Unfettered Letters

News judgment questioned

Having enjoyed reading The Star for more than half of my life, I feel qualified to offer some constructive criticism. How dare you put an article on trans-fat on Page One (9/28, “The food police pour it on”) and an article about a fatal hostage incident on Page 9 (“School hostage ordeal ends”)? What are you people here for?

Mark Forster
Lee’s Summit

I have read your paper with an open mind since the new format was introduced. Many mornings I have been concerned with the placement of stories on the front page while other national or world events are relegated to the last several pages of Section A.

But Thursday’s placement of the Bailey, Colo., student hostage situation and murder on page A-9 has convinced me The Star needs to seriously rethink its strategy on coverage of the news.

This is a significant event — all major TV morning shows lead with this tragedy. What is The Star thinking?

Wake up and put the human-interest stories, such as the trans-fat ban, on a page that indicates their significance when compared with national and world events.

The choices you are making regarding your front page stories are appalling. If I want to read news stories that affect the nation and the world, why should I have to dig to the back of Section A? Please listen to your readers who have voiced this same opinion since the “new and improved” Star appeared.

Pamela D. Ray
Belton

Not newsy enough

Is this People magazine or some colorful new version of Trivial Pursuit?

Page One on Thursday (Aug. 31) featured huge stories about a “Brand new wrinkle for sunscreens” and how our cell phones might be spilling our secrets, plus two photos of Katie Couric, one depicting her as plump and the other as skinny.

News about an America at war, an America crippling itself with massive budget deficits, comes only with a few brief stories starting on Page 14.

Surely this fluffy publication couldn’t be The Kansas City Star, once honored as a serious newspaper.

You still have some excellent investigative reporters, editorialists, columnists and faith page writers. You are my only option here. I’ll stick with you. But I prefer sober newspapers like this era’s Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Tribune or the fine Kansas City Star in days of yore.

Charles Hammer
Shawnee

Star comics pages

Has The Kansas City Star run out of paint?

Sometimes it’s in color, sometimes it ain’t!

Esther Brown
Independence

Mideast conflict

OK to criticize

It is about time that the American people, press and politicians get rid of the mind-set that condemning the overaggressive actions of Israel in Lebanon is anti-Semitic.

Being against the policies of the nation of Israel is no more anti-Semitic than being against the policies of countries like Great Britain, Italy or Germany is anti-Christian. Or being against the actions of Turkey is anti-Muslim. If something is wrong, it is wrong, no matter the religious beliefs of the people in those countries.

It is about time that the USA stop giving Israel a carte blanche on its actions. The retaliation for the abduction of three Israeli soldiers does not warrant the destruction and civilian deaths in both Lebanon and Israel going on today. It must stop.

Larry Bilotta
Kansas City

Terror from Israel

Although it is unfortunate for Israel that a few of its troops have been captured, pray tell, who are really the terrorists here? When Israel kills families of seven and 10 persons, along with other civilians, do not the Palestinian and Lebanese people have a right to exist?

It bothers me that the United States supports Israel as much as we do and that Israel has so much control over everyday life in the Palestinian world. Energy flows as Israel sees fit. Israel turns off the electricity to hospitals and other everyday Palestinian infrastructure. Israel’s response? “Ahhh … we made sure they had generators.”

As for the prisoner release that Hamas and Hezbollah requested, many of their people were convicted without firm evidence in the Israeli judicial system.

Brian Raw
Liberty

News buried inside

The Middle East is exploding in gunfire, bombs and missiles, and thousands of acres in the American West are going up in flames. And what are the top stories on Page One of The Kansas City Star? Pit bulls and baby boomers (7/16).Other recent examples of non-news highlighting the front page were disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker and a Santa Claus convention.

It appears the graphic designers have staged a newsroom coup and banished most of the real news folks. Add my name to the list of readers who find the new look long on gaudy graphics and short on news. And not easy to read, in my opinion.

Bill Poquette
Kansas City, Kan.

Baby story not ‘interesting’

I’ve tried to be as open-minded as possible about all the changes made to The Star, but Friday’s “KC Slice” (7/14, Local, “Baby’s bath class now in session”) pretty much put me over the edge.

I’m sure that the McLains are very nice people, and I mean no disrespect to them or their new baby. I was a scared, first-time mom many years ago, too. Apparently, these new stories are supposed to be about “everyday people making life interesting in KC.” Please tell me how giving a new baby a bath is making life interesting in my hometown?

The story wasn’t “interesting,” it was just plain dumb. Why would anyone even care to know that these lovely suburbanites with “advanced college degrees” found it difficult to bathe their newborn?

