The real reason behind the Star layoffs

By JUSTIN KENDALL

Finally, we know the real reason for the Kansas City Star‘s decline.

The Star’s financial woes apparently aren’t due to the bad economy, much less the industry-wide loss of revenue as advertisers migrated to the Internet over the last two decades, or the changing habits of readers who get more of their news online. Instead, the Star‘s dying from good ol’ liberal bias, according to Kansas’ new “fair and factual” news site.

Monday’s purge of 50 Star employees was just the latest round of layoffs. It led to a Kansas Liberty story boldly proclaiming, “It may also be the last year in Star history if [publisher Mark] Zieman is unsuccessful in turning around the failing newspaper.”

For months, Kansas Liberty has written critical stories of the Star, the Wichita Eagle and parent company McClatchy. The stories always cite unnamed critics who claim the papers’ problems are due to their liberal bent. None of the stories run with bylines.

However, papers filed with the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office reveal that newly elected Kansas state Sen. Mary Pilcher Cook owns a 42.5 percent interest in the publication, which appears to have launched around March 2008. The ownership of the remaining 57.5 percent is unclear. Phone calls to Pilcher Cook and Kansas Liberty’s offices were not returned.