The Kansas City Star

For the 1965 Roger Miller single, seeKansas City Star (song).

The Kansas City Star

The May 2, 2011, front page ofThe Kansas City Star,with headline reporting thekilling of Osama bin Laden.
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Broadsheet
Owner(s)	McClatchy
Publisher	Tony Berg
Editor	Mike Fannin
Founded	1880(1880)
Headquarters	1601 McGee Kansas City, MO64108 USA
Circulation	89,175 Daily 109,438 Sunday (as of 2020).
ISSN	0745-1067
OCLCnumber	3555868
Website	kansascity

The Kansas City Staris a newspaper based inKansas City, Missouri.Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eightPulitzer Prizes.

The Staris most notable for its influence on the career of PresidentHarry S. Trumanand as the newspaper where a youngErnest Hemingwayhoned his writing style.The paper is the major newspaper of theKansas City metropolitan areaand has widespread circulation in westernMissouriand easternKansas.

History

Nelson family ownership (1880–1926)

William Rockhill Nelson

The paper, originally calledThe Kansas City Evening Star,was founded September 18, 1880, byWilliam Rockhill NelsonandSamuel E. Morss.The two moved to Missouri after selling the newspaper that became theFort Wayne News Sentinel(and earlier owned by Nelson's father) in Nelson'sIndianahometown, where Nelson was campaign manager in the unsuccessful presidential run ofSamuel Tilden.

Morss quit the newspaper business within a year and a half because of ill health. At the time there were three daily competitors – theEvening Mail;TheKansas City Times;and theKansas City Journal.

CompetitorTimeseditorEugene Fieldwrote this about the new newspaper:

Twinkle, twinkle, little Star

Bright and gossipy you are;

We can daily hear you speak

For a paltry dime a week.

Nelson's business strategy called for cheap advance subscriptions and an intention to be "absolutely independent in politics, aiming to deal by all men and all parties with impartiality and fearlessness.".

He purchased theKansas City Evening Mail(and itsAssociated Pressevening franchise) in 1882. The paper name was changed toThe Kansas City Starin 1885. Nelson started theWeekly Kansas City Starin 1890 and theSunday Kansas City Starin 1894. In 1901 Nelson also bought the morning paperTheKansas City Times(and its morning Associated Press franchise). Nelson announced the arrival of the "24 Hour Star."

In August 1902, future presidentHarry S. Trumanworked in the mailroom for two weeks, making $7.00 the first week and $5.40 the second. In 1950, then-president Truman half joked in an unmailed letter toStareditor Roy Roberts, "If theStaris at all mentioned in history, it will be because the President of the U.S. worked there for a few weeks in 1901 [sic]. "

The paper was first printed on the second story of a three-story building at 407–409 Delaware. In 1881, it moved 14 W. 5th Street. In 1882, it moved to 115 W. 6th. In 1889, it moved to 804–806 Wyandotte. Sometime between 1896 and 1907, it was located at 1025–1031 Grand.In 1911, it moved into itsJarvis Hunt-designed building at 18th and Grand.

Nelson died in 1915. Nelson provided in his will that his newspaper was to support his wife and daughter and then be sold.

Ernest Hemingwaywas a reporter for theStarfrom October 1917 to April 1918. Hemingway creditedStareditor C.G. "Pete" Wellington with changing a wordy high-schooler's writing style into clear, provocative English. Throughout his lifetime, Hemingway referred to this admonition fromThe Star Copy Style,the paper's famous and often usedstyle guide:

Use short sentences. Use short first paragraphs. Use vigorous English. Be positive, not negative.

Nelson's wife died in 1921; his daughter Laura Kirkwood died in aBaltimorehotel room in 1926 at the age of 43.

Employee ownership (1926–1977)

Laura's husband Irwin Kirkwood, who was editor of the paper, led the employee purchase. Kirkwood in turn died of a heart attack in 1927 inSaratoga Springs,New York,where he had gone to sell thoroughbred horses. Stock in the company was then distributed among other employees.

