I thought I’d never write anything here. Alas, the time has come to be an AJ. My paper just fired our editor, and one of our senior writers left in protest. Our staff is demoralized, decimated, we have a publisher with 5 months on the job and a marketing career as collateral. We have a CEO who would rather line the pockets of his VC consultant buddies than invest in the “transformation model” he so drastically needs to avoid his company being snatched away by the creditors.Leave feedback in comments.
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Update: A commenter thinks he has figured out the unnamed newspaper with "demoralized and decimated staff" and a publisher with a marketing background. Click here to see. Any other nominations?
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15 comments:
Publisher with 5 months and a Marketing background? Mark "the ad guy" Zieman - KC Star
As I understand it, Zieman has a marketing background. Hmmm.
Zieman seems to have a lot in his background none of which helps him run a newspaper "The India Star".
If its the KC Star, well then, I guess going after Funk and Semler and Kline etc etc, makes this emailer a coward. How about going on the record with another media outlet about what's going on?
Yeah, posting anonymously about your employer when you are a "journalist" makes you a coward.
6:33 I'd say your a coward. Where's your name? If your so proud why anonymous put your name where your mouth is.
How about you going on the record?
Yeah, posting anonymously about your employer when you are a "journalist" makes you a coward.
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Looks like Zieman and the Star are the culprits. This is typical Star management mentality. So completely out of touch with reality, they think they can anonymously shame someone into placing their head on the chopping block. Even though everyone knows that so much as mentioning or inquiring about someone who has been laid off, constitutes "rumor mongering" and they will be fired.
Is that you Rhonda? I am thinking you're the only one dumb enough to try this.
Zieman's background is in the newsroom, according to The Star's editorial board Web site, voices.kansascity.com
Here's the pertinent portion of the bio:
Mark Zieman was appointed president and publisher of The Star in March 2008. Before that, he was vice president and editor for 10 years, leading the newsroom to numerous national and regional awards, a major redesign and development of the successful newspaper online site, KansasCity.com. He previously served as managing editor, projects editor and an investigative reporter. Prior to working for The Star, Zieman was a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, covering space, aviation and technology in Texas. Zieman received his journalism degree from the University of Kansas and earned an Executive MBA from Rockhurst University.
Yep, that is what is so funny about his Bio. It was completely revised in the second article that they posted after the announcement. It was completely revised within minutes of the original announcement. They did a masterful job at removing his advertising department history and dressing him up as if he were actually qualified to do the job.
Funny stuff, no doubt. Especially during the time while they had both articles posted online which completely contradicted on another.
Please tell us he's going back to cover space. Ship leaves in the spring.
6:43 pm--I'm only a subscriber of the KC Star, not an employee. If the person who wrote that email/comment is a writer and he thinks the best way to vent his frustrations at his employer is by anonymously posting a comment on the Internet, then he is a COWARD. Period.
Zieman doesn't have a marketing background. No senior writer at The STarresigned in protest over the firing of an editor.
But the five months as publisher thing was correct, so it's obvious that the angry journalist was writing about the kc star.
Please, can't you guy guys do any better than this?
Can't the Star do a better job at putting together a newspaper? ADS, OBITS AND PICTURES....not much anything else.
.....don't forget the columnists. The KC Star is ads, obits, pictures and columnists. Reporting, not so much.
The obits were down today. People must be delaying death to after the holidays. The same as the newspapers.
I don't know who this is and the writer says 'he' and 'his'. There are also a lot of new publishers with turnover and turmoil throughout the company.
This was interesting to me, though...from the SacBee (http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/826700.html)
Cheryl Dell to replace Janis Heaphy as Sacramento Bee publisher
(Cheryl) Dell, who was born in Oakdale, had her picture published on the front page of McClatchy's Modesto Bee when she was 5. Her first daily newspaper job came at age 24, in the advertising department of the Contra Costa Times, and she began her McClatchy career as ad director in Modesto in 1997.
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