Recently, I had another great opportunity to sit down and talk with Kansas City journalist Alan McArthur about his new project . . .
The KC Reporter.
He's still tinkering with his CMS and getting his ducks in a row . . . But blogging technology is easy to master, it's coming up with something unique that's hard.
We talked in great detail about what he wants to accomplish and it seems like he has a great game plan and understanding about local news.
Alan McArthur is a young guy that's not even 30 years-old but he's no newbie to the local news game.
Mr. McArthur has worked at The Platte County Landmark and covered some pretty groundbreaking stories at that paper . . .
We already reported that he cleared out some desk space @ City Hall . . . A rather NICE move that we're sure made demoted Star newsie Mike Hendricks at least take notice.
And at important local City Hall meetings he's become a fixture . . . And quite a well-dressed one at that. Dude is always wearing a tie and nice shirt. Which is kind of cool since my trusty blue jacket is now tattered and starting to smell like Brush Creek.
Nevertheless . . .
TKC is all about creating a blog community and putting the newest latest on blast . . . To wit . . . After another conversation with Mr. McArthur and a TKC EXCLUSIVE SNEAK PREVIEW @ what he's planning . . . I can't help but be impressed with another local who is passionate about Kansas City news and willing to take a risk in our growing, local online community.
DEVELOPING . . .
looks like u found ur new boss.
ReplyDeleteYeah, great work, Alan. Let's look at your Facebook page.
ReplyDeleteThe Reporter is proud to announce we will be officially launching the website on Monday, October 17.
Once again the launch of the website has been delayed. We should be able to actually have a working core website by Monday, October 24.
Well, here we are, and despite missing two deadlines, it's "coming along quite nicely?" Two missed deadlines gets you fired anywhere else.
And getting publicity from Slanderella is a questionable move at best. Quit hanging around with King Libel here. Seriously. It makes you look like a publicity whore.
But good luck. And I hope you took a few lessons from kctribune.com (which was also a charity case) and kcfreepress.com, which was backed by actual money and had an actual staff.
And didn't miss deadlines.
Well, I followed the link and found essentially nothing.
ReplyDeleteThe online equivalent of vaporware?
I like the pic. Where is that?
ReplyDeleteLooks like outside the Quaff. Or knowing Tony. Probably Quiznos.
ReplyDeleteA dog with different fleas. Who is going to advertise online?
ReplyDeleteIf The Star can't make it work then the hopes of these small timers are foolhardy.
Platte County Landmark = Times of London, I can't tell them apart.
ReplyDeleteThus far, few have been able to "monetize" online news.
ReplyDeleteWill The Reporter have a full staff of reporters and sports writers?
Will it have real news articles, or just opinion pieces disguised as news?
Will it have any advertising support?
Their Facebook page is "liked" by 31 people.
ReplyDeleteThe last entry says the core web site will be up by Oct. 24.
Hmmmm.
31 people are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the KC Reporter!
ReplyDeleteaw snap.
ReplyDeleteYou're a better guy than I am T.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't show the competition any mercy. But Alan has done some good reporting in his old job. I hope this works out for him.
hope he makes a good run of it. It's certainly tough to get a break in KC.
ReplyDeleteYeah, you know what they say ... if you can make it in KC you can make it anywhere.
ReplyDeleteAnon 8:18 PM
ReplyDeleteI think most of Tony's loyal readers are tired of your slander. Instead of putting someone down, maybe you should just repeat over & over: I'm better than you, I'm better than you, I'm better than you. Until you're just as tired of it as we are.
Well written Byron. The guy is becoming white noise for me.
ReplyDeleteHe complains daily and throughout the day but still keeps coming back for more.
If he had something to contribute that would be different. At least his latest post provided a little bit of information.
But Tony deserves the blame too. If he doesn't moderate the comments sometimes these people just keep coming back until they get tired or they don't get the attention they want.
Anon 11:02 PM
ReplyDeleteThanks.
The best advice I ever received here was 'Don't feed the trolls'. But, its really hard to follow. This blog matters to me & I hate to see it trashed by someone whose agenda is to kill it.
I'm not 11:02 but I wanted to say Byron you're a good guy. Blogs come and go. It's the Internet and good people like you who are important.
ReplyDeleteThis bullshit of constantly changing the "time" on the countdown to launch clock, is just that, bullshit!! If this is the kind of publication (online or otherwise) he is building, I, for one, will not be wasting any more time in chasing it. Screw you, "Alan"...
ReplyDeleteTony is only nice because he knows Alan is not a real threat. He hated KCfreepress and other things because they pulled in real talent, but stuff like this and nick (forgot his name) who does the kansas city kansan by himself) are going to suddenly save journalism. I wish this Alan dude well but I don't think someone from platte county register and a pretty dated design aesthetic is going to blow the doors off of anything imo
ReplyDeleteIt sucks when somebody as entrepenurial as Alan is ready to go with all the content and preparation he can do on his own, but is held back waiting on the guys whose only job is to get the platform ready and online. And they are already months behind schedule. Especially frustrating when you can't move the business end forward until you have a site up and running. Hope the design guys get their act together--soon!
ReplyDeleteKC Reporter will surprise some folks.
agree.
ReplyDelete9:55. Laugh. Part of being "entrepenurial" (sic) is knowing who to work with and how to set it up so you're not held back for months by technical problems. Publishing and distribution are part of your job description as someone launching a start-up. Does not bode well for this project.
ReplyDeleteByron is living proof that even a blind squirrel finds a nut occasionally.
ReplyDeleteYes, 8:18 is a total asshat
Yes, the readers of this blog are tired of the slanerella spam
And yes, Byron I want your comments posted, I may not agree with you, but I respect differing viewpoints and you are one of the more articulate ones on this blog.
This article on KCReporter looks really promising. Diversity, happiness, hyperlocality:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.kcreporter.com/photos/gallery/photos/people/image/depositphotos_3327607-two-african-american-business-people-smiling-together