Virtually all proceeds from the sale and remains of Nelson's $6 million personal fortune were donated to create theNelson-Atkins Museum of Arton the site of Nelson's home, Oak Hall. Both papers were purchased by the employees in 1926 following the death of Nelson's daughter.

TheStarenjoyed a pivotal role in American politics beginning in the late 1920s when Iowa-nativeHerbert Hooverwas nominated at the 1928 Republican convention in Kansas City and continuing through 1960 at the conclusion of the presidency of Kansas favoriteDwight D. Eisenhower.

EditorRoy A. Roberts(1887–1967) was to make the newspaper a major force in Kansas politics. Roberts joined the paper in 1909 and was picked by Nelson for the Washington bureau in 1915. Roberts became managing editor in 1928. He was instrumental in pushing Kansas GovernorAlf Landonfor the Republican nomination in 1936; Landon was defeated in the general election byFranklin D. Roosevelt.

In 1942, theJournal,the last daily competitor, ceased publication. TheJournalhad offered unwavering support ofTom Pendergast's political machine; once Pendergast had fallen from power, the paper suffered.

In 1945, the paper bought the Flambeau Paper Mill inPark Falls, Wisconsinto provide newsprint. The mill was to be cited for pollution problems and have labor problems, and the Star was to eventually divest itself of the mill in 1971.

Roberts was elevated to president of theStarin 1947. TheStarwas not particularly kind to hometownDemocratHarry Truman,who had been backed by famed big city Democratic Machine BossTom Pendergast.In 1953, the Truman administration in its closing days filed antitrust charges against theStarover its ownership ofWDAF-TV.The Star launched radio stationWDAFon May 16, 1922, and television outlet WDAF-TV on October 19, 1949. TheStarlost its case and had to sign a consent decree in 1957 that led to the sale of the broadcast stations.

With the influence of theStarin Truman's hometown, the newspaper and Roberts were the subject of an April 12, 1948, cover issue ofTimemagazine.

In 1954, Topeka correspondent Alvin McCoy won a Pulitzer Prize for a series of articles questioning the business dealings of the Republican national chairman. Roberts reported the Pulitzer Prize in a four-paragraph item.

Roberts semi-retired in 1963, officially retired in 1965, and died in 1967.

Corporate ownership (1977–present)

First morning edition of theKansas City Staron March 1, 1990, that came in a special package including the last edition of theKansas City Timesand the last afternoon edition of theStar

The new printing plant which opened in June 2006. The headquarters is the red brick building on the lower right.

Capital Cities/Disney (1977–1997)

Local ownership of theTimesandStarended in 1977 with their purchase byCapital Cities.In 1990, theStarbecame a morning newspaper taking the place of what was then the largerKansas City Timeswhich ceased publication. TheWalt Disney Companyacquired Capital Cities/ABC in January 1996. Disney sold the paper toKnight Ridderin May 1997 as Disney moved to concentrate on broadcast rather than newspaper investments. Under Capital Cities ownership, the newspaper won three Pulitzer Prizes (1982,1982,1992).

Knight Ridder/McClatchy (1997–2020)

Knight Ridder's legacy is a massive $199 million, two-block long, glass-enclosed printing and distribution plant on the northeast side of theStar's landmark red brick headquarters at 1729 Grand Avenue. The plant began printing in June 2006. It took nearly four years to build and is considered a major part of the effort to revitalize downtown Kansas City. The plant contains four 60-foot-high presses. On June 4, 2006, the first edition of theStarcame out from the new presses with a major redesign in the sections and the logo. The new paper design involved shrinking itsbroadsheetwidth from 15 to 12 inches and shrinking the length from 223⁄4to 211⁄2inches. Other broadsheet newspapers across the country, including theWall Street Journal,are moving to the smaller standard size.

The McClatchy CompanyboughtKnight Ridderin June 2006.

In February 2020, McClatchy filed for bankruptcy and Chatham Asset Management LLC bought it at auction.

On November 10, 2020, theStarreported, "Printing of The Star will move up Interstate 35 tothe Des Moines Register".

