Los Angeles Media Moves

Over and Out - December 7, 2011

2011-12-07T14:59:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

I've recently come to the conclusion that writing my PR MEDIA MOVES blog in a timely fashion no longer fits comfortably in my schedule. An enormous work load has kept me from posting since July, and certainly months-old "news" serves no one!

I appreciate all the wonderful comments you've sent my way. If anything changes in my ability to share media updates, you will be the first to know.

Thanks, and happy holidays to all!

Laura

July 8, 2011 NEWS

2011-07-08T12:12:00.000-07:00

See "PERSPECTIVE" (below) for my
"review" of LACMA's Tim Burton show.

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NEWS FROM THE PAST WEEKS:

The LA Times weekly Brand X tabloid folds. LA Observed's story is HERE.

I've just learned that Brand X Editor Krista Simmons is replacing the retiring Joyce Rudolph as Glendale News Press features editor on July 29. And an auto reply from Brand X Blog Editor David Greenwald notes that "I will be pursuing future opportunities as well as freelancing for the Times. You can reach me at rawkblog@." [via gmail]

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944 magazine also folds (except the Vegas edition), per an email from Kira Coplin, who can now be reached at kiracoplin via gmail.

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Layoffs at the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group include Pasadena Star News City Editor Hector Gonzalez.

According to GARY SCOTT:
a) his position will not be filled. Metro Editor Frank Girardot will continue as the primary editor for the paper.
b) other newsroom employees laid off: Eric Reed, Karen Lee, Coye Sloan and Steve Wytucki.

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San Marino Tribune Society Editor Liz Hezlep departs, with no replacement as of last week.

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So does KCRW's Nic Harcourt, with LOTS OF sound and fury.

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John Polakoff replaces Greg Hernandez at Los Angeles Business Journal; more on the latter's departure HERE.

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Daily News City Editor John Miller and his wife are moving to Kuwait in August. LA Observed story HERE.

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A new music editor arrives at LA WEEKLY in mid-July.

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Randall Roberts, LA Times music writer, becomes pop music critic, replacing Ann Powers, who left the paper some time ago. More from Fishbowl LA HERE.

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MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES AND UPDATES

1. from LA Stage's Deborah Behrens:

LA Stage Editor-in-Chief Lee Melville is taking a much deserved summer sabbatical from editorial duties from June 1 to September 5. Lee plans to pursue some personal projects as well as travel to visit friends and family.

In his absence, I will be handling day-to-day operations including managing the editorial calendar and writer assignments. As before, general story pitches and press releases should be directed to pitches@ with "First Person" stories and more personal correspondence sent directly to dbehrens@ during this time.

Addresses end with lastagealliance.com

Deborah also notes that Julio Martinez's new gmail address is julima720@ and that news items or pitches for his LA Stage column should be sent directly to him.

2. from free-lance writer Katherine Spiers:

LOGO is relaunching its travel site, Trip Out Travel, and I'll be at the helm as editor!

I'll be posting travel stories for savvy readers, focusing mainly on urban destinations, but sometimes going off the grid with stories like The South's Top 5 Hippie Beaches, by Hadley Meares.

I'd love to get some industry and/or celebrity interviews as well. If you have any clients who can speak to great locations in the city where they live, are from, or visit regularly, I'd love to know about them.

Reach her via gmail: katherinespiers

3. from free-lance writer Elise Thompson

The LA Beat at www.thelosangelesbeat.com is a group blog that focuses on local culture, entertainment, food and events... Heavily weighted towards music, the blog also includes comic strips, CD and movie reviews, photo essays, restaurant reviews and all-out rants. Writers include past reader favorites from popular group blogs like LAist, Gamefront and Metroblogs, as well as quirky independent blogs such as LethalDose and MyLandlordisCrazy.

We are actively encouraging submissions from well-known musicians, artists, chefs, photographers and professional writers who are new to blogging.

Reach her via gmail: eliseisrad

4. San Francisco-based free-lance writer Jennie Nunn...

...writes for The San Francisco Chronicle (both print and blog), Sunset, San Francisco Magazine, C Magazine, Juli B, Gotham, Capitol File, Luxe Interiors and Design, California Homes, 805 Living, California Homes Magazine, Anthology Magazine, Westways, and a few others. She covers lifestyle topics including fashion, beauty, travel, home and architecture, celebrity, health, fitness, and spa.

Reach her for pitches and assignments via gmail: jennie.nunn

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JOAN LUTHER, RIP

Joan gave me my start in PR, and I worked for her for a total of six years, including my first public relations job (in the early 1980s) and my last with a firm not my own (in the early 1990s). I was so lucky to have handled so many great clients while working with her. And I met untold numbers of press people and fellow publicists who remain friends today. The LA Times OBIT only begins to do justice to Joan's oversize personality.

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PERSPECTIVE... on life beyond work

The terrific PR folks at LACMA invited me to the Tim Burton show press preview, and I recommend you check it out well before it closes October 31.

A major retrospective, the exhibition spotlights Burton's work not only as a director but also as an artist, illustrator, photographer and writer. In a space that's navigable in an hour or so, you'll see drawings, paintings, photos, film and video works, storyboards, puppets, concept artworks, maquettes, costumes and art from some of his personal projects. Little known fact (at least to me): Burton was born in Burbank, and the exhibit plays off those roots with three sections, "Surviving Burbank," "Beautifying Burbank," and "Beyond Burbank." Interestingly, the presentation originated in New York, where it was organized by the Museum of Modern Art.

LACMA's got a vast calendar of related events through the fall, including screenings, storytellings and apparently even a costume party, with details to be announced.

If you haven't been to the LA County Museum of Art lately, you might not even know that it's open until 8 pm daily (closed Wednesdays) and 9 pm Fridays. Evenings, in my opinion, are the best time to be there. Check out details and exhibit prices HERE. Or better yet, become a member, and visit free any time!

Let me add another shout out to the LACMA press office staff for a well-conceived press kit, especially the imaginative folder!

May 23, 2011 NEWS

2011-05-22T16:20:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who contacted me about the PR and administrative assistant help I needed, or referred potential candidates. I received a large number of inquiries from wonderfully qualified people.

I'm all set now, so I'm taking this part of the post down. Thanks again.

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Prolific writer Brenda Rees wants PR types to know about her website, Southern California Wildlife (www.socalwild.com), which is terrific and very well done. She writes:

SoCalWild is a news, resource and information about local wildlife that inhabit the Greater Los Angeles area. From blue whales to black bears, from butterflies to fish, we cover it all! We support those who support local wildlife issues from artists to conservationists and everyone in between...

... if PR folks represent clients who are tied into local wildlife (in any repsect!), they can email information, pitches, etc.

Her email address at socalwild.com is editor@

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Earlier this month, Curbed LA announced a new editor to replace Dakota Smith, who's now a staff writer at the Daily News.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the dancefloor Adrian Glick Kudler, the new senior editor at Curbed LA. Adrian, a longtime contributor to this site, is overseeing an expanded Curbed LA that continues to feature the work of editors Neal Broverman, Pauline O'Connor, along with that of several new contributors that will debut soon in the wake of editor Dakota Smith's departure.

Read more about it HERE.

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From LA Observed on May 18:

The Los Angeles Daily Journal has undergone a new bout of turnover in recent weeks. A former staffer says the departures have included page designer Aris Davoudian, associate editor Michael Gottlieb and entertainment law reporter Jean-Luc Renault.

The post also quotes from a memo announcing...

…Catherine Ho has taken a job at the Washington Post. This is a big blow for the Daily Journal. Cat came here a couple years ago and built the labor & employment beat into a model beat for the Daily Journal, writing first-rate stories on trends and developments in the practice that appeal to a statewide audience. Cat's departure is an occasion for happiness too. It shows how the Daily Journal can be a wonderful vehicle for a smart, driven reporter to build a great career.

Full story HERE.

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Congratulations to Daily News reporter Rick Orlov, who "received the Valley Interfaith Council's first-ever Journalism Leadership Award..." According to THIS Daily News story, "The awards recognize the best in courage, compassion and service, on behalf of the people of Los Angeles."

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Theatre publicist extraordinaire Kenny Werther is producer of a well-reviewed show at Los Angeles Theatre Center called "The Good Boy," and it has one more weekend of performances. Check it out this Thursday through Sunday.

