Meet Yvette Walker, The Star’s opinion editor writing to bring KC together
A city can thrive and it can fall based on its people, policy and politics. And so, I believe in honest storytelling and the dignity and worth of every person. As the opinion editor of The Kansas City Star, I try to infuse our columns, editorials and commentaries with these core values. I’ve written about issues as macro as the need for grocery stores to as micro as my memory of the death of Precious Doe.
As a longtime journalist — with two careers at The Star — I believe in truth-telling and thoughtful public conversation. Journalism, for me, is a form of service that helps people understand the world and holds institutions accountable. That’s why opinion columnists speak to local news and policymakers and question them based on decisions they make.
But I quit the business of journalism for a while. I left The Star for Oklahoma, and while there, became the assistant dean at the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma. I taught journalism to college students passionate about media. I guess that rubbed off on me because I felt the call to return to full-time journalism in 2023, and came back home to The Star. By the way, my welcome home story was a doozy.
I also believe in service to the institution of journalism and this column serves as an example, in which I partnered with the Wichita Eagle Opinion editor to explain why both The Star and Eagle editorial boards came together for a joint editorial about police overreach against the Marion County Record newspaper. The Star and The Eagle won the Scripps Howard Journalism Award for Distinguished Service to the First Amendment for a series of these stories.
Speaking of service, I was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame in 2020. I’m a former national board member for the Society of Professional Journalists, board member of Freedom of Information Oklahoma, and a former editor of the National Association of Black Journalists magazine.
I’m from the South Side of Chicago, (this humorous column shows my roots) and I’ve worked at several major news operations in Indiana, Michigan, Missouri and Texas. I serve regularly at my Northland church in the Connection and DivorceCare ministries, and I’m the founder and host of the Positively Joy podcast and ministry, which explores faith, healing, and life after divorce (Last year I wrote about Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly’s divorce, as well as the church and immigration). I’m married, I have an older cat named Gato and I enjoy smart horror and indie movies.
