MORE NEWS

• George F. Will | Obamacare’s thoughtless damage to a key industry

  May 9, 4:34 PM

  B Bill Hewlett and David Packard, tinkering in a California garage, began what became Hewlett-Packard. Steve Jobs and a friend built a computer in the California garage that became Apple’s birthplace. Bill Cook had no garage, so he launched Cook Medical in a spare bedroom in an apartment.

• It’s the season for political fact-checking

  Apr 29, 7:39 PM

  Now that both major parties’ presidential candidates are settled, the political season is just around the corner. The refrain I hear most often from readers is simple: The Star needs to cover the campaigns vigorously, with an emphasis on holding politicians accountable for sticking to the facts.

• Cover homicide victims sensitively

  Apr 15, 6:05 PM

  Some of the most difficult conversations I have with readers come when I’m contacted by family members or loved ones of the victims of violent crime. These situations involve the uncomfortable intersection between journalists’ duty to report the news and a previously private citizen who has been thrust into the limelight unwillingly.

• Expanding frontiers of feedback

  Apr 1, 5:24 PM

  “Newspaper companies such as The Kansas City Star have spent decades honing their primary goal: to convey gobs of information to their readers,” writes Derek Donovan, the paper’s readers’ representative who now takes the new title of public editor. “They’re generally very good at it, but lines of communication should ideally go in two directions.”

• Readers want timely notice about caucuses, primaries

  Mar 18, 5:52 PM

  In comedy, they say timing is everything. A lot of readers would say the same thing about The Kansas City Star. As another election season gets into its full stride, I haven’t been surprised that my calls and emails increasingly concern readers’ thoughts about how the paper is covering the political process.

• Wiggle room in placing corrections

  Mar 3, 12:23 AM

  I don’t think journalists should ever be upset about writing a correction. After all, the important thing is setting the record straight — always the ultimate goal the first time around.

• Readers request a focus on science

  Feb 19, 5:13 PM

  Creating a new regular feature isn’t something editors decide to do on a whim, and it involves more logistical planning than many readers might suspect. But a recurring science page is a suggestion I’ve passed along multiple times through the years, and I’m sure I’ll continue to hear it reiterated in the future.

• Print vs. online debate continues

  Feb 5, 6:09 PM

  Well over a decade into online distribution, readers and the publishing industry alike continue to debate the wisdom of newspapers giving away their content for free. And while I know I’ll always hear many more negatives than positives, devotees of the print edition often contact me to voice their displeasure at what they view as the disconnect between the platforms.

• ‘Creative’ cartoon profanity is no joke

  Jan 15, 4:50 PM

  Readers often contact me to debate the suitability of subject matter and language in The Kansas City Star. Should there be standards of decorum and age appropriateness across the entire publication?

• Time to tally corrections from 2011

  Jan 2, 11:18 AM

  In 2011, The Kansas City Star published approximately 38,000 stories and well over 50,000 photographs, graphics, charts and other visual items. Out of those, 235 generated corrections. That’s down from 2010’s tally of an even 300, though that year’s story count was slightly higher at just under 41,000.

• Some of the most memorable errors of 2011

  Dec 18, 6:00 PM

  Craig Silverman, who writes the great “Regret the Error” blog for the Poynter Institute, asked me and other editors and ombudsmen types: What corrections from your publication stand out as significant or memorable this year? I obviously pay close attention to The Star’s corrections, and I’ll come back with a full 2011 tally after the end of the year. I highlighted two in my reply to Silverman.

• Coverage of Phelps family touches a nerve for some readers

  Nov 27, 6:57 PM

  Topeka’s Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church are among the highest-profile Kansans, known around the world for their “protests” at a wide variety of public events. And readers often contact me to discuss how they think The Kansas City Star should cover them.

• Loudest voices aren’t always best to heed

  Nov 19, 6:58 PM

  Readers occasionally ask me how I choose from the concerns, criticisms and even compliments I hear when I’m putting together a column or writing on my blog. I can truthfully tell them I’m rarely at a loss for topics.

