07-05-2009 KRASKE'S McCARTHY STORY MASTERFUL EFFORT Sometimes it is easy to criticize the quality of some stories coming out of the Kansas City Star these days. Major staff cutbacks have severely hurt the work product produced by the newspaper. However, at times there are high-quality journalistic pieces that remind readers there are still some top-flight journalists at Kansas City's leading paper. That was the case on a feature story on the front-page of the newspaper on Sunday (7/5). Veteran political reporter, columnist (and weekday KCUR radio host) Steve Kraske produced a front-page feature story on former political superstar Karen McCarthy that was journalism at its finest. He had chronicled her career for 16 years. His piece should be used as an example at J-schools around the country of how to weave together a compelling and compassionate story about a complex individual like McCarthy and her life both in and out of politics. It should be noted that McCarthy, a political superstar in her heyday, now suffers from Alzheimer's disease. How do you put together a story that is sensitive to her current condition, but honest about a political and personal life that has had its shares of ups and downs? It was a daunting task that Kraske handled superbly. Read it for yourself: http://www.kansascity.com/637/story/1306102.html Read about comments about this story on McClatchy Watch: http://cancelthebee.blogspot.com/2009/07/praise-for-kc-star-reporter.html Read story in Pitch (7/6) strikingly similar to story posted here: http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/2009/07/star_profile_of_troubled_ex-la.php
07-05-2009 FEEDBACK: "Kraske did a superb job."
07-06-2009 "I knew of Karen McCarthy of course, but didn't know much about her and thought maybe I'll read the article... or maybe not. But when I started reading it, I found it compelling to the end. Great piece!" --- Mike
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