Mike Sherry takes over as editor of The Chronicle
By Mike Sherry/
Editor
Thinking about my transition to editor of The Chronicle sent me to one of the large plastic tubs that sit on shelving in our basement. This particular container holds a lot of my childhood memorabilia.
Several pages into my scrapbook, I found the photo I sought. My Mom wrote the date in pen: March 29, 1975. That’s when a few classmates and I were featured with our Congregation Beth Shalom Hebrew school teacher, Mrs. Alpert, going over all the components of the seder table. I was 9 years old.
In my memory, I was sure the photo appeared in The Chronicle. But a little Google research on the photographer, whose credit appeared with the caption, indicates the photo likely ran in The Kansas City Star.
My point was going to be that I have a long history in the Kansas City Jewish community — and with The Chronicle. But having the picture in The Star might be even more poignant, given that nearly three decades later I walked into the paper’s historic Grand Avenue building as a member of the reporting staff. It was one of the proudest days of my life.
Taking the helm of The Chronicle does indeed meld my deep Jewish roots in the city with what has been an incredibly rewarding journalism career. Interestingly enough, my wife’s great uncle, Himie Bardine, wrote for The Chronicle before dying in 1931 at age 32.
As the new editor, I have some goals and aspirations for the future of The Chronicle, including an idea to bring back an old favorite. I am also mindful of the past.
Even as a kid I knew the names of Milton and Bea Firestone, the husband-and-wife team that ran The Chronicle for two decades until Milton’s death from a heart attack in 1983. They were pillars of the Jewish community.
The Chronicle’s 100th year has proven to be one of transition. In September, Rose Publications donated the paper to the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City.
That magnanimous gesture came during what are tough times for print publications. The internet destroyed the long-standing business model long before the Great Recession and COVID.
I started my first newspaper job in 1990, so I have had a front-row seat to this implosion.
This summer, the bankrupt parent company of The Star, McClatchy Co., sold to a hedge fund. And earlier this month, the paper announced it would eliminate 124 jobs as it vacates its downtown printing plant.
A burgeoning nonprofit news industry, with a vast array of online publications, is striving admirably to fill the gaps left by the closure of papers in urban and rural communities alike. The Institute for Nonprofit News has a membership of more than 250 independent publications.
So The Chronicle’s new ownership structure represents a leap into the world of 21st century journalism. This is not unfamiliar ground for me; I started and ran an investigative reporting nonprofit a decade ago. I also worked as an online editor and reporter for Kansas City PBS.
Some people peddle the myth that nonprofit journalism is as pure as the driven snow because it is free of commercial demands. The truth is that news nonprofits do face outside financial pressures — just as any nonprofit can feel the heat from funders or a newspaper can face the wrath of advertisers.
Navigating those waters can be dicey for a news operation.
My answer is to ensure that The Chronicle’s content takes into account the broad spectrum of views within our community. We all know that U.S Jews are not universally liberal, as conventional wisdom would have us believe. Our content will remain objective and comprehensive.
The Federation is also working hard to improve the paper’s online presence and to respond to subscriber feedback.
The Chronicle will continue to carry wire stories about national and global news. But local news is the bread and butter of a publication like ours, and we will strive in each issue to include as much of that as possible.
Here’s where you can help. Please send us news about your congregation, your family, whatever. No item is too small. You can send it to me at . And please, please, please keep sending us photos for the Spotlight section. You can send those to Associate Editor Marcia Montgomery at .
Lastly, I would like to thank interim editor Barbara Bayer for helping me through the transition. She stepped out of retirement to fill her old post when The Chronicle needed a steady hand.
And here’s where the oldie but goodie comes in. Barb tells me that people stop her all the time to say that they really miss her old Listening Post section that used to appear on page 2. It was a mix of news bites and observations.
I want to resurrect that feature, probably on a periodic basis. I don’t know if I will have the time or the content to have it appear weekly. So, keep the tidbits coming.
It seems like only yesterday I was roaming the halls at Beth Shalom’s campus at 95th Street and Wornall Road. I have tons of great memories from growing up Jewish in Kansas City — but not all of them were as newsworthy as the Passover of 1975.