May 4, 2011 NEWS

2011-05-04T10:51:00.000-07:00

May marks the the 4th anniversary of this blog!

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Curbed LA Editor Dakota Smith moves over to the Daily News.

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Gary Scott reports on a bunch of position eliminations at the Long Beach Press Telegram, some of which will be assumed by the Daily Breeze. From his post:

The P-T's features department will be eliminated, which means Al Rudis is out of a job.

Another report from the Long Beach post has additional information. It names Leo Smith as the LBPT features editor, but I believe Smith is at the Daily Breeze, so check that out before you delete him from your database.

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LA Observed and Fishbowl LA both had posts on Elvis Mitchell's departure as Movieline's film critic.

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LA Observed also announced the debut of Donna Perlmutter's dance review contributions to its Native Intelligence section.

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The Hollywood Reporter had an interesting piece titled "12 Talent Bookers Who Keep New York Talking" about the folks who book guests on shows including "Today," "The View," "Good Morning America" and more.

April 19, 2011 News

2011-04-19T12:02:00.000-07:00

Christina Elston replaces Carolyn Graham as editor of L.A. Parent.

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Got this email auto-reply from Seth Walls, formerly an arts writer at Newsweek:

Hello! April 14 is/was my last day at the Newsweek Daily Beast Company. Thanks to everyone (who knew me) for the things that were good (which were many). Let's all promise to keep in touch via the various social networking platforms that also make us semi-sick of the world.

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Beverly Hills Courier update:

1) News Editor Adam Popescu is no longer on the masthead
2) Tricia Arend is announced in the April 25 issue as a new staff writer
3) Marcia Hobbs' title in the masthead now says "Associate Publisher and Editor."

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Here are some excerpts from a press release I got today:

At a time when magazines and print publications are giving way to their digital counterparts, C A R S O N Magazine is launching its first issue this May which not only showcases the power of extraordinary journalism, but also features David Carson’s iconic graphic design, vision and artistry. Packing the visual excitement that carries back to the early days of such trendsetting publications as Interview and Ray Gun, combined with provocative and distinctive journalism, C A R S O N is both thought-provoking and stimulating, while providing an artistic vision which separates it from any magazines past or current.

“We have set out to create a magazine people will actually want to hold, turn the pages, read and share with others,” explains Alex Storch, Editor-in-Chief. “We all love the immediacy of digital assets, but our goal is to bring back the visual excitement a reader had when they picked up an issue of Ray Gun, while providing the thought-provoking reading featured in such iconic magazines as Vanity Fair and the New Yorker. With each issue, we are going to give writers and visionaries a home on the printed page. We will pair their stories and essays with cutting-edge art and graphic design; the result is a truly new vision for a magazine in the 21st century.”

There's more HERE on their site.

April 7, 2011 News

2011-04-07T11:54:00.000-07:00

Glad to hear this news from Saul Levine's Mt. Wilson FM Broadcasters, quoting the press release:

Beginning Monday, April 4th, Southern California's longtime leading classical radio station, "K-MOZART," returns by popular demand. Broadcast in "Triple-Play," K-MOZART programming will be available at KMZT-AM 1260, KKGO-FM 105.1 HD2 in full digital FM stereo, and www.KMozart.com, making it the only commercial all-classical radio station in the Southland. Smartphone streaming apps will follow shortly. The new lineup will include K-MOZART veterans Gary Hollis, John Santana, Nick Tyler and P.J. Ochlan - all joined by musical celebrity David Benoit, making his radio hosting debut. A five-time Grammy nominee and world-renowned pianist and composer, Benoit also currently serves as conductor of the Asia America Symphony Orchestra. Along with free live streaming, the all-new www.KMozart.com will feature daily arts news, calendar listings and multimedia content. The site will also provide dedicated San Francisco information and content for recently disenfranchised Bay Area classical listeners.

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From Cision:

Kathryn Romeyn is now deputy editor at Los Angeles Confidential, moving from Riviera Orange County, where she had been an associate editor since 2007.

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From Media Bistro:

Time magazine's managing editor Rick Stengel announced… that Jessica Winter has been hired as Time's new arts editor, both for the pages in the magazine's Culture section as well as for arts coverage on Time.com.

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Thanks to Flo Selfman for passing along these items from the LBN Insider:

Page Six editor Emily Smith has tapped a deputy, Ian Mohr, to join the gossip desk at the New York Post as her number two. Mohr has close ties to the film world as a former box office reporter for Variety and New York bureau chief for the Hollywood Reporter.

Style editor Laurie Pike and Los Angeles magazine have parted ways. She's headed to Paris to tend to her creation, The Paris Blog, and pursue other projects.

March 16, 2011 NEWS

2011-03-16T16:34:00.000-07:00

HUFFINGTON POST/AOL HIRES CULTURE/ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Selected paragraphs from TechCrunch story:

John Montorio has been named Culture and Entertainment Editor for Aol's Huffington Post Media Group content division.

Montorio is a 30-year veteran of two of the country's biggest newspapers - the New York Times and LA Times - but that's not why his hiring is news-worthy. It's news-worthy because it represents a dramatic shift in favour of real journalism within Aol.

Hiring someone with Montorio's skills means one of two things for the Huffington Post: either a bold step away from Bieber-filled headlines towards quality coverage of the arts, culture and entertainment - or a train-wreck waiting to happen as Armstrong and the Aol bean counters try to force their "Lady Gaga pantsless in Paris" agenda.

Full post HERE.

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LOTS ABOUT AOL (and publicists!) IN THE NEWS...

...including THIS from Fishbowl LA, also reported elsewhere, headlined "Moviefone Defends Asking TechCrunch Writer to Appease Movie Studio by Altering Story."

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Julio Martinez's "Arts in Review" program on KPFK moves this week from Wednesdays to Fridays.

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OLDER NEWS

Got this auto reply from American Theatre Magazine:

Thanks for your message. Randy Gener is no longer on staff at Theatre Communications Group. Please redirect all communications regarding American Theatre magazine to editor-in-chief Jim O'Quinn at jim@ or managing editor Nicole Estvanik Taylor at ntaylor@.

Email addresses are tcg.org.

Fishbowl LA broke the NEWS that Angeleno Magazine hires Lesley McKenzie as its new editor-in-chief. She was previously deputy editor of Los Angeles Confidential.

LA Observed has LA Times television reporter Maria Elena Fernandez's resignation email, which READS in part, "I cannot work under these hostile work conditions anymore. Calendar has become a complete nightmare to work in, and it is just time to go."

Fernandez also SAID MORE to Fishbowl LA.

February 24, 2011 NEWS

2011-02-23T18:41:00.000-08:00

LA Observed reported this Tuesday:

[LA Weekly]'s new arts and culture editor will be Zachary Pincus-Roth. He starts March 7... The arts and culture beat… excludes film and music, which have their own editors.

Full post HERE.

More, older, from LA Observed:

LA Times metro writer Carla Hall is now an editorial writer. Memo and more HERE.

and

Anthea Raymond has been named editor of Echo Park Patch.

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Thanks to Alexia Haidos for passing along this note from Crystal Meers at Daily Candy:

... I'm very excited to introduce you to Evelyn Crowley, DailyCandy's new Los Angeles editor... Please direct all L.A. matters her way. Feel free to e-mail me with stories that you see fit for our Everywhere edition (food, fashion, beauty, travel, services, arts, entertaining, culture, entertainment) and on the web or just really fun stuff that you think I need to know about that's happening around town. You know I love to know about everything.
Yours truly,
Crystal

Contact: 12200 W. Olympic Blvd. Suite 400, Los Angeles, CA 90064, 310-954-0278 x 185

Email @dailycandy.com is ecrowley

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Got this auto-reply from LA Opinion's Entertainment Editor Victoria Enfante: Hi. I'm on maternity leave until the end of June. If you need assistance please contact Josep Parera.

… and this auto-reply from Phil Gallo: If you are contacting me regarding music coverage, I am now working for Billboard magazine. I can be reached at phil.gallo [billboard.com]

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Thanks to Sarah Spitz for passing this along from Jade Chang:

As of January 18, 2011, I am no longer with Modern Luxury. I will still be covering many of the same topics that I covered at Angeleno and on ModLux.com-if you have a pitch or question you can contact me.

