattle & DC. :/

[FangKC]

I'm sad to hear it. I was hoping they would expand to other cities.

[missingkc]

Love CitySceneKC. Have read it pretty much since it started. Subscribed as soon as it was required to continue reading and happy to pay the six bucks a month. Not real happy, however, that there hasn't been a new article since Christmas Eve Day, almost a week now. Everyone needs a vacation, but articles that aren't time-sensitive could be prepared beforehand and published. If not that, then at least a prior notice of the gap in publishing (if there was one, I didn't see it) seems in order.

[TheLastGentleman]

To be fair, development news has been slow

[horizons82]

It's more than reasonable to expect a new article every day for the price he's charging. Heck $6/month gets you multiple new articles per day with the Shawnee Mission Post. Not every article has to be a breaking story. Curbed Chicago already does a good mix of this with realty pieces; maps; guides; analysis; and more. Perhaps Kevin could even get people to contribute pieces like this in return for free membership.

I really want CityScene to succeed, but the business model and value proposition does seem dubious.

[DaveKCMO]

It's early. SM Post took awhile to get to where they are.

[missingkc]

Still a supporter, but I do think a prior notice is not too much to ask for.

[shinatoo]

Bad marketing move to skip a whole week of content right after putting up a paywall. I'm sure he will lose some subscribers over that. Should have postponed the paywall until after the holidays if he new the gap was coming.

[kboish]

Star parent company filed for bankruptcy

[chaglang]

The Chapter 11 filing will allow McClatchy to restructure its debts and, it hopes, shed much of its pension obligations. Under a plan outlined in its filing to a federal bankruptcy court, about 60 percent of its debt would be eliminated as the news organization tries to reposition for a digital future.

The likely new owners, if the court accepts the plan, would be led by hedge fund Chatham Asset Management LLC.

None of that sounds good for the Star. The pensions always seem to be the first of many cuts.

[smh]

I still maintain we need a local non-profit daily. Bring all of the local Star diaspora for a couple of years to help set it up and give it legitimacy. Honestly starting to think this ought to be part of the Chamber's Big 5. The absence of a local paper of record is devastating for this region. So many stories left unreported.

[herrfrank]

Watching the print media world collapse, in slow motion, over the past decade may be the foreshadowing of other, old-school societal models imploding. I am thinking of local governments (especially smaller cities and suburbs with large legacy costs and pension promises).

Although towns have the leverage to tax rather than relying on advertisers, taxpayers will not tolerate it. I suspect that heavily burdened cities with large pension overhangs will either start to consolidate or to declare bankruptcy, possibly as soon as the next recession. I see something similar with education financing (student loans) -- borrowers will simply refuse to repay, undermining the whole model.

[WoodDraw]

The company will be owned by the distressed debt hedge funds, so expect nothing good here.