'Bloody Monday at Kansas City Star'

Why does journalism remind me of the Fantastic Four and the rise of Galactus?

 

It's not a little unfair. It's a lot unfair. It's bullshit, really. The percentage of managers who care about the people who work for them is actually significantly higher than the ones who don't, and Fannin definitely falls into the former category.

Fredrick, your salient points about the struggle of the newsroom rank-and-file get lost in your class-warfare rhetoric. A shame, really, because some of what you say makes a lot of sense and is based in truth (I really did work 70 hours because I wanted to, not because I had to.)

There is plenty to criticize middle and sub-executive management for in the implosion of the newspaper business model in general. But very little of what is going on at McClatchy is the fault of middle or sub-executive management, and even less of it should be laid in the hands of former Knight-Ridder editors. They didn't ask McClatchy to overspend to buy them at the height of the bubble.

You want to bitch at somebody, bitch at Bruce Sherman. Ultimately, this is all his fault.

 

I am obviously biased, but, to me, Fannin is one of the good guys. He cares about his employees. In meetings with higher ups, he will spend his own political capital to help you, and there aren't many people who do that ... who use their power as anything other than an instrument to gain more. He had power in the newsroom and used it to get resources to make his section better and to make sure his people were treated right.

The best way I can explain it is this: ask anyone at The Star who's had to deal with any sort of family emergency. Fannin has your back. When my father died, first, he told me to take all the time I wanted. A week. A month. Whatever. He said my job would be waiting when I was ready. Then he showed up at my house in Mississippi. He said, to me and my mother, I am here, in a hotel a few minutes away, and I will be here as long as I am needed and I will do anything you need. Mostly, he talked, to me, to my friends who had also gathered. I will never forget that, and I'm sure there are other similar stories I will never hear.

Yes, Fannin is a hard ass. Yes, those stories you've heard in Marriott bars are true ... the two to the chest, the you better be wearing three-legged pants ... all of them. He demands excellence from himself and from his people. He pushes. Hard. He can be explosively mean if he thinks you are mailing it in. But when the shit hits the fan, in my opinion, there are few people you'd want in your corner more.

I'll be thinking about the folks in Kansas City today. It's a sad, sad day, mostly for those about to lose their jobs, but also for those who are going to take them, just as it's sad for those who are left behind and those, like me, who loved that place but have moved on.

-wright

 

Fannin is one of the good guys. I know he's not the SE anymore, but when he was, I don't think it would be a reach to say he was widely considered to be the best in the business and that's from someone who never worked for the guy.

 

Adding to the Fannin-is-a-good-guy comments.

I've met him at many of the APSE events I've been at, and he's truly someone I would want to work for on a daily basis. And I can say that, as well, for all the people I've met from the Star.

It's too bad this is going down, because the morons making this decision are in the process of gutting a great sports section.

 

I did work for Fannin. He is the best I've ever been around, period. Best line editor, best idea guy, best at running interference for you, best at Bobby Knighting you into doing your best, best at getting your back. When God handed out the tools for being a great editor, Fannin got the whole tool box -- and that includes a conscience. So anyone who dares to think he slept a f***ing wink last night loses all credibility forever to me on this board. Think before you post, dumb-ass (Fannin's favorite word).

Mike Vaccaro

 

I won't add to the testimonials already here because I echo everything that has been said about Fannin. He is as good as they come in this business and when newspapers finally close their doors for good ... well ... we need Fannin in some kind of position of power. He can move mountains.

Good luck to all at The Star today. A fine paper is about to suffer a mortal blow.

 

My understanding is that the privately owned papers of yesteryear still were pulling in profit margins of 20% and upwards in good times.

As I've heard it told, the decline began when owner/publisher newspapers were passed on to the O/P's heirs, many of whom didn't want to mess with the business of newspapering and just wanted the 20% profit margin. They would slash to keep that number up, and eventually they sold off to corporations. Then the shareholders took over as the "heirs" and had no connection to journalism whatsoever. Now you've got private-equity ownership that typically is more aggressive in cutting and slashing than even publicly traded companies.

One example: In Chicago, the Field family owned newspapers until one of the sons, Ted Field, decided he wanted to make movies or race cars or fly hot air balloons or whatever. So he maneuvered to sell the paper to Murdoch, which at the time was thought to be the end of the Sun-Times' world. Only Murdoch wasn't as bad as so many feared; the folks he sold to, and those they sold to, got progressively worse. Now look at it. Tubes and IVs everywhere, barely a pulse.

 

I can't pretend to be as familiar with Fannin's sleeping habits as, say, Wright, but i can vouch for the guy being the best boss I'll ever work for. I only experienced the pleasure and pain of working for Fannin about six months, but I learned in that time that, sweet Texas, the man can work a story and motivate his writers like you wouldn't believe. A real phone call that my friends and coworkers have heard about a hundred times:

"Babb!"
"Yeah?"
"The f--- are you doing?!"
"Um ... doing some work?"
"Well get the f--- in here!!"
"OK, but it might ..."
(Click)

The thing that's great about Fannin is that the same week that happened, maybe even the same day, my grandmother died. I wasn't especially close with her, but I told Mike that my mom was dealing with this by herself. We edited the Sunday story together on a Friday, and then he told me to get my ass on back to South Carolina and be with my mother. Yep, take all the time I needed, he said. Work can wait. As long as Fannin was in charge, it would wait.

It's not a coincidence that some who worked closest with Mike in sports are defending him here. He's like an older brother. A profoundly thirsty, disturbingly profane and unorthodox older brother. He wants the job done right, and he's willing to do what's necessary. But knowing him as I do, there's just no way this hasn't torn him into little pieces.

 

Let me chime in here, too, as a guy who's worked for Fannin: By far the smartest, toughest, most gifted editor I've had the pleasure to be around. Hard ass? Absolutely. Brutally honest? No doubt. He's also someone who cares more about his people and about doing great journalism than he does about himself. These are dark days for all of us in this business, and there's no telling where this will end, but I'd rather have Fannin leading the way than any person I can think of. So next time, before you take aim at someone, make sure it's not an editor who's put his heart and soul into his work, into nurturing his people, into taking care of them when bad shit really comes down.

 

Hey, that was me!

It's a quote from Gordon Bethune, the former CEO of Continental Airlines. (I used to work there.)

There's a lot of newspapers out there making pizza with no cheese or sauce right now.

 

FileNotFound is right about Bruce Sherman, a real-life Gordon Gekko. He started it. But the suits at McClatchy didn't have to take the bait.