Dead Tree Media Aftermath: Martin Manley Suicide Reveals Harsh Times For Old School Newspaper Workers Amid Dying Industry
For quite some time we've been chronicling the demise of the newspaper industry in this town but yesterday was a milestone in the story of Kansas City Dead Tree Media and their inevitable downfall.
A brief aside . . .
Nuns in Catholic school assured a younger TKC that people who committed suicide were doing nothing more than buying a one-way ticket directly to Hell. There's was no consideration for people with mental problems or those confronting terminal illness. In fact, I've never seen nuns so convinced of anything than the eternal damnation that awaits those who check out early. Sr. Marcella told us that suicide was worse than murder and nearly as bad as abortion . . . It's one of the very few things God doesn't forgive.
Also, in general, I don't like quitters - Which is why I find old drunks charming.
So, I didn't get the significance of Martin Manley's suicide at first.
But more than anything else, this former Kansas City Star employee killing himself rather than growing old and feeble as a blogger gives us insight into the fear which confronts newspaper industry workers looking at the the endgame and life-cycle of Dead Tree Media.
Oh yeah . . . And don't give me that crap about newspaper journalism standards when a Dead Tree Media newsie goes out by perpetrating a bloggy hoax about gold coins.
Anyhoo . . .
For quite some time I've been offering blogging classes to former Dead Tree Media workers . . . But now I'm thinking that maybe I should start a support group for workers in an industry that isn't just headed into decline but total obsolescence . . . And sooner than anyone thinks. Think buggy whips and vinyl records.
And so we mourn Marin Manley and maybe realize that all of the Dead Tree Media newsies who haven't transitioned into steady jobs in television might be facing more hardships than they're willing to admit in public . . . Because clearly the blogging life doesn't hold the same prestige, allure or paychecks that keep print newsies plugging away while their medium goes the way of the dinosaur.
Check the links . . .
John Landsberg @ Bottom Line Communications Has The Best Take On This Story: FORMER KC STAR STATS EDITOR COMMITS SUICIDE
Gold rush at Overland Park Arboretum turns up empty
New York Daily News: Kansas City sports writer Martin Manley leaves behind website after committing suicide
Police: Dead man's claim of $200K coin buried at arboretum a hoax
NBA Efficiency Rating Inventor Kills Self, Explains Via Website
Check Out Martin Manley's Last Post: The reason for my departure is 100% within my ability to control. You see, earlier today, I committed suicide.
Death before career blogging?
ReplyDeleteThat's kind of a sad commentary on your little vocation TKC?
Don'tcha think?
Newspapers need to get innovative. Find a new business model. Like Google Fiber who saw the light and decided to offer this new thing called TV just to get people interested.
ReplyDeleteThere you go flow with the trend. The Star should offer a TV package!
ReplyDeleteWhy work for a newspaper when you can work at home and earn a healthy six figure income with a blog? Come on out to the Sheraton and learn how to get rich blogging. Tickets start at only $250!
ReplyDeleteLandsberg leaves a trail so slimy I thought Glazer's toupee had come off and left a skid mark.
ReplyDeleteKansas City’s leading blogger, Tony Botello
ReplyDeleteHa, haha, hahaha, hahahaha
ReplyDeleteStars biggest problem was getting into that overpriced new building down there in Killa City.
ReplyDeleteThey aren't the first or only victims of the Bush sub prime bubble though.
You're trying to be sympathetic TKC.
ReplyDeleteDon't be.
These newspaper guys thought they were geniuses. And now they're bloggers just like you.
LOL!
John should just fade away before he embarrasses himself any more.
ReplyDeleteThe only bloggers who are rich are the ones who started the novelty and left it many years ago after raking in the big bucks.
ReplyDeleteThe number never lie. Hows that retirement account looking these days Tony?
ReplyDeleteHere are some facts for Kansas City's leading blogger to consider before he tries to play psychiatrist again.
ReplyDeleteLots of people lose their jobs every day, and not just at the Kansas City Star. The inevitable result for the vast majority of them is not suicide.
And lots of people who are gainfully employed and who have loving families -- everything going for them at least on the surface -- also commit suicide.
