02-28-2011 MAKING THE TOUGH DECISION TO CANCEL MY KC STAR SUBSCRIPTION By John Landsberg I think I now have a better understanding how an alcoholic feels when he decides to give up drinking. I have officially cancelled my subscription to the Kansas City Star. In my wildest dreams I never thought it would come to this, but if any place on earth deserves to lose a loyal customer of more than 20 years it is the Star. Not only has the actual news product declined over the years, the newspaper also feels it deserves a generous rate increase. What business model features increased prices and reduced quality and hopes to survive? For the past few years I have asked students in my college classes, "How many of you subscribe to the Kansas City Star?" Most look at me in amazement. In my last class one student---out of 17---took the Sunday paper. That was about normal for a class. Students often think even asking the question alone is silly. "Why would you subscribe to a paper when you can get the information for free?" is the argument. Tough to argue that point. I often had to admit I had a newspaper delivered over the years purely out of habit. Kind of like I still wear a watch even though I can get the time off my mobile phone. Let me provide a bit of history to explain why dumping my newspaper is difficult. You have to understand that growing up in Cleveland my brother and me had a morning "The" Plain Dealer paper route for what seemed like our entire lives. My brother had it for about five years and then I inherited it for another five. For 365 days a year in all weather--and in sickness and in health ---we delivered faithfully to our 65 daily and 85 Sunday customers. Then we also had to try and collect from all those customers, which taught us a lesson in unique ways people try to stiff their newspaper carriers. In those days we often spent hours putting various sections of the Sunday paper together even before starting to deliver them. Our hands would be covered in ink and that meant our clothes and anything we touched was also covered in ink. We would load the papers five-feet high on our official Plain Dealer wagon (I still have one), strap them down and pull them down the street like a mule. Customers had to receive the daily paper by 6:30 a.m. and Sunday by 8 a.m. While my brother and I truly learned to hate the paper route, my goal was to someday become a sportswriter at The Plain Dealer and work alongside guys like the great Hal Lebovitz, Chuck Heaton, Dick Zunt, Dennis Lustig, Dan Coughlin, and others. I eventually had that great opportunity and it was a time I still cherish. Fast-forward to today. As Bob Dylan has sung, "The times they are a-changing..." No one will dispute these are tough times in the newspaper business. Once great two-newspaper towns are desperately trying to hold on to one newspaper. Papers such as the KC Star have been laying off much of its best and brightest---and veteran---journalists at an alarming rate over the years. What used to be pure editorial items---business promotions, obituaries, veterans tributes, etc.--are now simply paid classified ads. If your paper is wet, missing or even stolen if you call customer service the carrier is fined up to $5. That poor guy delivering your paper in his own van in the middle of the night in a snowstorm gets dinged $5 for a single missed customer? Some genius at the Star figured the paper could make a few bucks off its hardest-working employees. Another trick involved subscriptions. If you gave the Star your credit card number it simply automatically renewed your subscription at its latest rate. In marketing that is sometimes referred to as the "bend over" strategy. If you did not notify the Star that you wanted to cancel your newspaper, the paper had carriers continue to deliver it after the subscription date. At that point ruthless Star customer service people would begin calling. If you did not renew the paper they still claimed you owed them for papers delivered after your subscription expired---even though you never ordered them and didn't want them. Even minor changes over time were irritating. When you went on vacation you previously had the option of either having the Star donate those papers to local schools (as part of its own image program), you could have all the papers delivered to you when you returned, or simply have your subscription extended. One can assume most people simply chose to have their subscription extended. However, the Star simply dropped that option about a year ago. While the Star was desperately trying to retain its customers last year with special deals, somewhere along the line that all ended. And while I am a firm believer a business cannot simply slash its way to profitability, it also cannot simply raise its prices uncontrollably to achieve that goal. As an example, last year the Star cost me $80.91 for 5-day home delivery Wednesday through Sunday. That included a subscription to the paper's e-Star subscription where I could access the exact print edition on-line. This year the Star sent me a bill for $113.41. That is a 71% increase (actually that should be 40%; see below) over the previous year for the identical subscription. If I want to access the e-Star alone that would be $58.95. In the end, I have seen the actual length and width of the physical newspaper product shrink over the years. The number of pages has shrunk to embarrassingly low levels. The newspaper has also virtually bailed on its suburban subscribers and closed many offices. Sometimes it seems like its coverage covers a 10-mile radius around its downtown building. Many of the paper's top writers, columnists and editors have been ruthlessly dumped to save money. Many others simply bailed for better opportunities. In other words, what was once a Porsche is now a Kia. But for some strange reason the higher-ups at the Kansas City Star seem to think customers will continue to pay Porsche rates for an inferior product. It really is an indication of how far removed many of them are from their customers. What's particularly sad/ironic is of all businesses a newspaper should really know its customers. It is supposed to reflect the pulse of the community it serves. It's tough to admit it, but maybe my students have been correct these past few years. "Why would anyone pay to subscribe to the Kansas City Star?"
