Northeast Kansas City paper publishes blank front page as plea in ‘desperate’ times
The front page of The Northeast News said a lot about the “potential future of hyper-local news providers” in Kansas City by saying, well, nothing at all.
The weekly newspaper’s editorial team left the front page of its March 24 edition blank saying it relies largely on advertisers to “keep the lights on and the presses running,” Abby Hoover, the paper’s managing editor, wrote in a story that ran inside and online under the headline: “You decide: The future of Northeast News.” It offered a glimpse of what could happen if things don’t change.
The blank page was meant to grab people’s attention — and it did, Hoover said in a phone interview.
“We got so many calls yesterday,” she said.
Callers thought it was a printing error. Others thought that the staff had messed up some how. Hoover told them to open the paper and read their thoughts and assess the value that they think the Northeast News adds to the community.
“The truth is, we have a 60 day lifespan if something doesn’t change,” Hoover wrote. “The Northeast News is produced every week on a shoestring budget. We’ve been desperate before.”
Hoover said she’s just the managing editor, so she doesn’t deal directly with the financial.
“But I do know that if it’s not this 60s days, it’s going to be the next 60 days and then it’s going to be the next 60 days,” she said. “The thing is that it’s not sustainable where we are now.”
The paper needs to get its bigger advertisers back, she said.
In an editorial, publisher Michael Bushnell wrote that locally owned and operated news organizations across the country are struggling with many in danger of closing.
“Lagging ad revenue brought on by the pandemic combined with the recent loss of three key accounts have put this community news source that has served the Historic Northeast community for over 90 years in jeopardy of closing its doors forever,” Bushnell wrote.
The newspaper, which doesn’t charge subscription fees or have an online paywall, was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Many small businesses cut advertising to make ends meet and as a result the paper’s ad revenue dropped, Hoover said.
Throughout the pandemic, the paper provided COVID-19 coverage targeted to those who live in the Northeast along with its regular news coverage.
“A lot of the things we cover wouldn’t be newsworthy to some of the bigger outlets and that’s totally understandable,” she said, adding they cover the entire metro area.
“But we’re here in the aftermath,” Hoover said. “After the cameras go home, after the police wrap up their tape, we’re her chronicling the long term effects those things have on the community that we all hold dear to our hearts because you know we live here.”
The newspaper asked readers to consider making a recurring or one-time donation to the paper. There’s a donate button at the top of its website. It also urged them to support businesses that advertise in the paper.
The plea for support highlights the financial struggle local Kansas City news operations are facing. In December, the Jackson County Advocate published its final edition after covering Grandview and south Kansas City communities for nearly 68 years. The newspaper said it came down to “dollars and cents” and that the community no longer supported it in a way that made the business able to remain successful.
Last year, The Kansas City Star announced it would leave the iconic glass building downtown and look for a new home to cut costs. As part of that transition, printing of The Star was moved up Interstate 35 to the Des Moines Register, which is owned by Gannett Co.
