The buried announcement last week that The Kansas City Star was going to implement yet more buyouts, some voluntary and some involuntary, should give all of us reason to pause. What is going on, and will it ever end? What will it mean to us?

The newspaper industry in general is plunging harder and faster than, perhaps, any major industry in the history of America. Almost overnight, advertising revenues have plummeted and keep plummeting at rates that are of nightmare proportions.

Community newspapers have performed better. The reason is simple. Much of what we produce cannot be accessed on multitudes of Internet sites. But the content of large metro dailies is largely accessible everywhere. Furthermore, classified ads, which until recently represented a third of metro daily revenues, are vanishing as the Internet becomes the marketplace for jobs, real estate, auto sales and other items for sale.

I wrote about this phenomenon several weeks ago, only moments before The Star announced its last big cuts. But, as I said then, the cutting has only begun.

This is significant, because The Star is the single most important source of information in Kansas City, and as a power base, there is no company to compare. There is no way to overstate what the dismemberment of The Star means, adversely, to this metropolitan area.

The handwriting is on the wall. And if you would like to painfully see that handwriting now, rather than gradually over the next year or two, indulge me as I pass along what I have learned by watching other newspapers that have been more aggressive sooner than The Star.

Here is what may be coming, and I say this with the deepest of regrets, even mourning:

Local movie reviewers likely will be abolished. The same movies are available everywhere, and the luxury of local critics is a luxury no longer affordable. My favorite critic, Robert Butler, and his associates, probably will be on the chopping block.

The Washington bureau of The Star likely will be shuttered. In its place will be national stories provided by The Associated Press or other syndicated services.

The FYI section, which is light on ads, likely will appear less often on weekdays, or not at all. The half-page weather map likely will be condensed. Likely to disappear are the two pages of daily editorial content. It probably will be merged into one. The stand-alone business section may be a thing of the past.

In the meantime, the entire newshole surely will continue to be reduced with fewer ads to support news space. What news will get left out? Important stories, to be sure.

Staff cuts will keep coming, in every department, but particularly on the news side.

There will, of course, always be survivors. You can bet that sports columnists Joe Posnanski and Jason Whitlock, as well as columnists Hearne Christopher and Yael Aboulhalkah will ride this horse far into the future. What they write is unique. And their content cannot be replaced on other Internet sites.

But overall, it is grim and getting grimmer. In terms of overall impact to the community, the loss of hundreds of Star employees and reduced pages makes the virtual disappearance of the American Airlines overhaul base seem like a non-event.

Forgive me if I write about this too often. It is because what we are witnessing, sadly, is one of the most historic events in the 158-year history of Kansas City.

Contact Steve Rose at srose@sunpublications.com.

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