02-28-2011 NOT MUCH FOR MONEY "I was just noticing at the nearby fast stop how THIN a weekday paper has become.We don't get much for our money these days.3 bucks for gas.I paid $13 Saturday for a 25 cent plastic replacement for my headlight switch knob Saturday. "Now if we expect journalism, we DO need to pay for it.Not for the inefficient overhead of a gasoline powered deliveryman but for a banner ad'ed internet version. "We're going to have to get used to 15 second video ads when we see Channel 9's radar...or something useful to us from the Star. "I hate to see the Star and its people suffering, but all of America is suffering from displacements due to technological and imports. Students need to study hard, and learn that the word of the century is 'adaptability'. ---Radiomankc.com
MISSING STAR, BUT NOT RENEWING "John, I agree with most of what you wrote. I had billing issues and they stopped delivery and sent my $35 past due to a collection agency, who, upon calling them, told me I didn't owe them anything and to direct further inquiries to The Star. Well, why bother? "However, I admit to missing the Saturday and Sunday editions. These papers were the only ones I read and the only reasons that I kept my subscription going. With the print edition, I could scan headlines and subheads, and read the first paragraph to quickly determine if I wanted to read more. I didn't have to wait for a page to load. I could scan the entire business and sports sections and read several items faster than I could do the same online... and yes I have a high-speed Internet connection. Plus, The Star's Web site leaves a lot to be desired; their page layout skils for print certainly didn't transfer to site design. "But I like you, I won't renew... and I will miss it." ---Mike T.
RECOVERING NEWSPAPER ADDICT "Being a recovering newspaper addict I can relate and I promise you it gets better. I cancelled about two years ago and I don't miss going out and trying to find a paper under my car in the dark and half wet too. "I really mourned it at first but my disgust offset it easily. We still get offers from the Star practically giving a subscription away and recently at an event at Kemper, a Star representative kept making really good offers to me that otherwise would be tempting. Except that I know that what they offer is now a joke. "When I came here in 1980 the Star was a fine newspaper and reading it was my religion every morning. As you observed, change has come. You know the Star has become irrelevant when Landsberg cancels his subscription." ---Gary Foster, Mission Ks
DO THE MATH!! "By my calculation, they raised the price 40%, not 71%, assuming the price numbers were accurate 113.41 - 80.91 = 32.50. Divide the change by the original price to get the percentage change 32.50÷80.91 = 0.40 = 40%.
SUBSCRIBER ABUSE "John, my deal was your deal and I just received that 40% bump. Frankly I have no problem with the price because I think they have the right to set it. "My problem is that they tried to slip a significant costby me in an ill-conceived game of GOTCHA. The scheme is to send the renewal bill two weeks into the new "contract" and charge you full price for those two weeks if you don't renew. "I cancelled anyway and they tried to charge me for those two weeks. I told them I was moving and if they could find me they could bill me and I might pay for those two weeks but no guarantees. And I did offer one guarantee: I won't buy from you if you try to slip a 40% raise by me.They did the same thing last year so it is no accident, it is premeditated subscriber abuse." ---Paul Welsh
NO WAY TO RUN A RAILROAD "I faced the same dilemma--and wrote a blog post about it a couple of weeks ago http://brainzooming.com/?p=5866. I did it partly to see if they were monitoring what was said about them in social media. "I also got the same type of collection letter and after a very contentious call with Star customer service got them to agree to cancel the invoice. No way to run a railroad--or save a failing institution." --Barrett Sydnor
03-03-2011 EX-STAR REPORTER'S THOUGHTS... "I remember back in 1995, Mark Zieman- then The Star’s managing editor- took several of us staffers to lunch. I asked him if he thought there would come a day in 15 or 20 years when people would be getting their news off a computer rather than print. In his usual smug manner, Zieman said that would never happen. Needless to say, he was wrong. Very wrong." --Former KC Star reporter
03-08-2011 STAR BIZ: 12 PAGES Hey Mr. Sunspot: Just opened the STAR biz section.It's a whopping 12 pages?! Gotta be an all-time low?! Kinda confirms your "cancellation" decision.
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