Search Results for: mike fannin
Hearne: Recipe for Star Survival
These are desperate times for big city newspapers… In no small part because the days of them charging usurious subscription and ad rates are a thing of the past, thanks to Al Gore‘s worldwide web. Net result: Newspapers like the Kansas … Continue reading
Posted in Hearne_Christopher
2 Comments
Hearne: Ain’t Too Proud To Beg
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse… Hey, when you go from more than 2,000 employees to fewer than 200, you know times are tough. And frankly, when you’re Kansas City’s 800 pound media gorilla, there’s nowhere to … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
19 Comments
Hearne: A Changing of the Guard @ 18th & Grand
The team’s in place, now let’s see what they got… Four years back I had a power lunch at Lulu’s Thai Noodle with Kansas City Star editor Mike Fannin. Think of it as a three hour catharsis confab. I told Mike there were no hard … Continue reading
Posted in Hearne_Christopher
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Sutherland: Death Star II – The Newspaper of Record’s New Editorial Board
One of the best expositions of the way political journalism can be misdirected towards base ends is George Orwell’s essay, “Politics and The English Language.” It contains the following gems: “Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful . … Continue reading
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Hearne: Missing in Action @ The KC Star
Speaking of over-the-hill Oscar Action… Anybody else notice that this year’s Kansas City Star Academy Awards coverage all but disappeared in the wake of the newspaper shutting down its entire FYI Section this past year? For decades – including the … Continue reading
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9 Comments
Hearne: What’s in a Mugshot? A Lot, Actually
Live by the sword, die by the sword… The mugshot on the front page of today’s Kansas City Star reminded me of something. The time eight years ago when Star editor Mike Fannin took a similar news bullet here at KC … Continue reading
Posted in Hearne_Christopher
34 Comments
Hearne: Star Editor Gets Marching Orders from Corporate
It’s kinda hard to figure… Common sense would dictate that difficult as it is for daily newspapers, someone would have figured out the obvious; that in a somewhat conservative midwestern city like KC the smart money would be not to … Continue reading
Hearne: Through the Looking Glass @ The American Royal
This isn’t exactly super secret but… The reporting standards are far laxer these days at the Kansas City Star. That in the wake of going from more than 2,000 employees to 300 or fewer the past 10 or 12 years. … Continue reading
Posted in Hearne_Christopher, Uncategorized
16 Comments
Hearne: Memo to Star: Gusewelle Was No Hemingway
Let’s talk about Kansas City’s inferiority complex… We all know KC’S a great placed to live with the amenities and comforts of a major metropolitan area sans the big city headaches of traffic and crime. Still everybody who’s anybody – … Continue reading
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24 Comments
Hearne: KC Star Layoffs; Last One Out, Turn On The Lights
Put away the black armbands, lose the hankies, this is a time of hope! That’s right, after upwards of nine years of layoffs and buyouts, the Kansas City Star is in a position where…it could.just.go.all.the.way! Don’t rub your eyes, you heard … Continue reading
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31 Comments
Hearne: Is the KC Star Business Section About to Become Road Kill?
Heard on the street: that the Kansas City Star will soon eliminate its business section… Could happen. Since ace business reporter Kevin Collison bailed a year ago – and was not replaced – and what was left of the Business Tuesday insert went … Continue reading
Hearne: Star Editor Defends Realm on KCUR FM
Tap dance, anyone? Talk about interesting timing, three days after my column calling out Kansas City Star editor Mike Fannin for failing to deliver a quality newspaper, up popped the devil in the form of a kid gloves interview with KCUR … Continue reading
Hearne: Leadership Void @ 18th & Grand Results in Poor News Quality
These are desperate times for newspapers… And while I seem to be in a minority when it comes to optimism about their survival, that has zero to do with critiquing the current product, which most people seem to agree somewhat sucks. That’s … Continue reading
Hearne: Editors Weigh Uncertain Future of The Kansas City Star
No two ways about it, the situation is grim at 18th and Grand… That’s where the dedicated men and women of the Kansas City Star are hard at it, fighting the good fight on behalf of the written word. A handful of years … Continue reading
Hearne: More News Bodies Flying Out the Door @ 18th & Grand
Target raising the minimum wage to $9, houses selling like hotcakes, unemployment at the lowest levels in seven years – things are looking up, right? Not in the newspaper biz – not enough, anyway. Because on the heels of major … Continue reading
OTC: Flashing Back to the Top 10 Reasons Greg Hall Left KC Confidential
Return with me now to June of 2011 when Greg Hall split from KC Confidential for greener writing pastures… Leaving behind this final Top 10 list to commemorate his time here: 10. Craig Glazer’s scandalous tales of juggling 20-something babes … Continue reading
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Hearne: Woe Be to the KC Star if it Loses Sam Mellinger
In journalism – as in most businesses – everybody is is expendable… In the case of the Kansas City Star, one need only flash back six years to when frontline columnists Joe Posnanski, Jason Whitlock and myself were practically the face of the … Continue reading
Posted in Hearne_Christopher
Tagged Jason Whitlock, Joe Posnanski, Mike Fannin, Sam Mellinger, Yael Abouhalkah
11 Comments
Hearne: Catching Up On KC’s Not So Merry Media-Go-Round
So many axed and/or out-of-work journalists, so little time… Kansas City and Lawrence’s Wheel of Misfortune has been turning at a good clip in the media ranks and I’m overdue on weighing in on some of those happenstances, so let’s rectify that … Continue reading
Hearne: Why Soccer Hasn’t Really Quite Made it Yet in This Country
I’ve been a supporter of soccer in KC and was a season ticket holder for the Wiz and Wizards from the team’s inaugural season until it moved to the lowly T-Bones stadium in 2008… In other words, I’m no newcomer to following the sport on the … Continue reading
Posted in Hearne_Christopher
21 Comments
Hearne: Jason Whitlock’s Mother Knocks Wind Out of Steve Penn Lawsuit With Newspaper?
Forget about fat lady’s singing, truth, justice and the American way… Axed Kansas City Star columnist Steve Penn’s defamation lawsuit against his former employer was “voluntarily dismissed” this morning in Jackson County Court. Without prejudice…meaning Penn can (and apparently will) … Continue reading
Posted in Hearne_Christopher
10 Comments
