It takes a while to get it back together after moving three times in four months…
More than I anticipated, frankly.
In addition to the geography part of the equation – behind the scenes – KC Confidential has also moved twice. Once to free us of self-imposed limitations that came with having a start-from-scratch website built (and back to the more orderly confines of WordPress). More recently to a new web host.
All in preparation for bringing readers a bold new look and ramping things up as we approach the start of our 5th year at the end of February.
Time flies, huh?
To that end, we’re once again looking for a few really excellent writers – dare I suggest women writers? – to help propel us to the next level.
No binders necessary.
KC Confidential has had its ups and downs in the areas of food and fashion but clearly those are areas of need. And there always room for another sports scribe (don’t take that the wrong way) and for writers interested in politics, local news reporting and/or opinion – you-name-it.
And with over a quarter million unique visitors, there are opportunities in ad sales.
Expect to see some of the more dramatic changes shortly.
Now for readers who don’t mind me being a bit long winded, here’s another little scoop:
Having splashed down in Lawrence recently, I can tell you we’re working on a sister publication targeted to that little city just to the west.
There’s a lot going on over here and unfortunately it’s a captive media market with little going down in the way of alternative or critical thinking. By most measures it’s a hip, relatively liberal town trapped under the lion’s paw of an ultra conservative news organization bent on scolding the populace and jamming Fox News talking points down their throats.
A town that thus far, by all accounts, is quite receptive to the idea of having a little you-know-what stirred to keep the small town power brokers that be halfway honest.
And trust me, halfway honest would be a marked improvement.
Thus we’re also looking for a few excellent writers to take on the topics of KU sports, the entertainment scene, media criticism, campus issues and goings on, local politics – you name it.
Email me at hearne@kcconfidential.com if you’re interested.
And you know, stay tuned….
Still trying to find a winning formula? good luck. but try not to rip off too many students while you’re at it. You should warn them that writing for you is a ticket to nowhere.
Four years in on KCC and growing, not sure what your point is but…thanks, I guess.
I’m curious where your ticket took you. Mine rode me to taking the Pitch from a record store rag to a weekly and having the highest read column in The Star for 16 years.
That said, journalism – the writing side of the equation – is indeed a tough and uncertain path these days. There are no guaranteed tickets to success.
And anybody entering this fray is probably painfully aware of that fact.
Maybe you can get Rick West to report on hip-hop
http://kansascity.craigslist.org/muc/3389438589.html
after the election i am going coast to coast with my writings. Would love to
write a column since it appears that only glaze and I can get anything right
on this website.
You already write a column, I thought. Right here in the comments section.
That said, email me at hearne@kcconfidential.com
Hahahahahaha. Well, there’s the official death of literacy, grammar and the English language. Good Lord.
Easy, big fella.
You’re familiar with the Grain of Salt school of thought?
Of course. But, everyone should cut back on their salt intake.
lol hearne. Good one. And fyi to harley Steinbeck; hearne would need to hire a half dozen editors just to wade through the misspelling and bipolar gibberish.
+1
Maybe you could be on MSNBC.
Hearne its been a wild ride so far…thanks for having me aboard…man I can’t believe its been five years….I think I’ve been on for no more than three as a full-time trouble starter…but we all mellow with time…even the ‘Glazer Haters’ have cooled off…I sure remember those early days when there were like 50 plus over the top HATE COMMENTS…oh there still are…Damn.
The best part is when people come up to me and thank me and all the staff for the site…now that the KC Star no longer does much in fact nothing with local ‘hip news or people’ its nice to have this site. I don’t think many readers are aware of the number of readers we have. I have friends that live overseas who are regular readers…wow…fun stuff…hope it grows even more.
i know the feeling glaze…
since i published my email address for the millions of readers i get
10-15 emails a day (NOT INCLUDING PAULYS THREATENING
EMAILS…THEY’RE FUNNY…BUT A LITTLE OVER THE TOP )…
and they thank me for beingthe man of reason and for giving the
real download on the city and the things going on.
I even got a emal from one of the local sports team ownership groups
asking about my opinion on their marketing.
I appreciate this site..its helped me start a new and fun career
giving advice to entreprenuers…politicians…business people and
local movers and shakers .
thanks hearne…i appreacate the outlet for my writing on top of
what i write for national top rankd sites.
and as always…Harley is right AGAIN..
OBAMA/BIDEN 2012.
and as always a big thanks to my readers/followers/fans and disciples
across the nation.
I think The Star does more than enough with local “hip news or people” and it’s called Ink, which is largely devoted to the no-holds-barred decadence and self-indulgence of the 20 somethings and 30 somethings. And then in the real paper we’ve got FYI, which is almost entirely devoted to the world of entertainment and whatever else is “trending” in pop culture. Meanwhile, at least some readers are complaining about the lack of coverage of the recent events in Libya. With an ever-shrinking news hole, it’s pretty much impossible these days for The Star to be all things to all people, and maybe that’s not a good idea anyway despite Mr. Nelson’s best intentions to be “a paper for the people”.