Please, get rid of the gigantic color photo and the ridiculous, cutesy story and write about something that really is “making life interesting” in Kansas City.

Kari J. Ziblut
Overland Park

‘Funky’ and front page

I, too, still miss “Funky Winkerbean.” Like Leland Eastburn (7/11, Letters), I also log on daily to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (seattlepi.com) to read the strip.

I have found that the Internet is a good resource for finding information that can’t easily be found elsewhere.

I have tried reading the new comics The Star added, and I do not like them. So I now skip large segments of the comics and read only my favorites.

I also agree with the numerous readers who have complained about the front page. Many times a major news story is put somewhere on the inside pages while an attention-grabbing picture and fluff story are on the front page. Because of the format changes, I find that am reading less and less of the “new” Star.

J.K. Webb
Kansas City

Front page for news

In olden days, newspaper typesetters used fillers in vacant spaces at the end of news stories. Fillers were one-liners on such esoteric topics as the yak population in Tibet.

That has all changed.

In the new Kansas City Star, the fillers have been expanded and assigned to the front page, as evidenced by the quarter-page color picture of Santa Clauses, which was accompanied by a (guess what) feature article about the Santas’ activities in the summer (7/8, Local, “Santas flock to summer session; What can they do in July? Gather in Branson and share trade secrets”).

How much more creative can the front-page editor get in replacing hard news?

Dorothy Stoeger
Platte Woods, Mo.

Dave Barry on newspapers

There have been many changes in the format of The Star. I do not like them. However, my dislikes have been articulated far better by the author Dave Barry in Dave Barry's Money Secrets:

"For decades now, newspaper readership has been steadily going down. A major reason is that young people don't read newspapers. ... Newspaper executives ...always come up with exactly the same solution... despite the fact that it has never once, not a single time, actually worked. The solution they always come up with ... is to appeal to younger people."

The approach:

"Do fewer stories about heavy boring topics such as the world, and more stories about topics that, in the view of middle-aged newspaper executives, are of interested to you people who do not read newspapers.

"Give the paper a jazzier, more youthful look... Make stories shorter, so that they do not contain so many pesky words...Use shorter words... If you must write about the world, write about countries with short names, such as Chad."

I could not agree more, and I am definitely one of the older readers to whom he refers in the same chapter who dislike this kind of newspaper.

Sally J. DeMasters
Independence

Redesign comments

With respect to the new look of The Star, overall it has the look and feel of USA Today. There’s lots of fluff that doesn’t involve Kansas, Missouri or the metropolitan area.

The FYI section looks great, since that is where I should be entertained. The rest of the paper looks rather gaudy, like an actor in bright sunlight with stage makeup on.

Section A should be renamed the advertisement section, since it’s difficult to locate the tiny news items, and most of the space is taken up by ads. Strange how the Sports section now has very few ads.

I just can’t believe the amount of space that is devoted to telling me what is in the newspaper. It seems that a quarter of a section’s front page is devoted to advertising other articles in the paper, and there’s another list on the second page in section A. Why don’t you just fill the newspaper with real news, and let me find and read it?

Robert Potty
Overland Park

The Star's Redesign

Longtime reader likes it

I have been reading The Star for 57 years, including when it was both a morning and evening paper. I, too, wondered whether I would like the new format.

Well, I must tell you that I love it. The smaller size is easier to hold. The headlines and print are better. The color is wonderful, and I like the way it is formatted. It is easier to read or skim over.

A big thank you to all of your employees. I will continue to read The Star as long as I am able.

Ruth Williams
Kansas City

Too bright and busy

Reading the “new Star” is like shopping at Target or Wal-Mart before Christmas. There’s too much eye candy and stimuli. It’s crowded, noisy and downright uncomfortable. A more soothing presentation would make it easier to digest the content of the news.

Kudos to the reader who wrote, “Take the crayons away from the production staff.” Please! The car ads look as if my butcher used them to wrap my order. The swamp-holly orange for the classifieds is awful.

The Star is not a gossip rag. If I want to read about Paris Hilton’s latest trauma or her little bitty pooch, I’ll read People at my hair salon. Let’s have some good news stories about our men and women fighting for our right to read this paper. Sorry if that would offend someone.

There are some good things: the paper size, the Opinion page has about the right amount of color; the weather page looks good. Pick the softer tints from the palette. With all your state-of-the art gizmos at your new digs, please find a way to tone it down. Soon. Sales of headache relief potions are on the rise. Now there’s a story.

Bridget Bauer
(A 32-year subscriber)
Kansas City