Downward spiral of Kansas City Star

Karen Dillon

Karen Dillon was a superb investigative reporter for the Kansas City Star for 22 years. She won more than 30 awards while reporting on NCAA gender-equality violations, Missouri police practices during drug-money seizures, missing municipal money in Merriam, Missouri and improper searches of homes in Leawood, Missouri.

Until 2013, when Star management shoved Dillon out.

In 2006 Knight-Ridder sold the Star and 20 other newspapers, including the Beacon Journal, to McClatchy for $6.5 billion. Since, McClatchy stock has gone from $75 to $6 a share. And McClatchy revenue keeps shrinking.

With all the newsroom departures, as with newspapers everywhere, investigative reporting – Dillon’s speciality – takes a big hit. And politicians and businesses dance with joy because there are so few watchdogs to keep 

them honest.

At least Dillon hasn’t stopped her investigative reporting, although not for the Star. She led Kansas City NBC affiliate KSHB-Channel 41’s series on Kansas law enforcement’s restrictive open-records laws.

To read the article on the sorry demise of the once-lauded Star, click on

http://www.pitch.com/kansascity/kansas-city-star-mcclatchy-karen-dillon/Content?oid=4181303&showFullText=true