Her @sbcglobal.net address is jade.chang

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Patt Diroll's party column and "Social Calendar" have been moved from Thursdays to Mondays in the Pasadena Star News.

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San Gabriel Valley Tribune photo editor Bernardo Alps has been laid off, according to THIS story, which also has links to another about salary cuts and furloughs at the LA Newspaper Group (which also includes Daily News, Daily Breeze, etc.)

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Media Bistro reports:

Jen Yamato has been named West Coast editor at Movieline. She had been a film critic at Movies.com

and

LA Times Pop Music critic Ann Powers is leaving the LA Times in early March to work for NPR Music. Memo HERE.

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KPCC/NPR's Steve Julian is introducing a new venture, an I Support Theatre restaurant discount card that provides theatre companies a much needed fundraising boost. According the Steve, "It gives theatregoers an opportunity to save money at a neighborhood eatery. And it rewards restaurants that offer discounts by bringing in new customers."

If any publicists out there are interested in hooking up clients with this opportunity, get in touch with Steve via the "Contact" page on this site: www.isupporttheatre.net .

January 18, 2011 NEWS

2011-01-18T10:06:00.000-08:00

EXCLUSIVE:
Pitching Zach Behrens, editor-in-chief at KCET.org's UpDaily

The ultra-affable Zach Behrens gave me some pitching insight for UpDaily (he's editor-in-chief) on KCET.org. UpDaily is the section of the web site featuring blogs, which currently number three: SoCal Focus, The Public Kitchen and Climate Oversight.

"We're looking to BE public media, and that means not just following everyone's news story of the day," he says. "We're exploring rich stories that are not being talked about, or we're adding the public media twist to things that are hot topics. We're not going to be the crime blotter, that's not our role."

Zach tells me that SoCal Focus is the main blog, meant over time to become a daily destination for news, arts and culture, policy and the people and places of Southern California. Unlike LA Observed, LAIst and Curbed, UpDaily is not just about Los Angeles but also covers the 10 counties in KCET's broadcast reach (up to San Luis Obispo and down to Imperial counties).

For example, he points to the piece did on an annual tradition in Solvang: a fire "where residents, and even some travelers from afar, haul their Christmas trees into a large pile. Large, as in some 500 trees." The story portrays what goes on in the community, where the tradition came from and how it developed as well as the effect it had on the environment.

He's also doing a lot of history, partnering with LA as Subject, a member archive based at USC. (Examples: Rose Parade history, Jerry Brown Then and Now.)

He usually ties his posts to a topic that's being talked about, but he's also focusing on news stories that are NOT being talked about. UpDaily was among the first to report on the controversy surrounding La Plaza, where "Human remains found at a downtown L.A. museum construction site have prompted a state commission to request the project be stopped while an investigation determines if they are of American Indian origin or not."

Another signature series is one that began recently that's taking people through Compton one day at a time, "looking at why there is so much negative coverage of the city when there's so much that's positive there."

As for The Public Kitchen, it's a blog about experiencing food, and every post has a recipe and a story. Zach calls it "Your living, breathing Southern California cookbook," A recent post spotlighted farmers who sell their produce at farmers markets and what they cook for themselves and their families at home.

When asked "who is your audience?" he responded, "Definitely people who are interested Southern California as a place, a broad range of people and a diverse group. Meaning not just diversity of geography but also but diversity of culture."

Pitch him BY CATEGORY at these @kcet.org email addresses:

arts/culture:
culturedesk@

food/restaurants:
fooddesk@

everything else:
newsdesk@

***

From LA Observed:

Sean Smith is leaving as Los Angeles bureau chief of Entertainment Weekly to serve overseas in the Peace Corps - for two years.

More HERE.

and

Michael Schneider, TV editor for Variety, is leaving to be Los Angeles bureau chief for TV Guide.

More HERE.

***

From the Beverly Hills Courier:

The Beverly Hills Courier is pleased to announce reporter Marla Schevker has joined its staff. Schevker joins The Courier after her tenure at the Beverly Hills Weekly, where she covered issues such as the Westside Subway Extension and Measure 2P.

***

Thanks to the intrepid Libby Huebner for passing this change along for email addresses at Frontiers magazine: it's now @frontiersweb.com (formerly frontierspublishing.com).

January 4, 2011 NEWS

2010-12-31T11:40:00.000-08:00

Happy new year! A few tidbits to start off 2011...

From the December 31 Beverly Hills Courier:

Today The Courier is wishing a fond farewell to Assistant Editor Amanda Peabody who joins L.A.-based Advanced Star as a managing editor of its B2B magazine.

As of Friday, they hadn't yet hired a replacement.

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LA Observed reported on December 10 that Dana Harris left Variety to join IndieWire as editor-in-chief. On December 27, it posted that Daily News writer Troy Anderson, who covered the county Hall of Administration, has left the paper; more details HERE.

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From (former) LA Weekly Art Critic Doug Harvey's Facebook page on December 20:

It looks like I won't be writing for the LA WEEKLY anymore. After 13 years I was unceremoniously dumped - they're not even printing the last piece I completed under Tom Christie's watch. Well now at least I'll have time to finish my screenplay. I'll just open this golden parachute... what the ... Spam?!! Aieeeeeeeeeeee!

LA Observed noted yesterday that Harvey "announced that he will begin writing for The Nation." LA Times has MORE.

And, in case you hadn't heard previously, Tom Christie, who was LA Weekly features editor, has been gone for some time.

December 3, 2010 NEWS

2010-12-03T10:34:00.000-08:00

New ME at Westways is Rachel Ng.

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Charlie Amter starts Lead Editor duties Monday (12/6) for "Play," the nightlife and events portion of NBCLA's The Feast web site. Charlie also continues to freelance for the Los Angeles Times' Calendar section on nightlife as well as blogging bi-weekly on nightlife and music for Blackbook magazine's blackbookmag.com. Pitch him via gmail.com: charlie.amter@, and check out his new web site.

December 1, 2010 NEWS

2010-12-01T14:46:00.000-08:00

Got this auto-reply Monday from Shayna Nys Dambrot...

Hello dear friend of the Flavor and/or friend of SND.

Well, the rumors are true. Issue #404 will be my last as Managing Editor of Flavorpill LA. I'll be transitioning to the role of Editor-at-Large, and focusing my attention on my new role as Arts Editor at LA Canvas, as well as my work with Whitehot and Huffington Post -- all posts where I'll be focusing on visual art and book culture.

The lovely and talented Tanja M Laden will be assuming the Editor mantle at Flavorpill, so beginning immediately, please direct all your inquiries to her @flavorpill.com [la_events] and she'll see what she can do!

I'll be keeping my Flavorpill email address, probably forever, so feel free to hit me up on your art and book related awesomeness.

Cheers! It's been a sincere pleasure.

SND

***

Some recent LA Times news...

... about Calendar columnist Patrick Goldstein's expanding beat:

Patrick Goldstein, Calendar's outspoken and contrarian columnist and blogger, is expanding his mission under The Big Picture banner. In the new year, Patrick will broaden his focus beyond movies to take on the larger popular culture, connecting the dots as only Patrick can across a landscape that includes not only film, but music, television, advertising, publishing, the Internet and their intersections with sports and politics. The column will move to Sunday Calendar, becoming a signature of the section every week with provocative, insightful commentary. Patrick also will write timely columns off the news when warranted for daily Calendar. Patrick's new mandate will not affect our critics, although it will require some additional coordination by him and his editor, Julie Makinen.

More of the memo HERE.

Note to self: "contrarian"? To what????

... and this about the Image section and magazine, including the opportunity for subscribers to opt-in for magazine delivery. According to a press release:

Beginning in January, each will unveil design upgrades and increased online features...

Image, dedicated to Southern California's distinct perspective on fashion and style, will get a bright visual boost with a more photo-intensive layout and increased reporting on trends in the making, new products and sales. In addition, beginning January 2nd , Image content will be featured in the glossy pages of LA the first Sunday of each month, while remaining a Sunday Times stand-alone section for the month's subsequent weeks.

LA...[debuts in early 2011] ...a new LA-centric e-newsletter highlighting the magazine's columns, feature stories and expanded digital content.

Full announcement HERE.

