By John Landsberg [email protected] 07-24-2008 Admittedly, we are a bit sensitive about errors/corrections in stories after Kansas City Star columnist Mike Hendricks slapped us over a story we ran about an umpire being attacked during a recent Little League game. His point was that journalism should be left to real journalists like those at the Star and not the "blogosphere." However, on 7/24 the Star was forced to its knees and admit an entire story regarding the seating at the Sprint Center Arena done by award-winning reporter DeAnn Smith was completely wrong. Keep in mind, this was a major story compiled over several weeks and read and edited by scores of journalists. It ran nationally in many McLatchy-owned stories. Now the Star has been forced to write a "Correction" on Page A-1, another one on Page A2, and then a 9-inch "story" in its print edition (below) that says its original expose' was completely wrong. It conveniently did not label the large article as a "correction" or even mention Smith's name, but that's exactly what it was. When the story first appeared we applauded Smith for a great article. In fact, she is one of the finest reporters at the Kansas City Star, and we have said so many times on this site. In fact, there are still questions whether her story is totally inaccurate. In the umpire story we found ourselves on the opposite side of very powerful folks. However, we honestly never thought those same kind of folks could intimidate and bring the area's leading newspaper to its knees. We were wrong. We are embarrassed for the journalists there, many of whom we consider friends. They know now if enough pressure is applied they will have their legs cut out underneath them. The folks behind the Sprint Center and HOK Architects are extremely powerful. It is easy to speculate that Smith might have been thrown under the bus for crossing the wrong folks despite facts have been discussing the size of the seats at the Sprint Arena since Day One. The Star recently fired some of its best journalists and is struggling financially. In the past the the paper would stand behind its reporters, editors and stories. Not anymore. Yes, it would be easy to do the "People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" over recent attacks on us. We won't. We will only say that we can never remember such a low point in journalism in Kansas City. We are embarrassed for the fine journalists who still remain at the Kansas City Star.
FEEDBACK (07-25-2008): "I am so sick of newspapers, the entire industry needs to hang its head. Why wouldn't the Star reporter simply go into the arena and measure the damn seats? And measure from the center of the arm rest? Who sits on the arm rest? "By the way, the Star has taken down the link to the original story. However, you can still read it on some other sites because it was distributed on the McClatchy/Tribune wire."
Posted on Wed, Jul. 23, 2008
Sprint seats are roughly equal to those of other arenas The Kansas City Star A July 7 report about the small size of some Sprint Center seats incorrectly compared Sprint seats to those of some other arenas. In fact, Sprint seats are roughly the same dimensions as in those arenas. The report, which addressed the growing girth of Americans and the tight fit some are finding in arena seats, listed seat sizes provided by the Sprint Center. Those figures showed Sprint had smaller seats than some other recently built arenas, but those other arenas measure seats differently. When measured from the centers of the armrests, Sprint�s smallest seats compare favorably. The average size of all Sprint seats is slightly larger than the average in seven other arenas built since 2000, the seat manufacturer said. �Sprint Center is our hometown arena,� said Rick Martin, principal in charge of the Sprint Center design for the Downtown Arena Design Team. �From day one, our Downtown Arena Design Team was devoted to creating a quality arena.� In addition, Martin said the site acreage had no bearing on the width of the seats, as the report had said. �While the shape and slope of the site presented some challenges, it certainly was adequate � in terms of size,� he said. The seat dimensions that the operators of Kemper Arena and Kauffman and Arrowhead stadiums provided also were different from those used by the seat manufacturers. The smallest seats in those venues are no smaller than in Sprint or other recently built arenas, the seat manufacturers said.
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