Breaking -- Rhonda Lokeman in DUI arrest

In news sure to rock the Kansas City Star, McClatchy Watch has learned Rhonda Lokeman, the controversial columnist who married to Kansas City Star publisher Mark Zieman, was arrested for DUI in Kansas City, MO.

The arrest occurred the first week in January and the newspaper has managed to keep her arrest a secret from KC Star readers -- at least until now.

Some readers have noticed that Lokeman's column has not run in the KC Star several weeks -- with no explanation from the newspaper.

Details are still emerging about the traffic stop. We do know that Lokeman refused to take a breath test. (Did she have an attitude with the officer?) Not submitting to a chemical or breath test is a violation of Missouri's Implied Consent Law.

Charges were filed against Lokeman January 7, in case #0916-CV00241 in Jackson County, Missouri.

Lokeman is pending court and will appear before Judge Margaret Sauer. She has been charged with 302.750/577.04, DUI and Refusing a blood alcohol test. (Missouri statutes here and here.)

Her next court date is in April.

Readers will want to know why the newspaper didn't publish news about Lokeman's DUI, when the paper routinely publishes news about athletes or politicians with DUI arrests.

Also, this arrest raises questions about the ability of her husband, publisher Mark Zieman to oversee the newspaper and handle several ethical issues that have arisen involving KC Star columnists. (Info on recent controversies involving Jason Whitlock here and here and here.)

When Zieman became publisher of the Star in 2008, Lokeman joined  Creators Syndicate, and the Star continued publishing her column. When critics have raised the issue of nepotism, Zieman usually responds by saying Lokeman is "nationally syndicated" -- even though the only other papers that carry her column have a small circulation.  It's a "sweetheart deal" that meets the letter but not the spirit of nepotism standards.

I emailed Lokeman at her email address at Creators Syndicate -- the email was returned "Invalid mailbox." The Star's website lists the same email address for Lokeman. Readers rep Derek Donovan did not immediately respond to an email.  (Thanks to the reader who sent the email tip.)
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Isn't it time for publisher Mark Zieman to end the "sweetheart deal" the Kansas City Star has with his wife, Rhonda Chriss Lokeman?

Kansas City Star publisher Mark Zieman should end the current "sweetheart deal" he arranged, which permits his newspaper to pay his wife for writing a weekly column for his newspaper.

Lokeman was a Star columnist until her marriage to Zieman.  After the marriage, the Star continued publishing her columns but under Creator's Syndicate.  Mark Zieman says there is no nepotism issue because his wife is a not a Star employee, but a "nationally syndicated columnist" with Creators Syndicate.

Geez.  This is a paperwork arrangement that doesn't address the spirit of the issue.  And there's the question of what "nationally" means.  Although Lokeman is signed with Creators Syndicate, our attempts to locate any other newspaper that publishes her column came up empty. (Updated -- see list below.)

Zieman says he has no say over the arrangement and refers all questions about Lokeman's column to his editorial page editor, Miriam Pepper.

But that argument falls apart when you consider who signs Miriam Pepper's paycheck -- it's Zieman, the big boss.

You really think Miriam Peppers is going to drop her boss's wife's column in favor of some other columnist? We just learned a little newspaper in Texas did just that -- they dropped Lokeman after a brief stint and starting running another columnist. You can read why the Texas paper made their move here.

Aren't the KC Star's readers entitled to know that their paper is getting the most talented and interesting columnists, just like the Texas paper is?

As it stands, many subscribers will wonder if their monthly subscription is subsidizing a substandard columnist -- one rejected by a backwater Texas paper -- to keep the big boss happy. And doesn't that get at the real point here: the KC Star should serve the readers, instead of the readers serving the boss.

Then there's the matter of layoffs. Does Lokeman's status as a syndicated columnist result in her getting preferred treatment when it comes to layoffs?

That is a question that must have entered the minds of Hearne Christopher, Jr. and Jeffrey Flanagan, two long-time KC Star columnists who were pink-slipped in November.

Lokeman has been a columnist for the Kansas City Star for many years. But everything changed when her husband was elevated to publisher earlier this year. And trying to get around a nepotism issue by having your wife get a highly suspicious "nationally syndicated" status doesn't get the job done. Sorry, that's reality.

Time for Zieman to avoid the appearance of nepotism and reassure readers that management is working hard to give readers an outstanding product.

UPDATED: In comments, Archer05 found a list showing that after Star, the next-largest newspaper carrying Lokeman's column is the Cedar Rapids Marion Gazette, circulation 65,000.
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