A beloved Kansas City writer and music aficionado recently earned an outpouring of sympathy and encouragement with his social media blast revealing continued harsh times at the local newspaper.
Here's the word:
"After 21+ years with The Kansas City Star, my time there has come to an end. The Star and parent company, McClatchy put several of us on a 90-day unpaid furlough back in April and on the 91st day they let us know we wouldn't be going back to work."
Accordingly and what this note confirms . . .
LAYOFFS CONTINUE AT THE KANSAS CITY STAR AS THE McCLATCHY ACQUISITION THREATENS MORE COST CUTTING!!!
The response that we've seen from local newsies is hopeful but also naive.
Not all of the KC Star castaways can work for cut-rate prices for public TV or NPR. We've seen a few launch startup e-mail newsletters and blog operations that are nothing more than 2020 campaign season ploys funded by progressive political interests . . . The funding is sketchy and doesn't include dental for workers stuck stringing out progressive talking points and hoping for rigged social media attention.
We won't pretend to have the answer for desperate newsies . . . Mayor Quinton Lucas has floated the idea of (more) taxpayer support for the newspaper that would completely ruin their credibility and any semblance of objectivity.
And whilst the public feigns love of local "journalism" (lulz) the numbers tell a different story. Far more people would rather scroll social media to spy on former loves and spar with family and frenemies rather than learn about sordid local government actions.
On the bright side, TV is doing a much better job of stepping up their local reporting game and their reach is far greater than dead-tree media.
Blame COVID-19 or the decline of literacy in America . . . But there is now simply no denying that paper is an outdated and obsolete method of delivering news as the transition to the Internets all but eliminates the competitive advantage of fading dead-tree institutions.
Check the links:
McClatchy DC: Chatham Asset Management, the hedge fund that won McClatchy Co. at auction, announced Friday that media industry veteran Tony W. Hunter will be the company’s new chief executive.
Jimmy C: Tony Hunter, McClatchy’s new chief executive, has been chairman of the board of a marijuana company the last 13 months.
Poynter: What you need to know about hedge funds — and their affinity for newspaper organizations
NPR: 'Ghosting The News' Author Says Local Journalism 'Freefall' Is Accelerating
AFP: Virus hastens newspapers' slide into shaky digital future
Developing . . .