Community Highlights: Meet Kathy Feist Vescovi of Martin City Telegraph

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathy Feist Vescovi.

Kathy, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
In 2015, there were yard signs all around me. Nola. McGee. Hartman. Vote.
The trouble was that the names on the signs were the only bit of information a voter in south Kansas City had to go on when voting in a special election. No media was covering the race.
And that became my sign to publish a community newspaper, a long-held dream that I feared was not practical due to the fragile newspaper industry. Who in their right mind starts a newspaper when so many are dying?
But that didn’t matter: what was wrong needed to be corrected. I went all in.
That was 10 years ago.
As it turns out there was a need for the Martin City Telegraph. The Red Bridge and Martin City areas were in an economic slump. Once very active retail areas, both were now losing consumers and retail tenants to the newer shopping centers across the state line. Neighborhoods and city officials pulled together and were successful in their efforts to revive both areas. The bi-weekly Telegraph came in the midst of these efforts, which was an exciting time. After the telling of new development plans, came the stories of new tenants. It was a Cinderella story playing out before our eyes.
This desire for news in the community helped create the Telegraph’s success. It also attracted top talent to the newspaper in the way of writers, columnists, sales representatives, distributors and photographers from the community. Most of all, its popularity attracted advertisers. The newspaper relies on advertisers to distribute 15,000 copies free to the community. (At the time, however, it was 5,000 copies.)
The Telegraph is one of several publications I’ve overseen in my career. My involvement would often start with a nudging thought, then a nagging insistence, and finally a hurdle over a wall of fear to go all in.
I believe there is a reason we are given these nudges. In my case, they served a valuable purpose for different communities of people.
I grew up in Spearville, a small town in southwest Kansas. During college breaks, when not working for my parent’s telephone directory business, I would write for the town paper as its sole reporter.
While in my 20s, I moved to Kansas City where I volunteered as editor for a local non-profit jazz publication, JAM. Disappointed with KC’s jazz scene in 1986, I wanted to help revive it. Applying magazine management skills I had learned from the University of Kansas’ Journalism School, I was able to grow the single-spaced, typewritten publication into a full-sized slick magazine. The bi-monthly publication became financially viable thanks to advertisements and a growing subscriber base. Amazingly, an interest in local jazz was revived at the time (1980s/90s) thanks to a new music genre called Smooth Jazz. The scene grew, membership grew to the organization grew and the free publication was there to educate and promote.
In my 30s, I started a monthly family-themed newspaper called Fun Stuff for Kids after dating a divorced man who struggled to find activities for his children on the weekends. The colorful feature stories and calendar of events filled a huge void. When a local TV station mentioned its availability on air, the office phone rang non-stop for three days.
In my 40s, with a family of my own, I was doing everything I could possibly learn to help my son who seemed to have a developmental disability. A friend and I decided to share our research in a quarterly publication we called KC Spectrum. Like my previous publication, advertisers supported the free distribution. The success of the publication led to an invitation to print an Iowa Spectrum magazine.
In my 50s, I started the Martin City Telegraph six months after my divorce. My daughter Nicole was in college and my son Adam was in high school. I had time on my hands and that persistent nudge in my head.
I knew at the age of seven, when I first read “The Owl News” in my monthly Jack and Jill magazine, that publishing a newspaper was what I wanted to do in life. Where it was going to take me was left to a higher source. I believe I was led to where help was needed.
I encourage everyone to listen to that which keeps repeating itself. Trust it. There is a reason. And best of all, there are immense rewards.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There was always the financial challenge. But my publications were such that I had a second source of income, such as a job, and later in life, a trust fund. (Thanks to the sell of the family business, Feist Areawide Directories, in 2004, I was able to create a trust as well as a couple of charitable foundations.)
I also struggled with marital issues. My spouse was old-fashioned in his views of a woman’s role. I loved being a traditional mom, but there was an inner desire to help people by getting the word out through publishing.

As you know, we’re big fans of Martin City Telegraph. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
The Martin City Telegraph is a biweekly publication that provides impartial news in south Kansas City, from Brookside to Belton and Leawood to Grandview. It is distributed free to area businesses, grocery stores, libraries and such. Features include a popular history column, a former city councilman’s column, and entertainment, sports, spiritual, business, restaurants, and hard news features. We print 15,000 copies. During elections, we print 30,000 copies and throw them into yards so that people can make an informed choice when voting. We’ve worked had to present fair and balanced news at a time when news is very slanted.

Pricing:

• $60/year mail subscription
• $30/year digital subscription
• Advertising $75 – $1000
• Classified ads $20/ 40 words

Contact Info:

• Website: https://martincitytelegraph.com
• Instagram: @martincitytelegraph
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/martincitytelegraph/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/65003408/admin/dashboard/
• Twitter: @mctelegraph