KANSAS CITY STAR DUMPS CLASSIC JOURNALISTS UNDER McCLATCHY BUYOUT THREAT AND DEAD-TREE DEMISE!!!



Starting with tribute to hottie Jenny McCarthy and her epic dead-tree media repose that's one of our all-time favorite ad game triumphs.

A ton of jobs are AT RISK . . . Tribune earns a SPIKE from the stock speculation.

And these local newsies are now out of the game if they can't get paltry freelance rates from public radio . . .

Many Well-Known Journalists Are Leaving The Kansas City Star

The drop list:

- Political columnist and editorial writer Steve Kraske

- Johnson County government and business development reporter Lynn Horsley

- Courts reporter Tony Rizzo

- Long-form reporter Rick Montgomery

- Social justice and crime reporter Joe Robertson

- Business reporter Mark Davis

- Metro reporter Matt Campbell

- Photographer John Sleezer

And so we ask . . .

WILL THE EPIC NEWS DUMP DESTROY KANSAS CITY JOURNALISM OR IS DEAD-TREE DEMISE SIMPLY A FACT OF LIFE?!?!

You decide . . .

Comments

  1. Good riddance.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good thing we stopped relying on the KC Star for news and info years ago.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Are they finding work in Cuba ?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I wish they would hire Hoopz back. It was such a pleasure when she left.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sir Buttholio2/19/19, 6:44 PM

    So she's planted her pert derriere on the toilet and is reading the paper. She gets paid for that?

    ReplyDelete
  6. So are these people gonna be replaced with lower paid people, are there gonna be big blank spots or less paper used, my wife keeps buying the paper and it just gets smaller and smaller. Did you know there are classified ads in the paper............ Yeah some moron is still advertising in the Star.

    ReplyDelete
  7. ^^^ that’s funny!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Another “world class” business dies in a world class shitty! Hahahahaha!

    ReplyDelete
  9. OpenAI has a text-generation tool that can write convincing fake news
    TechSpot-Feb 15, 2019

    Star can leap on that and hope for the best.

    ReplyDelete
  10. About 10 years back the worker bees of journalism were utterly freaked when the Rocky Mountain News closed up shop. They were certain that such a thing could never happen. After all, in the minds of journalists who have ZERO understanding of basic economics, newspapers are sacrosanct.

    Since then, every time a daily has gone down, journalists have been equally amazed and appalled. Even when the writing on the wall is a neon sign, they pretend that everything is just peachy, that layoffs and buy-outs are anomalies, that "THE PAPER" will live forever.

    Journalists are not terribly bright. In general, they prove the old adage that ignorance and arrogance are a rather unattractive and annoying combination.

    The Star will go down, as a print product, within the year.

    The remaining staff will be shocked.

    Nobody else will either care or be vaguely surprised

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sir Sylvestor "Bozo"2/19/19, 7:07 PM

    Well you'd think one of them would at least admit that the Star delivers horseshit.

    It’s not journalism, it’s horseshit.

    ReplyDelete
  12. The Star has been dying a slow, fitful death ever since it was bought out by McClatchy. Instead of a business model that was based on actual news content, it chose to be a classified ad monopoly and invest in a shiny, giant printing-press. Well Craigslist came along and the Star never could figure its way out of its self-inflicted mess. The remnants of its so-called news leadership are Dave Helling, a TV wash-out; Bill Turque (pronounced "Tur-que"), a suburban Maryland wash-out; and a few other "journalist" misfits. The folks that are taking the buy-out did solid work and will be missed, but they are doing the smart thing by getting out with some cash. Everyone who is staying is merely the mop-up crew. The last one to leave, be sure to turn out the lights.




    ReplyDelete
  13. Not a one of them could learn to code. Maybe they can learn to bus tables.

    ReplyDelete
  14. There ya go learn to code. And you can work for one of the giants and live in an RV or your car like they do in Mountain View!

    ReplyDelete
  15. The list includes a couple of actual journalists, but mjostly just a bunch of wannabes and has-been hacks.
    As the institutional memory disappears, the Star will offer even less well-researched and reported stories than it does now, and most of what's currently in the paper amounts to little more than press releases from whoever want their "news" reported.
    But the Star's narrative for quite some time now has been nothing more than the ideology of the east coast liberal press like the New York Times and the Washington Post, so they can just continue to print articles from those two papers locally and call it the Star.
    Out-of-town ownership and a small market made the Star's survival a tough road to travel, but bad business decisions and far left "journalism" sealed the deal.
    Even serious Third World capitals have a local newspaper.
    Sorry KC.

    ReplyDelete
  16. John Sleezer's photos will be the only thing I'll miss.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Slie's bullhorn has just been drastically downsized. After the layoffs are complete his bullhorn will barely be a whisper.

    ReplyDelete
  18. But the Star keeps putting money into their rag, INK?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Oh wow, I want to say this surprises me but it doesnt.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Tracy Thomas/No More Taxes Shawnee2/19/19, 7:57 PM

    Great breaking news story, once again, by Tony!

