The Star is here to serve you, Kansas City. And we rely on your help to do it right

As we were covering the fallout from the Aug. 11 Marion, Kansas, newspaper raid, reader Lila Martin of Overland Park reached out with a kind message of support.

“Truth matters. Newspapers matter. Reporters matter.”

I read her email when I was out walking the dog on one of August’s less-blazing-hot mornings. Over the objection of the pup who thought the outing was all about her, I had to stop for a few minutes and respond to Lila. She had made my day.

Her message was one of many we’ve received, but this one stood out. It was an inspiring reminder that what The Star and its journalists do matters to our readers.

The email also got me thinking more about our role in this city we love. This relationship with our readers is a two-way street, a partnership: We are here to serve you, and we rely on your help to do that.

We know you’re busy and need us to make it as easy as possible for you to share information, so today we’re reintroducing ourselves to you. We hope this guide helps you better understand who does what at The Star, puts faces to names and maybe encourages you to collaborate with us around topics important to you.

We want to hear your questions, your concerns, your ideas.

We’re at our best as a city when we are listening to one another. About once a month I accept an invitation and meet with a local group that wants to know more about The Star. I answer questions, but the most valuable thing for me is what I hear from you. It’s one of the best parts of being the editor here.

One question I’m often asked is how many journalists work here.

The answer — between 65 and 70 — often surprises the audience.

“Oh, I had no idea! I thought maybe 20 or 30,” said a student at one recent gathering.

Yes, The Star employs the largest news-gathering team in Kansas City.

Last month alone, these journalists’ work was viewed online 12.7 million times by 6 million readers. And that reflects just the digital readership of our journalism, not obituaries, comics or puzzles, for example, or circulation of the printed newspaper.

But the numbers are only part of the story.

I see every day these journalists’ determination as they aspire to make a difference in this community. They report with urgency, they are passionate about news and they dig for truth even when it’s hard.

Especially when it’s hard.

Thank you to Lila and all our readers for supporting them.

Your ideas make us better

Over the past several months you’ve shared your opinions kindly but honestly on what you’d like to see us covering more — and less.

You told us through community listening sessions. Through face-to-face talks. Through surveys. Through data we get showing what you read and what you don’t. Through emails and phone calls and social media comments.

No matter how you got to us, you had a lot of thoughts on how we could better serve you and our Kansas City area neighbors.

We heard you.

First, we’re revamping our local government coverage. We heard over and over how you wanted us to cover city and county government through the lens of how your tax dollars are being spent and misspent. Who benefits? Who doesn’t? And are our leaders acting responsibly?

As Jeff Jasperson in south Kansas City put it, “Local coverage of issues is vital, and (The Star’s) ability to hold elected officials accountable through consistent reporting and coverage of what they’re up to keeps them from being able to govern in the dark.”

Karrin Huhmann of Kansas City, Kansas, asked for more focus on Wyandotte County. “Truthfulness of statements, influence peddling and good ol’ boys networks all need to be poked at,” she told us.

Renee Van Erp of midtown, Diana Spare of Brookside and Alex Thompson of the West Side all agreed that The Star should make a priority of reporting about whether local officials are doing as they should and about local issues in general.

To that end, we have over the past several months shifted to ensure we’re doing more of what you need from us.

▪ Mike Hendricks, an investigative reporter, took over coverage of Kansas City government and related issues. Highlights so far include articles about disputed economic claims around plans for a downtown Royals stadium and questions around why the city’s civil rights director was fired after pushing for minority hiring on another big project.

▪ Luke Nozicka will report on Wyandotte County, where he will investigate both government and criminal justice decisions and decision-makers. We’ve delayed his move temporarily as he’s helped on our Marion County coverage, but soon he will aim his talents at an under-covered part of our city where he has already covered disgraced police detective Roger Golubski and other topics.

▪ Sarah Ritter renewed her focus on Johnson County, including municipal and county government accountability stories as well as getting behind the scenes in the schools. She’s written recently about Overland Park’s decision to kick out a farmers market vendor over his antisemitic posts, the fight over affordable housing across the county and the heartwarming response to a beloved Blue Valley teacher’s tragic death.

We know these three areas are just a start. The Northland and other Missouri-side suburbs also need our watchdog attention, so look for more changes in the months ahead.

Beyond local government, you made it clear you want us to delight, surprise and entertain, too, providing new inspiration for ways to explore our city. Your digital readership has shown us that one thing that does this in a big way is restaurant coverage.

We started Let’s Dish, Kansas City, and thousands and thousands of you read the coverage from January through March. So we’re back at it, with a couple new installments every month, where our journalists reveal the Kansas City restaurant dishes they love most.

But we aren’t stopping there. We experimented by adding a second reporter to cover restaurant and retail openings and closings. Again, your readership showed you couldn’t get enough.

