Monday, April 6, 2009

April 6, 2009 News



LA Times staffer Susan Denley joints Features Editor Alice Short's team as associate features editor to:
…assist in identifying and editing potential A-1 stories, develop a greater range of lifestyle coverage, take over features’ reverse-publishing initiative and provide backup assistance to the editors of the weekly sections…
according to this memo from the LAT Readers Rep.


LA Observed has news and links to dish about Peter Bart's new title "as vice president and editorial director of Variety." Quoting from Variety:
Bart will basically serve as editor emeritus and ambassador to the entertainment community as he blogs and delivers his weekly column.
LA Observed says that Variety editor Tim Gray is now in charge of the news operation.


From the Orange County Register's radio columnist Gary Lycon:
KMVN, known as “Movin 93.9” FM, is moving on out April 14, and so is Rick Dees. The Emmis Communications-owned station is switching to a Spanish format on April 15.


TWO GOOD READS

Kudos to the LA Times (yes, you read that right) for a bunch of terrific front-page features over the last week or two, capped by Thomas Curwen's BEAUTIFULLY written two-part "Ana's Story." I love that this moving odyssey was pitched by a publicist -- special recognition to Curwen for giving a shout-out to "The manager of public relations at Scripps Memorial Hospital" toward the beginning of the of the article.

This story's been told before but not quite in such depth: Cleveland Magazine's piece about Plain Dealer classical music critic Don Rosenberg discussing "access sanctions" by the Cleveland Orchestra and ultimately beat reassignment by his newspaper after his ongoing negative reviews of the conductor. Despite the article's even-handed tone, one comes away with a "what the heck?" feeling that the Plain Dealer appears to have caved under pressure.

Wonder how it would play out at the LA Times if something like that happened with one of L.A.'s top arts organizations.