    Thx to a FB post of his, two days ago I used Google Pay to sign up for SIX MONTHS FREE ONLINE STAR. (And wrote in my calendar to cancel the week before the offer ends in 6 months, because then it goes to $8 a month.

    But now I'm feeling cheated--because free NOTHING is worth less than free SOMETHING! Shouldn't the STAR compensate me for my TIME to look for the non-news coverage??

    Am sad that Lynn Horsley is off the Joco beat. She had been relieved of her duties covering KCMO and Sly--dispatched to our suburban Siberia aka Johnson County. All this what 6 months ago??? To hand the plum assignment of the City Hall beat to Bill Turque, the combo power couple married to some gal on the editorial beat who must use Google Maps to find her way to work.

    Now the fact is, the editorial board never enterprises a story. They wait for a reporter to supposedly confirm facts and then they opine. But what now? No reporters who know anything. So--vapid editorials to follow.

    This will not end well.

    Dear newbie out of J school assigned to Joco. Write me, 123tracy@gmail. You need a roadmap to our Stepford Purgatory.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why does everything you write, Tracy, somes like it was written by someone who lives with 30 cats?

      Delete
    2. Great breaking news story, once again, by KCUR.

      I fixed that for you, Tracy.

      Delete
  21. I think the RT network, Russia Today, hired all of them. Experienced communist propagandists at fire sale prices.

    ReplyDelete
  22. The star has journalists...............

    ReplyDelete
  23. Oh look, the STAR publisher just posted!

    ReplyDelete
  24. They still won't hire you to work for free, Tony. Keep crying about it.

    ReplyDelete
  25. ^^I noticed they not hired you either.

    ReplyDelete
  26. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6719215/CBSs-Lara-Logan-says-committing-professional-suicide-admits-media-liberal.html

    ReplyDelete
  27. I saw a picture of Frank Zappa taking a dump 59 years ago, makes more sense every year. It's all cheese.

    ReplyDelete
  28. The Kansas City Star is nice while it lasted. Now it's more of a liberal hate tract, no reason to read it or consider it. I think the comments I read on this blog are far more informative.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Somebody tell Dave Helling to turn the lights out when he is finished publishing his last column.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Tracy Thomas/No More Taxes Shawnee2/19/19, 9:13 PM

    8:45, I have no idea. Meow. I'm allergic. I've gone to the dogs.

    But so has the STAR. My cousin Cheryl used to date Mr. Hale, the best publisher this paper ever had. (We never called him Jim.) I had dinner there at Santa Fe Place at Hale's condo, 3 nights a week. He cooked great chili and cornbread, was brilliant and funny. (Unlike nervous Nellie, clueless Tony Berg. Poor sweet baby.)

    Mike White (Jackson County exec "Mandate Mike", turned lawyer, originally with Polsinelli, which rules the town now.) often joined us once a week, back when the STAR HAD a real lawyer and a real legal budget. Not Mr. Junior High brat/snarling troll-- who weighed in recently against Senator Jim Denning. Who will prevail.

    Under Mr. Hale, and Casey Jones,(my travel buddy to Paris), the STAR would have admitted their error, officially retracted the Steve Rose column on day 1--and settled, graciously. Professionally. With integrity.

    When you make a mistake, admit it and move on. Take notes, Colleen Nelson. Before you leave town. Maybe have a moving sale, on EstateSales.net...just sayin. Hearne's buddy Paul Wilson sells moving boxes.

    For you, Colleen, twice the price. Meow.

    Mr. Hale must be rolling over in his grave tonight. Even Gerald Garcia, who was forced to lay off 31 people in one day. Hmmm. That too was on a Tuesday. In October. Black Tuesday. Take notes, people. Also a full moon.

    Poor publisher on the move--literally--Tony Berg is depressed. He slammed down a scotch and logged onto GoDaddy.com. Tried to register his new name for the Star's death watch identity: The Weekly Reader. But it was taken.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Tracy Thomas, who admits her mistakes2/19/19, 9:17 PM

    Thank you, 9:00pm. Seriously. Was that Dan Margolies, the Star's former utility outfielder reporter, I imagine?
    Whenever a big story broke, regardless of the usual beat assignments, Mr. Hale just picked up the phone, said to Paul Haskins, "Just call Dan Margolies. He will get the story right."

    Should be cloned.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Hey geezers, you’re all just as irrelevant as the Star you bemoan. These comments you make about it could all pertain to you! SMH!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Tracy, the silliest thing you posted was about Polsinelli ruling the town. That firm has made it quite clear they have turned their back on Kansas City and are focusing their strengths on their out of town offices. The recent article in the KCBJ made that abundantly clear. Mr. Welsh grew the firm (and himself) very fat but at the expense of being a true Kansas City firm.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Maybe the Northeast News can buy the Star.