• Disappearance of baby Lisa Irwin captivates, frustrates readers

  Oct 30, 9:10 PM

  Last week I appeared on “Up to Date,” a radio show on KCUR hosted by The Kansas City Star’s political correspondent Steve Kraske. One of our topics of conversation was the ongoing media coverage of the disappearance of Lisa Irwin — something readers have been contacting me about often as well.

• Wrong concert date, especially in multiple places, shouldn’t have made it to print

  Oct 16, 8:02 PM

  Last Thursday, I received a number of calls and email messages from readers who were confused at a basic, black-and-white fact they read — multiple places, in fact — in The Kansas City Star that day. “Did the Midland theater change the date of the Roger Daltrey ‘Tommy’ show at the last minute?” asked one caller. “I’ve had my tickets for weeks, and they say right on them that it’s Friday night, the 14th. But right at the top of the front page and then in the (Preview) section at least two more times it says it’s Saturday. I can’t believe they’d change the show at the last minute and leave all the ticket-holders needing to change their plans. I don’t know if my babysitter can change. I’m hoping (The Star) just messed it all up, because this is way too much trouble if not.”

• Anonymity puts the burden of credibility on journalists

  Oct 2, 7:21 PM

  Journalists’ use of unnamed sources can be a source of confusion to readers and potential interview subjects alike. The Kansas City Star occasionally uses unnamed sources, but the policy lays out rules for doing so — and acknowledges the potential risk to the journalist’s credibility.

• Source’s criminal history: a deciding factor in coverage?

  Sep 11, 9:33 PM

  Finding credible individuals to interview or photograph as part of a news story can be a difficult task. Many journalists contact some sources routinely, such as the business reporter who speaks with the public relations staff of a major corporation on a regular basis. But finding subjects for one-off coverage can present a different, and possibly precarious, set of circumstances.

• Description of Kirksville is hurtful to some residents

  Aug 28, 7:46 PM

  I know I can’t get in readers’ heads and understand how they filter news that deals with a subject that touches on important aspects of their lives. And that’s why I wasn’t surprised by the voices I heard in sometimes-strong opposition to the Aug. 14 A1 centerpiece, which made comparisons between athletics programs in U.S. Census Tracts 9510 and 84.

• Hot summer, political impasse, frustrated readers

  Aug 15, 10:49 PM

  It’s been a long, hot summer so far, and I’m sensing a good deal of frustration among the readers contacting me recently.

• Coverage of Tierney, diocese lawsuits divides readers

  Jul 30, 10:02 PM

  I am making no judgment whatsoever about the merits of the allegations against the Rev. Michael Tierney or the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. But I do concur that journalists need to be circumspect in covering civil suits, which — it bears repeating — are not criminal cases brought by prosecutors.

• Catholic readers conflicted over coverage of clergy sex-abuse allegations

  Jul 24, 12:00 AM

  After the news about the Rev. Shawn Ratigan broke, almost every reader who contacted me urged The Star to stay on top of the story. I’m now hearing more voices from churchgoers who think coverage of the accusations and investigations has shown bias against the church in general.

• Information overload requires careful sifting

  Jul 9, 7:15 PM

  Not a startling insight: The ready availability of information in the Internet age has brought about one of the most fundamental changes in the history of journalism.

• ‘The Buzz’ makes some readers vibrate with anger

  Jun 25, 9:37 PM

  I get the makings of a full column almost every Sunday — right after readers have the chance to read and digest the weekly political “Buzz” column on Page A2.

• How to characterize unusual Ashcroft ‘unanimous’ Supreme Court decision

  Jun 4, 10:26 PM

  Few cases that make it to the Supreme Court of the United States are slam dunks for one side. Their intricacies are usually why they’ve risen to the level of the highest court in the land, after all.

• ‘Militant’ and ‘vigilante’: Loaded with connotations

  Nov 9, 2:57 PM

  The Kansas City Star first reported that Kansas City park board member Frances Semler is a member of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps on June 12. Since then I’ve heard a consistent stream of reader comment about the controversy.