"Similar to other industries, scholarly publishing is dramatically changing due to emerging technology, making traditional publishing very challenging. Typically, most scholarly presses do not generate revenue for universities - with most just trying to break even. The UM System currently provides the press with a $400,000 yearly subsidy," the system said in a statement.
The press publishes about 30 books each year and has published approximately 2,000 books in its history, The Columbia Tribune reports.
Wolfe also said the UM System will improve focus on six priorities he outlined in April: focused strategic planning; attracting and retaining the best people; innovative instruction; operational excellence; expanded research and economic development; and effective communication of our value and importance.
"Achieving these priorities, Wolfe has said, will likely include position eliminations and program reductions across the campuses," today's statement said.
A spat between a blogger and a newspaper editor is not breaking news. But a blogger asserting a copyright claim at the offices of a newspaper while a video camera is rolling - that's national news. Boing Boing is just one of the media outlets to pick up All American Blogger Duane Lester's story about serving The Oregon Times Observer of Oregon, Missouri, with a $500 invoice. Lester takes managing editor and publisher Bob Ripley to task for reprinting his blog post on the Holt County Sheriff's Department without permission or attribution.
The reason this has gone viral is that Ripley, despite eventually paying Lester, first blusters and then comes around the counter in a vaguely threatening manner to size up the man who is claiming plagiarism. It is six painful minutes of two worlds colliding: small-town newspapers and enterprise bloggers.
And so, waking up this morning to read Jezebel's headline "Kansas City Fails Miserably at the World Record for Dog Paraders," a little part of my heart broke. Can't we just have something silly without drooling all over ourselves to take a shot at it?
Nick Wright, 610 Sports' most polarizing and likely most popular host, tweeted this afternoon that he will be leaving the station soon. Wright was named the best sports personality by The Pitch in 2010. Wright is perhaps best-known for hosting former Star columnist Jason Whitlock's three-hour, tragically self-indulgent farewell verbal carpet bombing of the paper after Whitlock's departure was announced.
Other notable Wright moments include breaking the story that the Chiefs planned to charge firefighters to stay at a game following a 9/11 commemoration, being the target of a Jason Kendall tongue lashing after the former Royals catcher misinterpreted a question Wright asked a rookie, and making some callous remarks about NFL head injuries.
On April 21, Wright did a national fill-in shift on Fox Sports Radio, so his next move, which he described in a tweet as "all good things," might be a significant one.
And then you have Joe Posnanski, the former Kansas City Star columnist who is leaving Sports Illustrated to write for an as-yet undefined Web venture underwritten by Major League Baseball. The subject of an extensive feature story in The New York Times over the weekend - he also just so happens to be working on a book about the late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno. And he just so happened to be in Pennsylvania when the Jerry Sandusky scandal broke. And now, Joe Posnanski must face a story that is incapable of being shaped. He must face a story that simply has to be told.
Today's tribute to Bodine features a documentary on the radio legend, along with a clip from an old episode of Nightbeat, likely from the 1960s, in which Bodine interviews a Kansas City man who brought a lion named Cleo into the studio.
Our old friend, former KSHB Channel 41 investigative reporter, Russ Ptacek is making some big noise in his new job as the chief investigative reporter for WUSA 9 in our nation's capital. Ptacek's investigation into sick and dead workers at the Bannister Federal Complex in KC has been mentioned during a congressional hearing. Minnesota Congressman Timothy Walz asked the GSA's Inspector General about toxins uncovered at the GSA regional headquarters building as well as a $234,000 PR contract to handle a "media crisis" - stories Ptacek uncovered while working in KC. There's a whole lot more, so check out Ptacek's reporting.
When Ptacek spoke with us in February prior to leaving, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to continue his investigation. Looks like we have our answer.
The job offers didn’t come quickly, and the manager left KSHB. Meanwhile, Ptacek, Keith King and Ryan Kath molded themselves into Kansas City’s finest TV investigative team.
But the agent eventually found an offer that Ptacek couldn’t refuse. By the time you read this, he’ll be in Washington, D.C., searching for tips as the leader of a newly formed investigative unit for WUSA, a CBS affiliate in the nation’s capital.
“I’m sad to leave,” Ptacek says. “I never thought I’d say that.”
The man this paper once dubbed “Best Bulldog” didn’t turn into a lame duck once he signed the WUSA contract. Ptacek’s investigation into exploding glass bakeware aired Friday, February 17. The following Monday, KSHB broadcast his six-month investigation into the disappearance of Belton teenager Kara Kopetsky. A cadaver dog hit on a scent in a home, and a feud erupted between secret sleuths and the Belton police. And on the day of his exit interview with The Pitch, Ptacek was breaking news that the General Services Administration would move employees out of the Bannister Federal Complex — the facility whose history of deadly toxicity Ptacek helped uncover.
“It’s crazy,” Ptacek says. “It’s like there’s a magnet here that will not let go of me.”
In a wide-ranging conversation, Ptacek talks of his unfinished business, where to get a good cheap suit, and his biggest fear about the move.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Google has applied to bring video service to KCMO. And it could start quickly. If Google gets the go-ahead, Google could launch the TV service within a month. Wow. That's huge. Like most of you, I have Time Warner Cable. It's the only choice I have for cable, and TWC just raised my rates. Google coming into the market could provide some much needed competition.
H/t: Mashable
February’s edition of Sweeps Bingo is brought to you with a heavy heart. Kansas City’s best TV investigator, Russ Ptacek, is leaving KSHB Channel 41 for Washington, D.C.’s CBS affiliate, WUSA 9. The reporter’s exit is cause for scuzzy politicians across the metro to clink glasses. (D.C. crooks right now are blissfully unaware of the tornado headed their way.) Watch this space for an exit interview with Ptacek. Meanwhile, sweeps month is under way with exploding appliances and nosy cadaver dogs. Grab your daubers and play along with The Pitch’s Kansas City Sweeps Bingo card. Fill in a line, call out the magic word, then wait for our prize patrol to show up.
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The Gumball 3000 makes a pit stop in Kansas City tonight (Monday)
Fifty years ago this week, Continental Flight 11 fell out of the sky over Unionville
Guy Fieri, Henry Ford and Johnny Trigg to be inducted into the National Barbecue Hall of Fame
Johnson County boobaphobe wants Overland Park to disappear arboretum's Yu Chang sculpture
The Pitch Questionnaire with Historic Kansas City Foundation executive director Amanda Crawley
Clemson, rumored to be interested in the Big 12, opens up its relationship with the ACC
KC's bakeries turn up the flour power
New teen curfew goes into effect this weekend