    ReplyDelete
  35. 9:33 Knows nothing about Polisinelli... Silly Bitch. Right Cindi ????

    ReplyDelete
  36. 9:13---That's not the REAL Tracy. She always owns her posts with her pic. Somebody's just being a lowlife asshole

    ReplyDelete
  37. Krapske will probably become Sly’s head lackey. Gopher KC may have some competition.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Gone and soon forgotten. The Red KC Star declared war on half of the population (conservatives) and now reaps what they sew.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Oh, 9:33 knows plenty. Sometimes the truth is painful. And ugly. The history, and the KCBJ article, is very telling of the future.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Wonder if Kraske feels liberated? He has been a whore for the publisher. Doesn't matter if it is BS, if the publisher said, "write this story", he never disappointed them. If Sly had a future, Kraske might also. They are both done and Sly won't return Kraske's phone calls in the future. Hey Kraske, Price Chopper is hiring bag boys!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Hey Kraske, Price Chopper is hiring bag boys!"

      Oh....did you quit?

      Delete
  41. Oh Lynn, always buzzing around, looking busy and earnest. No ethics, no ambition, no courage -- take up basket weaving, Lynn.

    ReplyDelete
  42. As I've been reporting for the last year, the final insult to former and current Star employees will be when the McClatchy pension obligations are discharged in bankruptcy proceedings.

    This means that after deferring cash payments to their pension funds, then contributing overvalued real estate holdings to the funds in further lieu of cash, when the parent corporation files for bankruptcy reorganization, the judge will grant the discharge of millions of dollars owed by the pension plans to employees. And the federal backstop (PBGC) for failed pension plans is essentially bankrupt itself.

    McClatchy is going to screw you so the top management can hang on a little longer and get their golden parachutes.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Omaha World Herald is a great paper. Omaha.com.

    ReplyDelete
  44. I do not join-in the mean-spirited chorus here celebrating the demise of print journalism. We are up to our eyeballs in media but true journalism is in short supply.

    Many fine and hard working reporters in that list. Rizzo, horsley etc.

    The star is thin it’s true. We buy a paper because we want to read it. Looking at pictures isn’t the reason. Give us something to read. Give us content. Tell us how our elected offficials are voting- there isn’t anything like that. Re print pages from the star or times from 20, 30, 50 years ago - would not cost anything.

    Internet tough guys here want something for nothing be it a parking spot or news content or whatever. Original reporting takes time and money. Blogs are as nothing compared to a real paper.

    Sad to see Wm Rockhill Nelson’s paper become what it is. True a lot of it is the economy but also why is the star digging its own grave e.g. by always harping on LBGTQ whatever nonsense all the time, can set your watch to it.

    -Radish

    ReplyDelete
  45. I like the sports columnists, and the sports coverage in general. The comics are not what they used to be, but parts still OK. But national news is provided by agitprop organs like NYT, AP, WaPo, and the stories drip with left wing bias. Local news is similarly bent, but less professionally written, and it's obvious that in most cases no shoe leather was wasted in fact finding.

    The Star was repeatedly warned that its blatant bias was alienating half of its potential customer base, but it would or could not fix itself. We feel bad for the employees who are true victims of editorial policy and not eager participants in the lemmings' race to the cliff. But not for the rest of them.

    It is now pretty much indisputable that the only reason journalism schools still exist is to keep journalism professors out of the bread lines. But the professors who trained their students to back causes rather than report facts deserve no more sympathy than editorial board members. Get rid of them too.

    ReplyDelete
  46. ^^^Boring, dull, vapid and utterly without merit.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Sorry to see Rizzo on the list. He has always been a strong reporter with ethics. Hope he lands on his feet.
    Didn't see the rest of the editorial board on the list, they should have all been at the very top.

    ReplyDelete
  48. I hope that reporter Bill Turque and his crazy libtard wife on the editorial board get their due. I called him with background that would have opened up the corruption in city hall, spoke to him once and never heard back, called again he put the call to voicemail. Kids in college, house payment, too close to retirement he decided to not rock the boat and not threaten people with the truth.

    ReplyDelete
  49. ^^Thanks. maybe he didn't want to hear from the tin-foil hat brigade. Ever think of that? He recognized you're a bat-shit crazy goon and ignored your crazy ass. Ever think of that??

    ReplyDelete
  50. Facts have a liberal bias. If conservatives ever had a clearer take on reality, they could have mustered the financing and talent to challenge The Star. Wait, they tried that when the Times was killed off in the early 1990s. Rose's alternative daily lasted a few weeks at best. Harris Enterprises tried to mount a more robust daily in Olathe a few years later, but couldn't draw enough readers or advertisers. Lots of Star employees over the years were all shades of the political spectrum, yet so many on this site rant the ultra-right-wing line claiming of a "liberal press." It is obvious from your tortured spelling and grammar that you've never been in the business.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

TKC COMMENT POLICY:

Be percipient, be nice. Don't be a spammer. BE WELL!!!

- The Management