November 11, 2010 News

2010-11-11T15:52:00.000-08:00

Contact info passed on by former LAIst Editor Zach Behrens in his new gig as KCET's " editor-in-chief for the station's new blogging operation," all kcet.org:

arts press releases:
culturedesk@

food/restaurant press releases:
fooddesk@

everything else:
newsdesk@

KCET's press release announcing his appointment is HERE.

***

At LAIst, Zach is replaced as editor by previous Assistant Editor Lindsay William-Ross, and Lisa Brenner takes Lindsay's former title. More info HERE.

***

An email excerpt from Sara Wilson, who departed Los Angeles Magazine on Wednesday:

... I’m leaving to edit the Huffington Post’s new divorce section... In future, please direct all submissions for the Coming Attractions section or the online Guide to Shayna Rose Arnold (lamag.com address is srarnold@)... If you want to reach me with divorce-related pitches (or just to say hello!) I’ll still be in L.A. (huffingtonpost.com address is sara.wilson@).

Congrats to everyone!

***

OLDER NEWS...

Goodbye to a good guy... Leo Wolinsky left Variety, per THIS New York Times story.

And as a result, new staff assignments at Variety are detailed HERE.

***

From a Citysearch's Facebook post:

TO OUR THOUSANDS OF FACEBOOK FRIENDS: Yes, it's true. Citysearch is changing its editorial operations. As such, LA editors Mar Yvette & Kelly Wardle will no longer be keeping up this page, but you can find them on Twitter: @marpop + @kellywardle. Citysearch will maintain its social media presence on a national level, so... you can get the latest company updates. Thank you & good night.

NEWS: October 18, 2010

2010-10-18T15:02:00.000-07:00

Former Brand X Editor Alexandra Letellier heads over to the LA Times Opinion section, replaced by new Editor Krista Simmons.

***

Thanks to Kenny Werther for passing this along....

The Hollywood Reporter is pleased to announce that Todd McCarthy will be joining the staff as chief film critic.

He was most recently a film critic and columnist for IndieWire and for many years was chief film critic for Variety and Daily Variety.

***

More Hollywood Reporter news from The Wrap:

Elizabeth Guider is stepping down as editor from the Hollywood Reporter, the trade announced on Monday. Guider had been considered a lame duck following the appointment of Us Weekly veteran Janice Min as editorial director in May...Online Editor Andrew Wallenstein is also leaving the Reporter, TheWrap has learned.)

Details HERE and HERE.

HERE is a link to the masthead on the newly launched Hollywood Reporter web site.

***

From writer Elina Shatkin, former LA Times writer:

It's official! On Monday, Oct. 18, I start my new gig as the 2nd restaurant critic for the LA Weekly. You may have heard of the first guy, Jonathan Gold.

***

ATTENTION PR PROS, especially free-lancers and indie firm owners:

Two LA-area publicists are looking for a few more individuals to share a Vocus subscription in order to reduce costs. Email Carol [AT] eisnerpr dot com or call (310) 839-1400.

***

KPCC's Morning Edition host Steve Julian, who's also a devoted theater supporter and blogs at his own site and at LA Stage, is taking center stage himself as Martin Vanderhof (Grandpa) in You Can’t Take It With You at the Candlelight Pavilion in Claremont, an Inland Valley Repertory Theatre production, playing October 20 and 27 and November 3. Read all about it HERE, and go see it!

And here’s an update on former Los Angeles Times arts staffer Diane Haithman:

While she continues to contribute to Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood website and other news outlets, Haithman also a contributor to a new literary anthology. An excerpt from her novel “Dark Lady of Hollywood” -- a finalist in the William Faulkner Creative Writing Awards competition (novel-in-progress category) -- will be included in A Voice from the Planet, Harvard Square Editions' second volume of “living fiction,” (published Oct, 1, 2010), edited by Harvard alumni. The short fiction anthology features work by award-winning and new authors from Congo to Hollywood, with stories and novel excerpts set in a wide range of arenas including the jungles of Peru, the American rebellion of the 1960s, fire dancing in the mountains of Bulgaria and high finance on 9/11. Readers can take part in the dialogue by emailing the authors and chatting on the web atwww.harvardsquareeditions.org. Net proceeds from the sale of this book (now available on Amazon) go to the Nobel Prize-winning charity Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

More details available at Haithman’s Amazon authors’ page HERE.

BREAK A LEG, Steve, and CONGRATULATIONS, Diane!!

September 30, 2010

2010-09-30T11:20:00.000-07:00

News about staff changes at the Hollywood Reporter from the New York Post:

There is a month to go before The Hollywood Reporter takes a colossal gamble and drops its daily print edition to relaunch as a glossy weekly aimed at the film trade as well as some high-end consumers.

No surprise that Editorial Director Janice Min is making a flurry of new hires this week as she scrambles to fill out the staff in advance of the magazine's debut on Nov. 3.

Degen Pener, who was the editor-in-chief of the recently sold Angeleno Magazine, is joining as culture editor... Min also took time to raid from her old boss, Jann Wenner, by hiring Carol McColgin -- who had been the lead fashion writer at Us Weekly -- to be the style editor... Min's also poached from THR archrival Variety to hire Bill Higgins, a one-time "Into the Night" columnist at the Los Angeles Times, to cover parties and events around town.

The daily print version disappears on Nov. 3 when the new weekly launches.

More details from The Hollywood Reporter HERE.

***

LA Observed reports:

Rob Guth, the Wall Street Journal's tech reporter based in San Francisco, is coming south to be Los Angeles bureau chief... Also, L.A. based Disney and music reporter Ethan Smith gets a promotion to Entertainment News Editor, "the prime reporter and shepherd of our Hollywood entertainment coverage."

More HERE.

***

I read last week about the passing of long-time wine writer Jean Burggren... she was a lovely person. RIP. Obit HERE.

***

Thanks to Kenny Werther for passing this along from Theater Mania:

New York magazine editor-in-chief Adam Moss announced today that Scott Brown will be the magazine's theater critic as of September 21. Brown has been a part-time reviewer for the magazine for the last two years, and previously worked at Entertainment Weekly and is concluding his tenure as a columnist for Wired. He will contribute to the magazine's print edition, web site, and daily blogs.

The magazine's previous theater critics include John Simon and Jeremy McCarter. Over the past two years, Brown has shared reviewing duties with Dan Kois and Stephanie Zacharek.

***

From an Elle Decor press release:

Michael Boodro, Editor in Chief of ELLE DECOR, announced the appointment of three additional senior staffers to the brand's editorial team: Ingrid Abramovitch, Editor At Large, Allison M. Mezzafonte, Executive Editor Online and Caryn M. Prime, Managing Editor. Ms. Abramovitch, Ms.Mezzafonte and Ms. Prime join the previously-announced team that includes Anita Sarsidi, Design Director, Vicky Lowry, Executive Editor and Florentino Pamintuan, Creative Director.

***

From an Architectural Digest press release:

Margaret Russell, Editor-in-Chief of Architectural Digest, has named the following individuals to her editorial staff, it was announced today.

Executive Editor —Sarah Medford, formerly Director of Arts, Culture & Design at Town & Country

Managing Editor—Lawrence Karol, formerly Executive Managing Editor at W Magazine

Special Projects Editor— Mitchell Owens, formerly Editor at Large at Elle Decor

Interiors Editor—Robert Rufino , formerly Vice President of Creative Services at Tiffany & Co., and most recently, a Senior Editor at Large at House Beautiful.

Design Editor—Howard Christian, formerly manager of the Treillage design/home-furnishings/garden shops

Style Editor—Elana Frankel, formerly Decorating Editor at Martha Stewart Living

Senior Writer—Sam Cochran, formerly a freelance writer specializing in design, arts and culture, and travel

Copy Chief— Kate Hambrecht, formerly Copy Chief at Elle Decor

Assistant Editor, Digital— Katherine Jerde, formerly Editorial Assistant at Architectural Digest in Los Angeles

Margaret Dunne, the former Executive Editor of Architectural Digest in Los Angeles has been named Consulting Editor, as has former Special Projects Manager, James Munn, both will remain in Los Angeles. George Moscahlades, Architectural Digest’s former Art Director, will stay on as Consulting Designer in New York.

September 20, 2010

2010-09-20T11:46:00.000-07:00

This just in, via LA Observed:

Conde Nast announced today that the editorial offices of Bon Appetit magazine will be moving to New York, without longtime editor Barbara Fairchild. She will oversee the transition then leave to pursue other projects, including some with Conde Nast, according to the release.

