Bottom Line Communications

KC STAR REPORTER (10-30-2008):
   "If I am counting correctly, there are currently 34 reporters on The Star's Metro Desk. That includes 15 in the bureaus which are in Johnson County, eastern Jackson County, Wyandotte County and the Northland, as well as two night desk reporters.
   "There are 13 editors and 1 assistant managing editor on the Metro Desk. This does not include the state desk which includes (Dave) Helling, (Steve) Kraske, the statehouse reporters, and traveling correspondents like Scott Canon and Rick Montgomery.
   "Since the layoffs, only one Metro Desk editor has gotten the pink slip while another was moved to a reporting position. On the other hand, 11 Metro Desk reporters have either been laid off, took buyouts or left for other jobs.
    "What the desk has now is pretty much 1 editor for every 3 reporters. don't be surprised if that ratio falls to 2 reporters for every editor before Thanksgiving.
    "I encourage people reading this Web site to ask themselves if The Star's Metro section is a better product today than it was a year ago. Are you better informed about the elections this year than you were about the elections in 2006? Are the stories in-depth? My answer to all three questions are no."

   "As a former Star editor, I must agree with my anonymous former colleague. During the last round of layoffs, the rank-and-file were told that management would be receiving heavy scrutiny. But so far, nobody in a supervisory position (no matter how menial or incompetent) has been let go.
   "Perhaps more sickening: The Star's masthead still shows eight vice presidents. And I guarantee that after the November layoffs, there will still be eight. Eventually, there will be more vice presidents than reporters.                    
   "Meanwhile, the product will continue to suffer visibly as the competent folks are sloughed away. Had The Star been serious about cost-cutting, the positions of editor and publisher would have been combined into one, like it was back in the good old days of yellow journalism ... when they didn�t try to hide it."

    As a former Star reporter, I am sickened by this news. If they are going to lay people off again, it better be some high-ranking brass and do-nothing staff with bloated salaries that take the fall.
    Anyone familar with The Star newsroom knows that management has used the two layoffs to rid themselves of reporters and low-level editors who they deemed as undesirable. One reporter who was let go made a measly $40,000 a year despite being there more than 20 years. I'm sure that reporter's firing really helped the bottom line.
     If The Star really wants to help McClatchy's bottom line, start by firing (publisher) Mark Zieman. Then give the hatchet to his own hatchetman Randy Smith, whose move from the Metro Desk to this Strategic Development VP position in May has been missed by absolutely no one. Then get rid of all of the assistant managing editors except Chris Lester and Daryl Levings. 
    If the paper wants to restore its credibility and save a few more bucks, send pink slips to the following columnists- Hearne Christopher, Jenee Osterhelt, Debra Skodack and Steve Penn.
    Of course, the chances of this happening are slim and none. If there is anything that I learned from my time at The Star, it is that the good get buried while the bad rise to the top. 
    But as long as The Star gets plenty of manufactured awards that it can write plenty about in Sunday's Metro section, then everything is fine.