Bottom Line Communications™

    "Thanks to anyone with fond memories of my tenure as TV Critic at The Star. It is true I believed in covering the local broadcast scene and it is true I was forced out in large part because of my philosophy. One never knows who is ultimately responsible for these decisions.
   "I do know that, for me, the change came shortly after Steve Paul, former book editor, was put in charge of the section. He expressed an entirely different philosophy about TV coverage, one that had little use for local reporting.
    "I was unable to successfully appeal his decision and was removed from the beat. Shortly after that, I moved to Los Angeles and became chief TV critic at The Hollywood Reporter, one of the two publications devoted exclusively to covering the entertainment industry.
   "I've always cherished my time at The Star and the many colleagues and friends I left behind. However, from a career standpoint, my removal as TV critic was the best thing that could have happened to me."  ---Barry Garron

8/11/10
QUESTIONING VALUE BARNHART
BRINGS TO KC STAR READERS
     Many media experts have pointed out the only way newspapers will survive in the future is by focusing their limited resources on covering local issues that cannot be adequately covered by other media outlets. 
    The feeling is that readers can receive national news from a variety of sources that have the time, talent and resources to cover major issues.
    "After all, there are plenty of nationwide news sources to cover national and international subjects, so regional media organizations increasingly focus on what's local," said KC Star Readers' Representative Derek Donovan in a column (10/11). "I agree with that philosophy in general." 
    That's why several insiders at local TV and radio broadcasting outlets are surprised that the Star's TV critic Aaron Barnhart has survived several rounds of layoffs at the paper even though they believe he virtually ignores local TV/Radio issues. 
    They note Barnhart writes about national TV topics that could just as easily done by wire services that have staffers based in Hollywood and New York.  (In his defense, some of his stories are picked up by other newspapers in the parent company McClatchy Co. chain.)
     "Barnhart not only ignores what is happening locally in radio and TV circles, he almost seems dismissive of this market and all the changes that are occurring," notes a local TV executive. "How does that benefit the newspaper and its readers?"
    The area's leading blogger, tonyskansascity.com, has also asked that question in the past (LINK).
    To prove his point, one source noted that in the past few weeks Barnhart spent time at a comic book convention and on a media junket for the networks' upcoming fall TV series. In between those events he has been promoting his new self-published book.
    "He just wrote an entire story about the green room for the Jimmy Kimmel show," said the source. "But he never even mentioned Kimmel recently poking local TV reporter Micheal Mahoney on his show that has been a huge local topic of discussion."
     Another example was an August 8 "Tweet" by Barnhart: "waitaminit. Our #MLS team played Man U in a friendly while I was gone - and WON? With TEN MEN? How ... why ..." 
    The match was actually held July 25--nearly two weeks earlier.
    He also is now posting a video on the Internet of a woman talking about growing sweet potatoes on a median in Kansas City. Both KC Scoop and Tonyskansascity.com poke fun of the video, but it is unlikely either one was aware that the sweet potato lady is acually Barnhart's wife, who goes under the name Diane Eickhoff.  
    Maybe his critics have a point about him being out of touch with his readership.      

THAT'S AMARI?
   "i think jane amari was more involved in garron's demotion than zieman. (she and zieman vied for the throne as the two managing editors before z came out on top and amari vamoosed to tucson and other places."

8/13/10
LITTLE UNFAIR
   "While your post makes some very legitimate criticisms of Barnhart and his local coverage, I think you're being a little unfair.
   "Calling ComicCon a "comic book convention" shows a complete misunderstanding of how the event has become a major event for television series. It's often the first chance for critics to see completed episodes of new series and to interview showrunners and cast members.
   "Likewise, calling TCA a "junket" is unfair. It's a two-week convention of television critics that give them a chance to find out about new and returning series for the networks and cable channels. I would imagine that either the Star paid for his trip or Aaron paid for it himself. It's not paid for by the people he's covering, usually what the word "junket" implies."