Apology for racism in coverage

On December 21, 2020, the paper issued an apology for a history of racism in its news coverage.A column by Mike Fannin, president and editor, said "For 140 years, it has been one of the most influential forces in shaping Kansas City and the region. And yet for much of its early history—through sins of both commission and omission—it disenfranchised, ignored and scorned generations of Black Kansas Citians. It reinforcedJim Crow lawsand redlining. Decade after early decade it robbed an entire community of opportunity, dignity, justice and recognition. "His column launched a six-part series in which the paper promised to deeply examine past coverage by the paper and its former sister paper theKansas City Times,in coverage he described as routinely sickening the reporters who worked on the story.

Pulitzer Prizes

Starheadquarters in the 1911Jarvis Hunt–designed building that is on theNational Register of Historic Places

The newspaper has won eightPulitzer Prizes:

• 1931Pulitzer Prize for Reporting–A. B. MacDonald,"for his work in connection with a murder in Amarillo, Texas."
• 1933Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing– no author named
• 1944Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing– Henry Haskell, "for editorials written during the calendar year 1943."
• 1952Pulitzer Prize Special Citation– "for the news coverage of the great regional flood of 1951 in Kansas and Northwestern Missouri –– a distinguished example of editing and reporting that also gave the advance information that achieved the maximum of public protection."
• 1954Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, No Edition Time–Alvin Scott McCoy,"for a series of exclusive stories which led to the resignation under fire of C. Wesley Roberts as Republican National Chairman."
• 1982Pulitzer Prize for Local General or Spot News Reporting– "for coverage of the Hyatt Regency Hotel disaster and identification of its causes" (along with theKansas City Times)
• 1982Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting–Rick Atkinson(of theKansas City Times), "for the uniform excellence of his reporting and writing on stories of national import."
• 1992Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting– Jeff Taylor and Mike McGraw, "for their critical examination of the U.S. Department of Agriculture."
• 2022Pulitzer Prize for Commentary– Melinda Henneberger, "for persuasive columns demanding justice for alleged victims of a retired police detective accused of being a sexual predator."

Finalists

The newspaper has been a finalist for Pulitzers on three occasions:

• 1996Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism– Chris Lester and Jeffrey Spivak, "for their series on the impact of spreading suburban growth."
• 2018Pulitzer Prize for Public Service– "for courageous, revelatory journalism that exposed a state government's decades-long 'obsession with secrecy,' intended to shield executive decisions and suppress transparency and accountability in law enforcement agencies, child welfare services and other sectors of the government.".
• 2019Pulitzer Prize for Commentary– Melinda Henneberger, "for examining, in spare and courageous writing, institutional sexism and misogyny within her hometown NFL team, her former governor's office and the Catholic Church."

Other awards

In 2018, the paper received two awards at theScripps Howard Foundation'sNational Journalism Awards.The paper itself won in the First Amendment category for its 2017 feature "Why so secret, Kansas?," on the topic of official state agency resistance to the release of public records,while columnist Melinda Henneberger won in the Opinion category.

Notable past columnists

• Ernest Hemingway
• Joe McGuff
• Joe Posnanski
• Lee Shippey
• William E. Vaughan
• William Allen White
• Jason Whitlock

See also

• Journalism portal

External links

• The Kansas City Starofficial site(Official mobile site)
• Kansas City Star Quilts
• "2007 Top 100 Daily Newspapers in the U.S. by Circulation"(PDF).BurrellesLuce. March 31, 2007.RetrievedMay 28,2007.
• "The Kansas City Star".The McClatchy Company. Archived fromthe originalon October 8, 2006.RetrievedNovember 15,2021.
• Ford, Susan Jezak (1999)."Roy A. Roberts".Kansas City Public Library. Archived fromthe originalon November 5, 2004.RetrievedOctober 23,2006.
• "The Pulitzer Prizes".Columbia University. Archived fromthe originalon October 6, 2006.RetrievedOctober 23,2006.