TKC EXCLUSIVE!!! REPORTER LYNN HORSLEY ON THE DEFENSIVE AS TKC TIPSTERS OFFERED BETTER CITADEL PLAZA COVERGE THAN THE STAR!!!

I was trying to give this old skank the benefit of the doubt but now it looks like I'm going to have to take the gloves off.

Real Talk:

CITY HALL DENIZENS REGULARLY TELL ME THAT THE ONLY REASON THEY TALK TO ME IS BECAUSE STAR REPORTER LYNN HORSLEY IS OUT OF IT AND MOST OTHER STAR "JOURNALISTS" ARE EVEN MORE LAZY AND ARROGANT!!!

Ever since DeAnn Smith was laid off, City Hall reporting from the so-called "paper-of-record" has been boring, incomplete and almost totally inconsequential. To be fair, there is a downside talking to TKC given that I don't understand something that doesn't fit into a BIGASS HEADLINE and I'm not much of a bather.

Still . . . Thanks to TKC TIPSTERS this blog has provided much more influential "journalism" (heh) and commentary on all things related to the center of power in Kansas City. A big part of the reason is because The Star is a spineless corporate entity obsessed with singing its own praises as their corporate model quickly sinks into oblivion.

As a brief aside . . . I'm not really into history, this blog is about NEWS (and white women) but name a time or place and I'll take the Pepsi Challenge with TKC coverage of The Recent Citadel Plaza Project Hot Mess and The Star's meager offerings.

Again, TKC TIPSTERS would have been happy to talk to Lynn but that sweet, old skank is too interested in getting to bed by 9 o'clock.

You know . . . I wanted to be nice to her . . . But yet another KICKASS TKC TIPSTER sent me a note that has been forwarded all over Kansas City's political circuit that contains reporter Lynn Horsley's silly defense of The Star and their growing irrelevance.

I've highlighted my favorite part . . . Allow me to retort after the conclusion of the e-mail. Check it:

Hello:

I understand you wrote in to our reader rep last week, wondering if we had stopped local government coverage, because you were having to look at blog sites to get updates on the Citadel project.

I appreciate your interest, but I would like to respond to that assertion. We have reported extensively on Citadel for years and will continue to do so. Our reader rep previously responded to you and attached links to some of our recent stories. I wanted to add to that list. I have attached a story we did last Thursday, June 25, about the council trying to figure out how to fund the project, along with a lengthy background piece we did last February about problems with the developer.

I've also attached a long blog piece we ran on Prime Buzz last week (Prime Buzz is at www.kansascity.com and contains many political updates that we don't have room for in the newspaper.) We had numerous editorial comments about Citadel by Yael Abouhalkah in his Midwest voices blog last week (again, see that at www.kansascity.com). We ran editorials in the newspaper last week, as well as a Mike Hendricks column.

The Star was the first to disclose major environmental problems several years ago at the Citadel site, and we will continue to cover that issue. But one reason we did not have a constant running commentary last week as some of the blogs did is that we recognized some of the ideas being proposed had no traction and were unlikely to go anywhere with the city council. And in fact, that turned out to be the case, as the council again postponed any action for at least two more weeks. We cannot cover every twist and turn of a particular topic in the newspaper, especially when those twists and turns don't amount to much.

We have a commitment to covering Kansas City government and will continue to do so as aggressively and fairly as possible.

Thanks for your interest and for sharing your thoughts with the reader representative.

Lynn Horsley
City Hall Reporter

First thing is first . . .

LYNN, OLD GIRL, YOU SIMPLY HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO USE A HYPERLINK!!!

Lynn's colleagues at The Star regularly complain to TKC that the sweet old bird needs at least three people to help her write a blog post when it includes something more than plain text. So I'm actually kind of glad that they have her using e-mail now. Give her some time and I bet that one of these days she might even learn how to include a photo in one of her posts.

Furthermore . . .

LYNN IS HIGHLIGHTING REPORTING FROM YEARS AGO (I.E. HISTORY) . . . UNFORTUNATELY, SHE MAY HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT THE STAR'S CHEAPSKATE ARCHIVES DON'T GO BACK THAT FAR!!!

At this point, TKC and most other bloggers have a better link architecture and archives than The Star when we're talking news that took place in the last five years . . . Thanks to Google of course.

Oh . . . And the last bastion of a scoundrel is citing the "reporting" of Mike Hendricks who did nothing more than stick his pink bulbous head into a shop in the 5th district in order to get a couple of quotes. There are bigger chunks of "journalism" in my stool than what Mike Hendricks has to offer regarding any event in Kansas City Proper.

Still . . . I guess I have to maintain at least a modicum of sympathy for the sinking ship mentality at The Star. There are misguided folks at working for the company who actually think they're competing with me, when in fact, they're on the wrong side of the digital revolution in which any bit of content can be easily copied, edited and shared while the business model for publishers is imploding. Allow the Che Guevara fan in TKC just a moment to note:

OWNERSHIP OF CONTENT IN THE ERA OF THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION NO LONGER GUARANTEES PROFIT!!!

If record companies owning the music of 50 Cent, Britney Spears and The Killers can't enforce their copyrights against the public . . . Cowtown reporters don't stand a chance . . . And it's the failure to adapt to this new way of thinking that is at the center of The Star's demise.

In that respect . . . It makes sense that Lynn Horsely of The Star is promoting stories hidden behind a pay-wall . . . Or . . .

THE FACT THAT LYNN HORSELY IS PUTTING MORE EFFORT INTO DEFENDING HER JOB THAN SHE CAN MUSTER FOR HER REPORTING!!!

Yesterday, Lynn blogged a week old link from the KCPD Police Chief and dug up some old quotes while TKC offered newer facts and figures . . . Anyhoo . . . I look around and I see one independent blogger after the next contributing to the discipline of Kansas City News . . .

RDM
Scooter J
BlogKC
The KC Post
Mo Rage

And so many more are doing amazing work in their spare time . . . Rather than capitalize and engage "The Wisdom of Crowds" The Star is involved in some old school fight for corporate branding.

This supreme arrogance in the face of layoffs is why The Star is fading . . . It doesn't have anything to do with phony liberal vs. Conservative arguments or spin about corporate parents.

It's elitism that's destroying The Star and, at this point, fewer ad pages, declining revenues and a disappearing subscriber base seem well deserved.