Thanks also to LA Observed for THIS MEMO about new and changed programming at KPFK.

Wall Street Journal news from AP:

Starting next week, the Saturday Journal, under a new masthead reading "WSJ," will replace Weekend Journal with two distinct sections.

The Review section, comparable to the Times' Week in Review, will carry essay-style pieces on big ideas and events, with a pullout section inside devoted to book reviews. Gary Rosen, a former Commentary magazine editor with a background from Stanford and Harvard universities will run the section. Robert Messenger, one of the founding editors of the shuttered New York Sun, will report to Rosen as head of the book section.

The Off Duty lifestyle section will hew more toward high-end consumer reporting: fashion, tech, home decorating and design. Deborah Needleman, the editor of home decor magazine Domino before it folded last year, is leading the section as well as WSJ magazine. She has brought in fellow Domino alumnus Ruth Altchek to help run things day-to-day and Kevin Sintumuang from GQ to edit tech and gadgets. (The Journal won't reveal exactly how many extra staffers it has hired for the weekend.)

Two things that slipped through the cracks from a few weeks ago...

... this one from a press release last month:

New York, NY, August 23, 2010: Michael Boodro has been named Editor-in-Chief of ELLE DECOR; it was announced today by Robin Domeniconi, Senior Vice President, Chief Brand Officer, Elle Group. His appointment is effective August 25, 2010. Mr. Boodro has been promoted to Editor-in-Chief from the position of the magazine's Executive Editor. ELLE DECOR, the leading title in the shelter category, will also retain its core editorial team led by Anita Sarsidi, Florentino Pamintuan and Vicky Lowry.

... and this from Felix Racelis

Just wanted to let you know a former colleague of mine, Queena Kim, moved to the Bay Area a couple of months ago to become the Community Editor for the new online publication, The Bay Citizen. Queena was the producer for KPCC's Off-Ramp.

September 13, 2010

2010-09-13T10:40:00.000-07:00

The New York Times reports this about The Hollywood Reporter:

Starting next month, Janice Min, who became the editorial director in June, and Richard Beckman, chief executive of The Reporter’s parent company, e5 Global Media, will remake the five-times-a-week publication as a glossy, large-format weekly magazine.

The content in the magazine, which will include a mix of analytical and feature articles and photo spreads, will be coupled with an aggressive and redesigned Web operation built around breaking news. A daily digital edition, in a PDF file, will replace the daily printed version distributed to subscribers now.

The prototype of the redesigned Reporter shows how he and Ms. Min plan to reach both audiences. It includes a new, more stylized logo and is printed on heavy, glossy paper. It is divided between fluff — an “About Town” section offers extensive coverage of parties and premieres — and substantive, reported features with tart language like “Coroner’s Report,” an examination of a movie that flopped. “How ‘Mad Men’ Inspired Prada,” reads the headline of another feature in the prototype.

Several items from LA Observed...

Food writer Lesley Balla announced she has left Tasting Table: "It's been a fun and incredibly informative year and a half, but it's time to move on." And a new blog http://chowballa.com/

...and this about KCBS's redesigned web site:

It's branded now as CBS Los Angeles and includes stuff from the two TV stations, CBS 2 and KCAL 9, and radio stations KNX and KFWB. Plus a whole lot that has little to do with CBS, such as newswire stories, calendar items and L.A guides of various kinds.

Here's a LINK to add events to the calendar:

...and this about a contact change for the LA Times' Health section:

Tami Dennis, health and science editor at the Los Angeles Times, is getting new Tribune-wide responsibilities and the title of vice president of health content for Tribune Company. She will coordinate health coverage at Tribune newspapers, television stations and websites and produce a new national health blog. Looks like the Tribune has decided it wants health news and information to be a money maker going forward.

Rosie Mestel named to replace Dennis as health and science editor.

Take THIS link for memo and more info.

Got this email auto reply from Wall Street Journal Speakeasy blog writer Michelle Kung:

I am currently out of the office because I am relocating. Starting Tuesday Sept. 7, I will be working out of the Wall Street Journal's L.A. Bureau at 6500 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 1500, Los Angeles, CA 90048. For immediate assistance on all Speakeasy-related issues, please email the general account at speakeasy [wsj.com] and someone will get back to you. Thank you.

August 24, 2010

2010-08-24T17:07:00.001-07:00

Just when you think arts journalism can't get any dispiriting ... check out OC Register writer Tim Mangan's blog post describing his new assignment at the newspaper. Do the names "Lindsay" and "Paris" ring any bells? Sigh.

Thanks to the amazing Ken Werther for bringing to my attention that Mark Kennedy replaces the late Michael Kuchwara as AP's theater writer and reviewer. More from the LA Times here.

Thanks to the fabulous Lucy Pollak for passing along this email from LA Watts Times' Samuel Richard...

Hello,
As part of the transition of the L.A. Watts Times to new ownership, this e-mail address will be disabled soon. Please contact me at: sam.lawt (address is @lasentinel.net)

... and also this link announcing the sale of the Watts Times to the Sentinel's owners.

LA Observed passes along today's LA Times memo with this announcement:

Please join us in welcoming to the arts & entertainment staff Deborah Vankin, who is moving over from Brand X, where she has been its innovative and indefatigable editor since its inception in print and online. Deb will work as a general assignment reporter across the arts, culture and entertainment spectrum, mainly for the Calendar section, reporting to Craig Turner.

August 16, 2010

2010-08-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

Terry Miller is the new-ish editor of the Beacon Media group of newspapers (Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, etc.). His @beaconmedianews.com address is tmiller.

Got this auto reply from Robin Jones, who was Westways' managing editor:

I no longer work for the Auto Club. Please send any inquires to John Lehrer at lehrer.john.

Lehrer's email is @aaa-calif.com.

Lindsay Keenan at Vanity Fair has been replaced by Bramble Trionfo. @condenast.com address is bramble_trionfo.

Nathan Cooper is no longer at C Magazine; Jenny Murray Hooks, previously Managing Editor, takes his Editor title, according to the magazine's receptionist.

Per Media Bistro's Revolving Door newsletter:

Deborah Needleman, former editor of defunct Condé Nast title Domino, is the new editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal's WSJ. Magazine

August 9, 2010 - Happy 8/9/10 Day!

2010-08-09T12:02:00.000-07:00

Veteran food writer Dee Long announces the launch of a new food and beverage blog called "Gotta Love It" on Wednesday, September 1st. "Gotta Love It" will review new food and beverage products, gizmos and gadgets that make dining and cooking easier, more creative or more fun, along with new cookbook releases. Pitch Long via @aol.com: dlong34522.

According to an article in the Beverly Hills Courier, News Editor Abbey Hood departs to enter a "doctoral program of the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant University in San Francisco." Replacing her is Adam Popescu.

Thanks to Flo Selfman for passing this along:

Elle Decor editor-in-chief Margaret Russell has been named editor-in-chief at Architectural Digest to succeed Paige Rense.

Per an auto reply generated by an email to Palos Verdes Peninsula News Society Editor Frank Brown:

We regret to inform you that Society Editor Frank Brown is no longer with the Peninsula News. Please forward Anniversary, Wedding and Engagement announcements to Rebecca Villaneda at rvillaneda. Please forward all Society events and announcements to Mary Scott at mscott.

Both addresses are @pvnews.com.

And finally, this from PR Week, courtesy of a link from Carol Soudah at the Rogers Group:

Lynne Doll passes away
LOS ANGELES: Lynne Doll, president and partner of The Rogers Group, died on August 3 due to complications from a stroke. She was 48 years old. Doll started at The Rogers Group in 1985, and recently, Ron Rogers, chairman of the agency, called hiring Doll the best decision of his career. While at The Rogers Group, Doll handled crisis communications, led the public sector practice, and helped grow and expand the agency's expertise, high-profile clients, and campaigns.

July 24, 2010 News

2010-07-24T16:17:00.000-07:00

RIP Norm Chandler Fox, writer and more. I worked frequently with him earlier in my career, and he was a lovely person. Obit HERE.

Tim Mangan, one of the best music writers around, and also one of the funniest, has his own blog now that the OC Register saw fit to discontinue its Arts Blog. Check it out HERE, and note the irony of THIS particular post announcing that OC Arts Blog was just named "Best Blog" by the O.C. Press Club.