Rick –
Your perspective is a touch narrow; what the Star is doing with Ink is cutting edge reporting. As history wonderfully illustrates, when empires (invariably) crumble the ruling class actively promotes inward seeking self-absorbed activities, combined with literal and figurative circuses: anything to distract the populace from their crumbling reality.
Ink is doing a spectacular job of documenting this.
Say, did you happen to see Dancing With the Stars last night? When the guy did that thing with the gal? Hilarious!
There was at least one reasonable soul in the Kansas City area who took the time to e-mail The Star’s public editor, Derek Donovan, on or about October 8 to complain about the absence of an official Columbus Day closings story in the paper. Now just to refresh your memory, the Columbus Day edition of The Star came out the day after the Chiefs starting QB had been injured in a game and contained a 73-column inch story counting pictures devoted to the way the fans reacted to the injury and the subsequent reaction of one of the Chiefs players to the fans’ reaction. I guess the editor, the paper’s former sports editor, thought that all this coverage was the “hip” thing to do, but it was poor journalism if you ask me. And again the serious readers ask, “Where is the in-depth coverage of the events in Libya?”
Heck, if Harley’s head gets any bigger they’re probably going to have to cut out a bigger door frame at his “humble” abode.
If harleys head gets as big as his mouth it will become a new battle ground state worth 3 electoral votes. If Barry wins, the stench in this comment section will be unpalatable.
Yeah, it would be nice to have a lady writing for KCC if for no other reason than to get some much-needed perspective from the fair sex.
Hi everyone. This is Balbonis Moleskine, you may remember me from the comments (or prob not). I am a longtime reader and also contributed a few stories. Honesty is always the best policy and it is best that I let you know what you are getting into here.
The first attempt was deleted by Hearne. Let’s see if this one makes it.
1) You will not be paid for these articles. He makes no mention of payment but to make that clear you will receive no pay.
2) In addition to no pay, you will be expected to provide for your own expenses. That means you want to review a concert—better buy a ticket. You want to drive across town to interview a subject, you won’t get gas money. You won’t even get paid in freebies—you won’t get free tickets, stuff to try out or anything else.
3) Be advised that the KC Star and Pitch actively blacklist people that write here. So if you want to work for either of those two (and that includes any paper owned by the conglomerate that owns the Star), don’t “work” here.
4) Hearne is all ready for a site expansion to write KU Confidential, owns 3 houses in 2 cities and is an heir to KC old money. You will get nothing, not even an acknowledgement via email that your story was received.
5) The straw that broke the camel’s back was his complete disregard for communication. You’d send him a message and he’d get back to you next week (this is after writing multiple stories for the site gratis). He will just not write you back–not even the decency to tell you yes or no on something. Just complete silence. Then when you call him out on it he certainly gets back to you real quick.
So anyway folks best of luck in the future. Writing gratis with all the other things I have to do right now isn’t the same. After what I perceived as the epitome of rude behavior to me as a writer I decided not to contribute here as a reader, writer or commenter. I have stuck to that but I feel it is best that I let people know what they will be contributing to with eyes wide open.
Best of luck to everyone, even H-man himself but especially the people in the comments sections. Have fun and enjoy what this place is but don’t blow it up any bigger than it is.
Funny guy.
Where to begin? Well, for starters Mr. Moleskin approached me about getting free concert tickets that he would then provide a review for. With no promises made – since I did not know him or have any evidence of his writing skills – I obliged him.
The Moleskin’s writings were OK, not great.
He wrote an additional story about the Flea Market which required heavy editing and reporting backup, but was again, just OK. A couple other pieces were frankly pretty weak.
There are people at KC Confidential who are paid and there are some who are not. Actually, almost every writer is paid either in cash or advertising trade. The latter includes Kelly, Jack and Craig. The ads are there for all to see.
Obviously this is not a big money making venture and writers like Mr. Moleskin come and go on a “try out” basis. Remember the Take Out Food Dude?
Mr. Balboni also makes other unsubstantiated assertions that he has no insight into whatsoever. Obviously he doesn’t know who is or isn’t being paid or why. Guess he now knows why he wasn’t being paid.
He evidently isn’t familiar with the way local publications work. Of course the Star and Pitch don’t want to share writers with competing publications. This is a very small market.
Greg Hall was a temporary exception when then Pitch boss CJ Janovy allowed him to writer an entirely different sports shorts column for the Platte County Landmark. For two reasons, the first being that she did not want that sort of column in the Pitch. The second being she didn’t recognize the northland weekly as a rival.
Of course, that blew up in everybody’s faces when she fired Hall for submitting a column for publishing in the Landmark (that ran) after she’d held the exact same column editing before running it in the Pitch.
Now I don’t know what my owning three houses in two cities has to do with anything. But it’s not even true. I own one house in one city and prior to buying it I sold my Prairie Village home and my wife (as of May) then sold her Topeka home and we bought a house in Lawrence.
The above comment is really quite silly and probably doesn’t warrant this long explanation, but in the interest of full disclosure I’m letting it stand.
Oh yeah, thanks for the well wishes at the end, Mole Man. It feels so sincere!