MORE NEWS

• ‘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.

• Conspiracy theories a distraction from real news

  May 7, 10:29 PM

  Nearly everyone loves a good mystery. The allure of hidden knowledge can be tantalizing, and authors like Dan Brown and David Baldacci sell millions of copies of their sagas of secret history and the unseen hands behind world events. Of course, some conspiracies actually do exist.

• Most readers think Donald Trump’s campaign merits serious attention

  Apr 23, 9:38 PM

  Like Donald Trump or hate him, he’s still placing in these early presidential polls. I agree with those readers who classify his putative campaign as a worthy subject of coverage.

• Why detail federal budget plan’s political improbability?

  Apr 9, 7:34 PM

  Is it fair to call U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan's proposal to completely overhaul Medicare an “end” to the program? Perhaps the story should have added “as we know it,” as syndicated columnist Jonah Goldberg of National Review put it. Still, I think those are some mighty fine hairs to split.

• When Page A1 turns sporty or fluffy, readers object

  Apr 2, 8:02 PM

  All departments pitch stories for the front page, and the general philosophy is that any topic should be fair game for consideration out front. But readers’ criticisms of those choices, especially when they deviate from “hard news,” are evergreen at my lines.

• Earthquake news out of sync with print schedule

  Mar 12, 7:44 PM

  The fuller details about the destruction along Japan’s coast began to emerge well after Friday's edition of The Star had been printed and loaded onto trucks for distribution throughout the circulation area.

• Use a skeptic’s eye when covering ‘psychic’ powers

  Feb 26, 7:49 PM

  There are many people who claim to have powers that fall under the category of the paranormal, but when The Kansas City Star publishes a story touching on those who profess such abilities, readers sometimes offer their thoughts on how journalists should cover them.

• Balance needed to offset overwhelming negativity

  Feb 12, 7:55 PM

  Would it be more “fair” to parse out letters to the editor by math, demanding one positive for every negative? I’d say no, but I agree that popularity isn’t the only gauge of merit.

• ‘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.