But of course, that doesn't fit your narrative that somehow McClatchy must bear full responsibility for whatever demons drove this poor soul to such an extreme.
So ignore all the other people who have lost their jobs and not killed themselves over it. And ignore all those people who were never employed at the KC Star who commit suicide.
Let's let none of that get in the way of your shameless exploitation of this particular human tragedy to advance your loathing for the KC Star.
NAILED it!
DeleteBravo!
I hope you're gonna run "Zippy" on your blog when the Star dies...
ReplyDeletenow back to "Baby Blues"...
If I worked for the Star I would probably kill myself too
ReplyDeleteMaybe Sister Marcella should have read the rule called "don't judge other people because you aren't fucking God."
ReplyDeleteYou know, at one time, the church also taught that unbaptized babies couldn't go to heaven. They were relegated for eternity to a place called limbo, and couldn't even be laid to rest in a Catholic cemetery.
ReplyDeleteThat teaching, along with the teaching about suicide, has long been relegated to the circular file. These days, the church leaves the judgment of souls to the mercy of a loving God, recognizing that no sin is beyond the redemptive power of Jesus.
ReplyDeleteMr.Tony,
I hope the dead guy didn't make a mistake in fact checking as today is world wide Geocaching.
from NPR web site:
"Happy International Geocaching Day!
August 17, 2013 8:00 AM
Listen to the Story
Weekend Edition Saturday
Playlist
Download
If you're scratching your head wondering what the heck geocaching is, Dave Prebeck fills us in. The president of the Northern Virginia Geocaching Organization tells host Scott Simon that geocaching is essentially "a high-tech scavenger hunt."
The dude barely worked at the Star. 7 years. That's nothing. A drop in the bucket.
ReplyDeleteI'd read the rest of his life and death site before jumping to conclusions. His main site has gone over on bandwidth, but mirrored site is here.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.zeroshare.info/home_page/release_of_rights
Yes the corporate owners of the Star are complete dicks and ruined a once great paper. But they didn't drive Martin to suicide. He decided this long ago.
He was obsessive compulsive about everything. The way he video taped movies in the 80s. The way he ate. The way he blogged, just look at both his sports and life/death site.
The Star was the same thing. His life for 7 years was the stats page. Worked on the most detailed sections and reorganized the whole thing. He worked crazy hours. Almost never took a day off, giving back tons of vacation. He states the reason he survived 9 rounds of layoffs was because he was a workaholic.
The Star owners couldn't care less. The guy works 60 hours a week. Hell, why not layoff someone else and see if Martin will work 70. Yes, he will.
He could have worked at the Star till he dropped dead naturally. Martin didn't want to do that. He just quit when he was done with them and held no grudges.
The Star throws away people they have no use for. Martin wasn't thrown away. He walked out and moved on.
These guys are no different than the steel workers, textile workers, glass workers, furniture builders, etc. They either retrain or They can off themselves. If you think the physical publishing media is a tough one just pay attention to what is going on in the cable and broadcast industry and "cable cutters". The entire face of TV is going to turn inside out over the next five years.
ReplyDeleteOH, NOOOOOOO!!!!!
DeleteYael and Mary next
DeleteLet this be a lesson to you, Tony.
ReplyDeleteYou should probably go ahead and off yourself now.
So what will it be? An overingestion of snack cakes, or inhaling toxic fumes from melted action figures?
Anonymous has mirrored his site
ReplyDeletewww.martinmanley.org
Poor Yael, I heard he's next. "That's a hint Yael, do the right thing and end it."
ReplyDeleteHe was a sick pup.
ReplyDeleteGoody Bye you sick POS
ReplyDeleteif you been middle class all your life and see yourself getting thrown under the bus, why not just dive for the bus.
ReplyDeleteit's great to watch cable and see the great lives of people the son of sanford talks about
but there's a lot pepsi commercials in between
it's the same old shit
you have to admit
It's interesting to note, this bright Sunday morning, that some cocksucker has decided, in their infinite wisdom, to take down Mr. Manley's very well thought website. Well, to whomever did so, fuck you and everybody that looks like you!!
ReplyDelete