Recently we assigned two reporters to the topic full time.

One is David Hudnall, who had been a general assignment narrative writer for us telling stories on topics like the previously secret $62 million legal fight around the new KCI terminal and the demise of a local startup whose founder blamed a St. Louis corporate giant. He’s now writing more often and with more focus on restaurants. For example, his story a few days ago detailed fans flocking to a longtime favorite restaurant that was closing after 42 years.

He’s partnering in this coverage with Jenna Thompson, who was a breaking news reporter until recently. She’s now focused on stories such as a laid-back wine bar expanding to Johnson County and how a shop listed among the best doughnuts in America is coming to Kansas City.

We’re not done. Keep sharing your ideas!

New Star leadership

After 26 years at The Star, I started as executive editor in February. We’ve been hard at work adjusting coverage and hiring for crucial leadership roles.

I’m thrilled that our three-person top leadership team is now in place.

Andale Gross is our new managing editor. He started in late July, and just this past week he’s been completing his move back to Kansas City with his family.

I’ve just gotten to know Andale in recent months, but he’s not new to The Star. His first journalism job was here as a community reporter before moving to his other stops, including most recently in Chicago as the race and ethnicity news editor at The Associated Press.

Andale is an extraordinary journalist and leader, and I could not be more delighted to have him on our team. He’s a champion for local journalism and shares a deep passion for Kansas City.

“I wanted to be back at The Star, where I got my start, to help lead the charge in moving local journalism forward at a pivotal time for the profession,” he said. “After years of doing national journalism, I was ready to return to my roots of covering a community that I’ve never stopped caring about.”

Yvette Walker is our new vice president and editorial page editor. She started in June.

Yvette also is no stranger to The Star. I had the honor of working alongside her for much of her previous time here from 1996 to 2006. Before returning to The Star, she was an assistant dean at the University of Oklahoma’s journalism school.

I have long valued Yvette as someone motivated to do journalism that makes a difference in communities. She wants to help The Star connect better with our readers and should-be readers, and she brings the energy to make that happen.

“I left college leadership to come back to The Star, that’s how much I wanted to be here,” she said. “There’s a biblical quote I use, ‘For such a time as this.’ It was the right time in our country’s narrative to come back to journalism. The Star was the right news outlet, opinion the right purpose, and KC the right community. I am pleased to be here doing important work for our readers.”

It means the world to me that these two terrific journalism leaders and great people have chosen to bring their talents to this newsroom that has been my professional home since 1997.

Kansas City gets in your blood and stays there. That’s why I’ve stayed at The Star so long.

My first Star byline was 30 years ago as a summer intern.

Each year, The Star newsroom welcomes a large intern class, about a dozen students from across the country who come to Kansas City to hone their journalism skills.

As we bid this year’s class farewell, I couldn’t help but reflect on the summer of 1993, when I worked as a 22-year-old recent college grad with the amazing reporters, photographers and editors at The Star covering historically destructive flooding all across our region. I learned a ton.

That was also the summer I chose to become an editor in Louisville, Kentucky, rather than a reporter near New York City for my first professional job, a decision that I now know set me on a path that would return me to this newsroom I love and, eventually, allow me to become The Star’s executive editor.

At a recent event I was asked why, with the general discord of our times, I would want this job. The questioner noted that it’s probably true right now that about half the people see what we do as heroic and the other half see us, as a former president put it, as “the enemy of the people.”

“Strong opinions on all sides,” she said.

I did my best to answer.

I love Kansas City. This is my home. This is where I grew up and where I chose to return more than a quarter-century ago to start my own family.

But when you love something, you also understand it has shortcomings, ways it must improve if it’s ever to become the best version of itself.

That’s why The Star exists, to ensure we all learn and adapt with the times. To convene around ideas. To bring truth to the most important community conversations. To force us to pay attention not just to the things that make Kansas City great but also to the things holding us back.

I get up every day excited about the potential of this city and The Star, but I’m also clear-eyed about the need for improvement from both.

Being the editor here allows me to learn every day, to hear a multitude of perspectives, to question and be questioned.

Yes, that makes some days uncomfortable. But aren’t we supposed to be uncomfortable, pressured always to see different views and grow?

Tennis legend Billie Jean King said famously, “Pressure is a privilege.”

It’s an opportunity, a moment for us to rise above our challenges. I’m grateful to be in this newsroom, in this city, in this time.

Let’s connect

▪ Do you want a Star editor or reporter to come speak to your group? Reach out directly using the emails provided in this package, or email Lisa Lopez, our newsroom executive assistant, at llopez@kcstar.com.

▪ Do you have a story tip? Email a journalist directly, or email tips@kcstar.com and we’ll get it to the right person.

▪ Do you have ideas for topics you’d like covered more — or less — or just other thoughts you would want us to hear? Please share it.