April 17, 2008 News

LA TIMES LISTINGS INFO

For those of you who are, like me, driven insane by the requirements some newspapers have for submitting arts events via online forms, I can report that I had it all down to a kind of science – UNTIL the LA Times replaced its CalendarLive web site with The Guide [Beta]. I might note that it has said "Beta" for many months now, but I digress.

In any case, I tried over a period of several days to submit an event via The Guide's "Submit a listing" link, only to be slapped with an error page every time. Turns out they take that "Beta" excuse pretty literally.

What I have learned through an intrepid investigation (just LOVE that word intrepid), is this, from the exceedingly helpful Shayna Sobol.

Here's some info that I hope clarifies things for you.

Many questions have surfaced about our transition from calendarlive.com to The Guide, particularly as it pertains to our electronic submission process for events.

Until a usable link is established on the Guide, you'll need to type latimes.com/submit in your browser's address bar to be redirected to the familiar form. Once filled out and submitted electronically, the form will be routed to the appropriate listings editor as before.

She closes with:

If you have further questions or concerns regarding your events listings, feel free to contact me, and if I can't assist you, I'll find someone who can.

Nice way of handling what clearly is producing a lot of inquiries and complaints. Thanks, Shayna!

P.S. The Times updated its editorial staff page on April 9.


MELINDA BARGREEN OVER AND OUT

The Oregonian's David Stabler reports this on the paper's classical music blog:

Melinda Bargreen, who has been the classical music critic at the Seattle Times for 31 years, has taken a buyout. In a letter to friends and colleagues, she writes:

"All of you know that this is a tough time for newspapers in general, and The Seattle Times in particular. The Times has taken the necessary decision to terminate several employees, and to offer severance packages to several others. I fall into the second category, of those who are eligible to leave because their positions are considered expendable (i.e. they would not have to be replaced if they left)."

AND FINALLY…

Alan Rich's new web site, SoIveHeard.com, is expected to debut shortly. Keep an eye out.