From LAIst:

It's not often you hear about an online publication announcing its transition to print. Because it is -- although hackneyed -- usually the opposite: "print is dying." But that's not true. At all.

And to prove that point, downtown's most well-known blog this morning announced that it will begin printing a weekly. blogdowntown Weekly will join LA Weekly and other papers on downtown news racks on Thursday, August 5th. To start, 25,000 tabloid-size, full-color papers will be produced.

The 16-page or so publication will mainly feature calendar and lifestyle content, leaving developing news to the blog...

Full story HERE.

Thanks to Flo Selfman for passing this along, via Levine Breaking News:

Alex Raksin, who spent eleven years writing and editing book reviews for the L.A. Times and nine years as an editorial writer, joins the Center for Governmental Studies as Director of External Affairs.

July 19, 2010 News

2010-07-17T17:42:00.000-07:00

Wall Street Journal Los Angeles Bureau Chief Gabriel Khan departs journalism for a post at USC, and his auto-reply email directs news inquiries at writer Ethan Smith.

According to The Wrap, Denise Martin, staff writer at the Los Angeles Times and former television reporter at Variety, has been named West Coast news editor at TVGuide.com.

LA Observed reports this media news:

Jon Thurber is new books editor at L.A. Times... [he] had been one of the Los Angeles Times managing editors, but only for the past year or so. On the books desk he replaces David Ulin, who recently shifted to book critic.

Full story with LA Times memo HERE.

Editor and publisher Jerry Sullivan has been notifying supporters and others all day that the July 23 issue of the Los Angeles Garment & Citizen will be the weekly's last.

Details HERE.

Artist Kimberly Brooks (wife of Albert) is the new Huffington Post arts editor. Here "welcome" message is HERE.

Thanks to Omar Cunningham for passing this along...

"Anne Christensen is the new fashion director at Glamour, replacing Xanthipi Joannides who retired from full-time mag duty in June after three decades of service at Condé Nast."

June 14, 2010 News

2010-06-13T15:51:00.000-07:00

BELATED HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO PR MEDIA MOVES!

Can it really be three years since I started it in May 2007? Apparently! Hope you like our "fresh, new look"!

Oh, and Happy Flag Day!

MEANWHILE…

This from Jewish Journal's Danielle Berrin, via email, who says she's…:

… no longer handling Circuit in order to focus more on my beat…

She says to use this jewishjournal.com address for Circuit submissions: circuit@

A recent New York Times INTERVIEW with new Town & Country Editor in Chief Stephen Drucker suggests some changes at the magazine.

Thanks to Lucy Pollak for reporting that Ernio Hernandez is leaving Playbill; his replacement is Matt Blank. @playbill.com = mblank

Media Bistro reports these LA Times metro writer assignment changes:

Phil Willon will become a roving state reporter based in Riverside, primarily covering the Inland Empire counties. Riverside and San Bernardino have always provided fertile ground for stories.

Patrick McDonnell will move to City Hall, bringing reporting skills honed over many years and several continents to bear on one of our most important beats.

Details HERE.

From Ad Age:

The Wall Street Journal is expanding again, this time with an additional weekly section of leisure and lifestyle content that will build out the nearly 5-year-old Saturday edition. The new section, for which former Domino magazine editor in chief Deborah Needleman is serving as a consultant, is slated to appear this fall.

"It's a newspaper section but with quite a magazine-y sensibility," Ms. Needleman said.

More info HERE.

May 24, 2010 News

2010-05-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

I'm opening this post on a sad note in reporting the death of AP Theatre Critic Mike Kuchwara. LAT Theatre Critic Charles McNulty remembers him HERE.

From LA Times' Culture Monster blog a week or so ago:

Exit another theater critic, enter a theater insider.

Those are the stage directions coming from KCRW-FM (89.9). The Santa Monica-based public radio outlet announced Friday that the curtain has closed on James C. Taylor's seven-year run of four-minute weekly reviews and commentaries in the Thursday afternoon "Theatre Talk" spot. Opening Tuesday at 4:44 p.m. is a new take on the stage, "Opening the Curtain on L.A. Theatre," with Anthony Byrnes.

The idea is to keep the focus strictly on the Los Angeles stage, rather than the wider view "Theatre Talk" would sometimes take, said Matt Holzman, a longtime KCRW staff member who recently became director of program development after Jennifer Ferro succeeded Ruth Seymour as general manager in February.

Full story HERE, and LA Observed has additional news about changes in KCRW's lineup HERE.

Speaking of critics, I highly recommend reading Tim Mangan's hilarious COLUMN from over the weekend.

LA Times' Patrick Goldstein makes some salient points about laying off long-time journalists and replacing them with lower-paid staff a his recent column about Variety's announcement...

...that it's promoted Justin Chang and Peter Debruge to the post of senior film critics.

Read it in full HERE.

Got this a few weeks ago from Katherine Spiers:

Hi there,
... I've just joined a new wine blog as a contributor, so I'd love to be in the loop about wine events, new products, etc. THIS is the site

Reach her @gmail: katherinespiers

The Los Angeles offices of 944 Magazine/944 Media have moved to:
944 Media
9100 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 700W
Beverly Hills, CA 90212

May 7, 2010 News

2010-05-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

ALAN RICH MEMORIAL SERVICE, TRIBUTE BOOK

From Vanessa Butler:

We have decided on the date for Alan's memorial, Tuesday, May 25th, 7:30pm, at Zipper Hall in downtown Los Angeles.

It will be open to the public and we are doing a tribute book where I am accepting stories or memories of Alan.

If anyone wants to send me stories, I would need to have them by Monday, May 17th.

Vanessa's contact info: Vanessa.Butler -- [at] sbcglobal dot net

May 5, 2010 News

2010-05-04T20:47:00.000-07:00

RIP Alan Rich

You've likely heard by now the news of Alan Rich's passing. He was, and I quote OC Register music critic Tim Mangan, "an institution of Southern California music criticism." Check out Tim's piece on Alan HERE. I also liked John Payne's LA Weekly piece HERE.

Speaking of LA Weekly, Ben Calderwood joins Jonathan Gold as food critic.

LA Observed has this from the staff memo…

Ben Calderwood started this week as our second food critic, joining Jonathan Gold, Amy Scattergood and Amy's lineup of strong freelancers to produce the best food coverage in Los Angeles.

…and more HERE.

You can find Ben on Twitter @humOrbot.

This from a press release a few weeks back:

Fine Arts LA is excited to announce that after a year of working dutifully toward building the site to what it has become, Nicole Campoy-Leffler (Editor-in-Chief) and Danyel Madrid (Editor-at-Large) are appointing a new Editor-in-Chief to take over all editorial responsibilities from within the team: Josh Morrison.

Nicole Campoy-Leffler will continue writing for the website and will maintain a managerial role at Fine Arts LA... Danyel Madrid is set to continue working with Fine Arts LA as a regular contributor...

Email at @fineartsla.com is josh

Got this auto reply from an email I'd sent to Mia McNeice at Variety:

Mia McNiece is no longer with Variety. For V page consideration, please email (@variety.com) Bob.Hofler or vpage

Per THIS from Fishbowl NY, Fiona Murray replaces Janelle Carrigan as Wall Street Journal features editor.

Thanks to Flo Selfman for passing these announcements along from Media Bistro's Revolving Door newsletter.

Todd McCarthy has been named film and festival critic and columnist at Indiewire. He had been former chief film critic and columnist at Variety.

Tim Griffin has been named editor-at-large at Artforum. He had been editor-in-chief there.

Michelle Kuo has been named editor-in-chief at Artforum. She had been senior editor there.

Erica Cerulo has been named senior editor at Lucky. She had been associate editor at Details.

Lauren Benet Stephenson has been named accessories market editor, news, at Women's Wear Daily. She had been associate online editor there.

March 30, 2010 News

2010-03-30T17:25:00.000-07:00

CURRENT AND RECENT-ish NEWS....

From Fishbowl NY:

Sumathi Reddy, general assignment reporter for Newsday, is joining The Wall Street Journal's New York team to write about restaurants, reports the New York Observer. The Journal has been making several changes of late in the food space. Last week, the paper added Jay McInerney and Lettie Teague as wine columnists, and dropped restaurant critic Raymond Sokolov earlier this month.

