Kansas City Star vs StLouis Post Dispatch (St. Louis, Lee's Summit: crime, school districts)

[kcmo]

Nation's 100 Largest Newspapers

Interesting that KC has a higher circulation:

KC Star 216,226

StL P-D 213,472

Ha, take that StL

[aragx6]

One thing I've noticed is that St. Louis also has the Suburban Journals -- small newspapers specific to sections of the metro. I don't think KC has anything like that, which almost seems like the opposite of what I might think.

I would imagine JoCo-ers would prefer a newspaper dedicated only to themselves :P

[CoffeeAndBeer]

I used to hold the Star above the P-D, and in fact my Grandparents used to take the Star (along w/ the Post Dispatch) here in eastern MO. The Star in my opinion has taken a nosedive (in my opinion) since about 2006-2007 or so, and primarily read the NYT, ChiTrib, St. Louis Beacon, and P-D.

[CoffeeAndBeer]

I used to hold the Star above the P-D, and in fact my Grandparents used to have the Star delivered (along w/ the Post Dispatch) here in eastern MO. The Star in my opinion has taken a nosedive, though, and since about 2006 or so, I hardly read the Star, and primarily read the NYT, ChiTrib, St. Louis Beacon, and P-D.

I believe the Star has always had a much larger outstate and beyond circulation which probably bolsters the numbers, whereas the P-D has always been much more St. Louis centric. I really think at one time it was a better "readers paper," but I feel they are the same w/ the exception that the Star has held on to a lot of outstate, at least north of I-70.

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by CoffeeAndBeer

I used to hold the Star above the P-D, and in fact my Grandparents used to have the Star delivered (along w/ the Post Dispatch) here in eastern MO. The Star in my opinion has taken a nosedive, though, and since about 2006 or so, I hardly read the Star, and primarily read the NYT, ChiTrib, St. Louis Beacon, and P-D.

I believe the Star has always had a much larger outstate and beyond circulation which probably bolsters the numbers, whereas the P-D has always been much more St. Louis centric. I really think at one time it was a better "readers paper," but I feel they are the same w/ the exception that the Star has held on to a lot of outstate, at least north of I-70.

Agreed. The star used to be a great paper. But it's a shell of its former self and it has really gone the same direction as the city. More minor leagueish. They have the stupidest stories and big color graphics and fonts on the front page and even less inside the paper.

I really like the Washington Post. It reminds me of what the Star used to be like. Comprehensive, good mix of national and local, big city paper that caters to the entire metro, bust mostly the central city.

The star now caters to suburbs and has an anti-kcmo tone to it, which annoys me an it has very little good coverage of kcmo proper other than crime and stirring up controversy, which sells papers.

Almost no business news and all sports, but more college than pro.

[aragx6]

^Lack of decent business articles has to be my least favorite thing about the Star. Have to read the KC biz journal if you want to keep up on that. And even them I have issues with ...

[smellykat]

Originally Posted by aragx6

One thing I've noticed is that St. Louis also has the Suburban Journals -- small newspapers specific to sections of the metro. I don't think KC has anything like that, which almost seems like the opposite of what I might think.

I would imagine JoCo-ers would prefer a newspaper dedicated only to themselves :P

Kansas City did have suburban newspapers for years. Johnson County was served by the Johnson County Sun. Their offices were located at 435 and Metcalf. I don't know when the suburban newspapers ended in KC, but many of the suburbs in St. Louis have lost their local newspapers too. I'll let the JOCO remark slide in the spirit of the season

[aragx6]

^The comment may have been said in jest, but the point is valid and remains. Most people in JoCo have fewer ties to KC proper than their other suburban counterparts and have less civic pride about KC and the metro at large.

[smellykat]

Originally Posted by aragx6

^The comment may have been said in jest, but the point is valid and remains. Most people in JoCo have fewer ties to KC proper than their other suburban counterparts and have less civic pride about KC and the metro at large.

As a native Johnson Countian and a native Kansas Citian, I am offended by your remarks. They are simply NOT TRUE. You may know St. Louis, but you don't know Kansas City or Johnson County. Johnson Countians live in Johnson County for the school districts, the zoning and to be residing in a great suburban environment BUT Johnson Countians DO consider themselves Kansas Citians and are quite proud of their city, Kansas City. I replied to your post in reference to the suburban newspapers published in Kansas City. Please stick to the topic, and do not turn this into a thread bashing Johnson Countians.

[kcmo]

Actually, JoCo has its own editions. So does the MO side suburbs, but they are not near as extensive or localized as the JoCo editions. The JoCo metro sections can be completely different than what would be typical for anyplace on the MO side and the JoCo burbs used to get a special inset twice a week that focused on specific areas of JoCo. The MO side gets one once a week and they all have the same crap in them, just organized differently.

It's always annoyed the **** out of me. I might live in Lee's Summit, but KC is small enough that I still care about what's going on by Zona Rosa, Legends, Overland Park, central city etc especially with development and business stories.

So I would always go on-line to try to keep with new across the metro that doesn't make the local editions.

I actually enjoy reading the Washington Post. Lots of well done national stories, in depth local news and great business and development articles.