layoffs
A loyal reader of this site, who simply wants to be known as a “Guy With a List,” has provided the names of those journalists who have been let go at the Kansas City Star over the years.
He calls it his “Michael C. Fannin Wall of Shame” in recognition of the Star editor who took the helm at the McClatchy-owned paper nearly five years ago an oversaw the cutbacks.
Here is the list (feel free to reply with any names that were missed):
Rick Alm (business), Melodee Blobaum (local), Gail Borelli (features), David Boyce (sports), Jennifer Bhargava (local), Melodee Blobaum (local), Robert Butler (features), Hearne Christopher (features), Diane Carroll (local), Mike Casey (local), Bob Cole (business), Charles Coulter (edit page), Angela Curry (features), John Mark Eberhart (features).
Mike Fitzgerald (sports), Jeff Flanagan (sports), Robert Folsom (features), Malcolm Garcia (local), Bill Graham (local), David Hayes (business), Randy Heaster (business), Kevin Hoffman (local), Allen Holder (features), Paul Horsley (features), Julius Karash (business), Heather Krafft (features), Vickie Long (business), Bob Luder (sports).
Jennifer Mann (business), Mike Mansur (local), Brian McTavish (features), Gene Meyer (business), Eric Palmer (business), Jim Pedley (sports), Russ Pulley (local), Mike Rice (local), Howard Richman (sports), Steve Rock (sports/local), Laura Scott (edit page), Sara Shepherd (local), John Shultz (local), Debra Skodack (local), DeAnn Smith (local).
Ann Spivak (features), Loren Stanton (local), Karen Uhlenhuth (features), Mechelle Voepel (sports), Kit Wagar (local), Monica Watrous (features), Paul Wenske (business), Jackie White (features), Steve Winn (edit page).
“It’s only about fifty names, but that’s only writers,” he says. “It doesn’t include so many other good photographers, copy editors, administrative assistants, and all the other folks who were the backbone of the news operation. If you include them, the list swells to over 120 laid off. Plus it doesn’t include the many people who took retirement, died, took voluntary buyouts, or found better places to work. You know…like McDonald’s.”
He added some final thoughts regarding the editor:
“May, 2013 will mark Year Five of the Mike Fannin reign. The ”Fannin Five” will go down in the history of The Star as the “Fruitless Five.” Five of the most fruitless ever: for readers, for employees, for a free press.”
HELLUVA PAPER
Gosh, that would be a hell of a newspaper. I guess it once was.
MOTHER OF ALL EUPHEMISMS
Ah, come on. None of above were “let go”, “fired”, “laid off” or none of those bad words.
According to the publisher, they were generously given the opportunity to participate in the Star’s exemplary “severance program”, which must be the mother of all euphemisms.
LOTS OF GOOD PEOPLE
I’ve actually met Laura Scott and a local blogger lets me put my silly little poems on his website from time to time, but I’m sure the rest of the folks mentioned by Guy With A List are good people, too. I understand that Mike Fannin is The Star’s former sports editor, which very much helps to explain the paper’s sports-heavy content in recent years, a “trend” I particularly dislike.
I won’t go so far as to say that Fannin needs to go, but unless there’s some sort of a shakeup down there at 18th & Grand in the very near future, things will only continue to deteriorate inside “the castle”.
LUNCHEON MEETING
Saw Fannin at lunch today with sports editor Jeff Rosen and asst. editor Chris Fickett, two guys that probably won’t be fighting over their jobs anytime soon
Those have got to be fun: talking about the latest layoffs, who’s going next, and so forth.
EDITORIAL STAFFERS
Notoriously absent from that list are the familiar faces of the Editorial page. The Star would do well to relieve itself of a few of those individuals. They should consider saving the salaries of Yael, Barb, and Lewis and perhaps retain a few of the journalists that put the NEWS in newspaper.
NEWSPAPERS ARE MORE THAN JOURNALISTS
Funny how so many of you think that the only thing that makes up a newspaper is the “journalists.” Well there were a lot of the people who worked at the Star, including me, that provided a service to put out a newspaper. They were sales people, photographers, press workers, accounting staff, ad services staff, house keeping and janitorial, security and many others.
While I regret that anyone lost their job, the writers worked in their own silo and most of them didn’t appreciate the work down by any of the other departments of the Star. I would encourage the “Guy With A List” to remember his “co-workers” who weren’t the gallant writers and did just as much, loved the business as much, and were just as passionate about their job in putting a newspaper on the street.
I’m sorry, but the vast majority of the “journalists” at the Star really had no idea and didn’t care at all about the business of running a paper.
In all fairness he did mention others were let go at the Star who were important in making the newspaper successful.
On my end, this site focuses on journalism and the media. The list highlights the journalists who are no longer at the paper and were the reason many people subscribed to it.
AMAZING LIST OF TALENT
Really miss Rick Alm and Randy Heaster on the business page. Remember when Alm covered the Dot for the Star.
The list is amazing, the talent and knowledge lost is staggering. Just wow.
VERY FEW OPINION COLUMNISTS
I’m really dumbfounded. I would think that when most people pick up or click open the paper, the last section they read (if they read it at all) is the Opinion section. Yet the list above includes very few opinion columnists. Makes me think that ideology trumps profits at the Star.
STAR EDITORIAL BOARD
Don’t know either Tony, or Dickeylee, or what their politics are, but they’re both spot on in my book.
I’ve talked to other activists around town on the other side of the fence and both sides agree that The Star’s editorial board sucks.