Full story HERE.

From LA Observed:

Gustavo Turner [is now] music editor of the LA Weekly, replacing Randall Roberts.

Details HERE, and more on Randall Roberts below.

Also from LA Observed:

The Huffington Post is reporting that Adam Nagourney, the chief national political correspondent for the New York Times, is leaving Washington to be the paper's Los Angeles bureau chief. Current bureau chief Jennifer Steinhauer is heading the other way, to cover Congress in the Washngton bureau.

More info HERE.

From the LA Times:

Randall Roberts has joined the arts and entertainment group as pop music editor, overseeing the popular Pop & Hiss blog and coverage of the fast-evolving recording industry, the vibrant local scene of bands and hit-makers, and national and international artists from country and jazz to hip-hop, pop and rock ‘n’ roll.

Jori Finkel will join the staff to cover art and architecture

Take THIS LINK for additional details.

Thanks to Flo Selfman for passing this contact along, if you don't already have it on your mailing list:

Mike Carlin, Editor
Century City News
www.centurycitynews.com
P.O.Box 69854
Los Angeles
CA 90069
Tel 310 597 1828
Fax 424 789 2136

Mike's gmail.com address is centurycitynewsent@

Variety has DETAILS of layoffs at KCBS/KCAL, among them morning co-anchor Suzanne Rico, news operations manager Doug Dougherty and executive producer Jeff Soto. Long-time weathercaster Johnny Mountain retires.

KPCC updates:

New address/phone:
474 South Raymond Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91105
Phone: (626) 583-5100
Fax: (626) 583-5101

And, from LA Observed:

Madeleine Brand, the former host of "Day to Day" on National Public Radio, will host a news magazine show in the old DTD slot at 9 a.m. on KPCC's daily schedule.

More HERE.

OLDER NEWS...

Poynter has the full memo HERE from Tim Gray, Variety editor, titled 'It doesn't make economic sense to have full-time reviewers.'

Per LA Observed on March 1:

KSCN, the Cal State Northridge radio station at 88.5 FM, switched at 10 a.m. to Adult Album Alternative (AAA or Triple A) format 24 hours a day.

Thanks to Larry Mayer for THIS LINK to the press release:

From Dikla Kadosh, a while ago, at the Jewish Journal:

I am no longer the Calendar Editor at the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. To reach the new editor, Ryan Torok, please address all event-related emails to "calendar" (@jewishjournal.com). And kindly remove [my] email address (diklak) from any mailing lists.

Entertainment Tonight emails are @cbs.com and no longer @cbsparamount.com

Take the LA Times' Jerry Hirsch off your food/business lists, and add him to auto, per THIS rather un-recent Times Reader's Rep memo

Lisa Sweetingham is now deputy editor at Angeleno, replacing Jade Chang who's now the online executive producer.

AND FINALLY...

Deepest condolences to family and friends of the lovely Mark Ferber, with whom I crossed paths many times in my work over the years with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mark, who worked at the Hollywood Bowl for 45 years, passed away March 14 at age 60.

This LA Times OBIT has more about him, but even if you think you didn't know him, you probably did. If you've ever attended a concert at the Bowl, you heard him as "the voice" that made the pre-concert greeting and the post-concert farewell, live every performance. Among my favorites: "Secure all cel phones, wine bottles and other noisemakers," and "Don't empty your ice chest on the sidewalk."

RIP, Mark. Will miss you.

January 25, 2010 News

2010-01-25T10:07:00.000-08:00

COOL SITES ALERT!

1. Thanks to Ann Brenoff for this one: Newseum.org has a terrific feature that displays daily newspaper front pages from around the country when you hover/click on a location in their US map.

2. A non-publicist friend posted a link to this site, PDFmyURL, which turns any web site page into a PDF for easy printing, etc. It's PERFECT for web sites that don't print as they appear on the monitor!

Speaking of useful web sites, and I believe I've mentioned this before, TheLookbook.com, is an online database where subscribers can join to get access to fashion and beauty PR contacts as well as information on wardrobe stylists, hairstylists and make up artists and their celebrity clients. President and co-Founder Kristen Steinhilber Calavas adds a position to her plate: PR Consultant for Serfontaine Denim, a brand that also works with Preface PR in Los Angeles for showroom services.

Thanks to Trevor Thomas for letting me know that Robert Nesti is the new EDGE publications assignment editor for all theater reviews. Kevin Mark Kline, who previously handled that, is now operations manager.

Also, EDGE Publications' new address is:
434 Massachusetts Avenue
#501
Boston, MA 02118
617-422-0707 (main)
617-391-0883 (fax)

This tip comes courtesy of Flo Selfman (thanks!) from Brad Pomerance:

Dear Friends:

As you may remember, I host "Local Edition," which is a five-minute interview interstitial that airs on CNN HLN in Southern California. As part of "Local Edition," we launched our franchise "Celebrities With A Cause," where I interview celebrities about their involvement in charitable, philanthropic and humanitarian organizations.

Well I am pleased to report that while we are of course continuing our Celebrity franchise on "Local Edition," we are expanding it on "Special Edition." Special Edition is a 1/2 hour interview program that will air throughout Southern California in homes served by Charter. So for those celebrities that would like the opportunity to highlight their involvement in their favorite causes, we now have a full thirty minutes to enlighten our viewers. All we ask is that the celebrity's representatives work with us to gather as much compelling still and moving b-roll to help bring the interview segments to life.

If one of your celebrity clients would be interested in joining us for such a thirty-minute interview, please contact me at your convenience.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

With much appreciation,

Brad Pomerance
Host, Local Edition &
Special Edition

Brad's @mac.com email is bradpomerance.

And finally, a one-day-after "Happy Birthday" shout out to my esteemed colleague, the ultra-wonderful Libby Huebner.

January 15, 2010 News

2010-01-15T10:56:00.000-08:00

Life After 50 Magazine's masthead shows David Laurell as editor now, apparently replacing Darcy Alvey. His @lifeafter50.com email address is david.

The masthead also shows 50 S. DeLacey Avenue, Suite 200, Pasadena 91105 as the publication's address now, rather than in San Diego. The mag is owned by Southland Publishing, whose Pasadena Weekly and Arroyo Monthly are headquarted at the same Pasadena address.

From Cision:

Chris Krewson has been named the new editor of Variety.com. He currently serves as the executive editor for online/news at philly.com and is set to join Variety in February. He will replace Dana Harris, who is moving to another position with the publication. Krewson is available on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ckrewson.

Joy Press is joining the Los Angeles Times on Jan. 4, 2010, as a pop culture editor and deputy television editor. She will split time between the New York and Los Angeles offices until spring 2010, when she will be permanently based in Los Angeles. She previously was the culture editor of Salon.com and had also served as an arts and culture editor, television critic, book critic and editor of the Voice Literary Supplement for The Village Voice. She began her journalism career as a rock critic for Melody Maker and a contributing editor at Spin.

Cision also reports the departure of writer David Keeps from the LA Times in December.

From the New York Post:

Collen Curtis, AOL's editorial director of women's and lifestyle programming, is hiring about a dozen Gourmet editors who lost their jobs when the magazine shut down in November. They'll develop recipes and content for a new AOL food site launching next month. Cheryl Brown, a Gourmet editor for a decade, will serve as editor of the site, which has yet to be named. AOL has also tapped "Top Chef" judge Gail Simmons, and chefs Marcus Samuelsson and Curtis Stone to develop their own video series for the site.

LA Observed reports these new LA Times reporter assignments; read entire memo here.

Metro desk reporter Mitchell Landesberg is the new religion writer at the Los Angeles Times. Also, Ron Lin moves to the county Hall of Administration beat, plus there are new reporters assigned to regional government [Kay Saillant] and crime [Richard Winton].

In other news, happy birthday to my fabulous mother, Claire Segal (tomorrow!).

January 11, 2010 News

2010-01-10T15:34:00.000-08:00

SO MUCH to catch up on! Let's start at the very beginning....

LA TIMES NEWS

1. LA Times closes Orange County presses, debuts news section, and announces other changes, which I've summarized/excerpted below:

The Los Angeles Times is closing its printing operations in Orange County to cut costs and will begin publishing a new section devoted to late-breaking news…

To accommodate earlier deadlines necessitated by the elimination of the plant, the paper will launch a section dubbed LATExtra to run late-breaking news that was previously published in individual sections. LATExtra will appear Monday through Saturday, beginning Feb. 2...

... Joe Eckdahl, the paper's senior editor/Page One, [is] editor of the new section.

In another cost-saving measure, the paper will eliminate the stand-alone Business section on Mondays. Business-oriented stories will appear inside the main news section that day.

The Food section will move to Thursdays...

As part of the changes, the width of the paper will be reduced to 44 inches from 48 inches...

Read the entire story here.

2. More on LATExtra from a publisher's note, available in full here.

Designed to address print capacity complexities, create later print deadlines and complement Main A’s analysis and examination of the issues confronting our readers on local, national and global fronts, LATExtra will focus largely on California stories and include end-of-day reporting from across the spectrum. LATExtra will run Monday through Saturday and also include Weather and Obituaries in order to allow later deadlines.

3. Times Media Group launches two Orange County-oriented websites:

The Los Angeles Times Media Group and U.S. Local News Network Inc. have formed a joint venture that will include launching two news websites aimed at readers and advertisers in Orange County.

The venture… will allow the companies to share content and advertising sales across the sites -- www.theocnow.com and www.oclnn.com -- and those of three existing Times-owned local newspapers in Orange County: the Coastline Pilot, the Daily Pilot and the Huntington Beach Independent.

Full story here.

4. Scott Sandell takes on more responsibilities, according to this memo:

Scott Sandell, who has brought new energy and news-orientation to the entertainment report since being named Calendar morning editor just a few months ago, will take on expanded duties as deputy online arts and entertainment editor.

In his new position, Scott will report to Online Arts and Entertainment Editor Lisa Fung, working with her to expand our film, television, music, Company Town, celebrity and arts and culture coverage on the Web. He will continue to serve as the morning editor and as the liaison between the print and Web efforts, unifying our coverage, particularly of breaking news and daily features. Working closely with assignment editors, Scott will develop Web-only content for stories, coordinate the planning of Web components for longer-range projects and help develop blogging and social media training programs for editors and reporters.

5. Last fall, Jason Gelt replaced George Ducker as the contact for the Calendar Section Events and Kids listings.

_______________

Valley Magazine Publisher Jane Boeckmann's "Note" in the December issue of casually drops this news:

"A new year often brings growth and change, and such is the case at World of Communications, Inc. After more than 20 years of publishing 'Valley Magazine,' we will be closing a beloved chapter of our company's history. This will be the last issue..."

_______________

Join me in congratulating former LA Times writer Diane Haithman, who has hooked up with Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood site, according to this from LA Observed.

LA Observed also reports that food writers Jonathan Gold and Barbara Hansen are both now contributing to the LA Weekly's popular Squid Ink food blog in addition to everything they've been doing previously. Hansen's Table Conversations blog is here.

Kudos to LA Observed for the redesign (and for being such a wonderful resource in general!)

And, in case you missed it, here's more from LA Observed from a while back...

1) ...names names of LA Times staffers laid off here and here;

2) ...posts Daily News memo announcing departure of staff writer Sue Doyle here;

3) ...reveals info on LA Weekly's new film editor and reporter here:

_______________

Bookmark LARadio.com for useful news, including this from a recent post:

KFWB is dropping afternooner Rodger Hedgecock and replacing him with a news block from4 p.m. – 7 p.m. Co-anchoring the new drive time show will be Maggie McKay and Michael Shappee.

_______________

Got an email last week with this info/opportunity...

On behalf of UCLA Anderson School of Management and the G. and R. Loeb Foundation, I would like to invite you to participate in the 2010 Loeb Awards call for entries. The Loeb Awards are the most prestigious honor in business journalism. Our mission is to recognizing writers, editors and producers who make significant contributions to the understanding of business, finance and the economy for both the private investor and the general public. For the 2010 competition, the Loeb Awards are evolving by incorporating new media and new technologies. We’ve created two new Loeb Awards categories: Online Commentary and Blogging; and Personal Finance.

Submissions and nominations for the 13 competition categories and two career achievement awards will be accepted online only at www.loeb.anderson.ucla.edu.

_______________

PR practitioner Zan Dubin Scott is teaching a PR class in February for "anyone who wants to achieve media exposure to change behavior, inspire action or boost revenue for a cause, nonprofit organization, business or government agency."

It's called PR Plugged In: A Hands-On, Real-World Course, and it meets on Thursdays (Feb. 4, 11, 18 and 25), 7-9 p.m., at Ballona Institute Research Library in Playa del Rey.

You'll find the details this week on her site, ZDS Communications.

_______________

NPR launches a new blog:

13.7, a blog set at the intersection of science and culture. Our goal is to engage in a discussion with each other -- and you -- about how science has shaped culture and how culture has shaped science.

Take the link above for more details.
_______________

OLDER NEWS FROM DECEMBER...

Lucy Pollak strikes again with this updated info:

Linda Williamson has replaced Deborah Shadowitz as editor at ValleyLife Magazine.

Emai is linda ---[at]--- ljwilliamson dot com

And so does Brenda Rees, who writes:

...got a call from a freelancer who is working with a new magazine that will premiere here in Los Angeles. Home L.A. It's put out by the same group that publishes similiar high-end quarterly magazines in the Miami area (www.homemia.com). The first issue is expected to hit the streets in February...

Flo Selfman passes on these two items from Media Bistro's Revolving Door newsletter:

The Los Angeles Times' book section writer Susan Salter Reynolds and assistant book editor Orli Low leave the paper, which now features just two full-time staffers and a blogger manning the Book Review section...

Richard Rushfield leaves Gawker after just four months as West Coast editor. The former L.A. Times scribe joins the Digital Entertainment Corporation of America as editorial consultant. Gabriel Snyder, Gawker's managing editor, says there will be masthead additions in the coming weeks...

Omar Cuningham shares:

1) this from writer Amy Prince:

After a challenging yet creatively fulfilling year and a half as executive editor, the January/February 2010 issue of Surface is my last. I thank you for your support of and enthusiasm for the magazine and do hope you stay in touch. Until then, wishing you a restful holiday season and a productive start to the new year.

Reach her now via amy ]at[ witty pioneers dot com

and

2) this, in part, from Jesse Ashlock:

Dear Friends,

If you’re receiving this note, there’s a good chance you’ve already heard the news last week that I.D. magazine will cease publication after 55 years. As announced last week, the Annual Design Review will continue in online form—and entries for this year’s competition are still being accepted—but the January/February issue will be the magazine’s last. To all those I’ve worked with during my four-year association with the magazine, and especially over my last eight months as editor, it’s been an honor and a privilege.

Jesse adds:

For questions about I.D. and the future of the Annual Design Review, please contact Gary Lynch at gary.lynch [at] fwmedia dot com

If it’s me you’re after, I’ll be easy to find:
jesseashlock ]at[ g mail dot com
www.jesseashlock.com

Susan Gordon passes this on from the Jewish Journal:

"TRIBE, A Jewish Journal Media Group monthly magazine for the affluent communities of Malibu, the West San Fernando Valley, Conejo and Simi Valley, Ventura and Santa Barbara! Tribe is the definitive news, lifestyle, and opinion monthly for the regions most sophisticated, affluent, and involved readers. Tribe covers the people, culture, entertainment, and news that define the Jews of Southern California! "

_______________

From Cision, last month:

Layoffs come to The New York Times. In total, 26 staffers were expected to lose their jobs after 74 took buyouts. The biggest names include Culture's Eric Konigsberg and Allen Salkin from the Style section. Additionally, Michele Monteleone and Ross M. Schneiderman are out. Expect more names to be revealed in the coming days...

_______________

This is a long overdue recommendation for www.martinperlich.com, the highly regarded (and greatly missed) Martin Perlich's new website/podcast series offering free downloads of his in-depth arts interviews from his more than 40 years of broadcasting.

There are talks with composers, conductors and performers constituting a veritable history of classical music from 1965 to 2008, including Leonard Bernstein, Darius Milhaud, Anna Netrebko, Steve Reich, Frank Zappa and hundreds more. There are also interviews with figures from jazz, pop, theatre, film and more, among them Gore Vidal, Bill Evans, Tom Waits, Martin Scorsese, Randy Newman, Roy Orbison and others.

As you no doubt know, Martin, the ‘retired’ PD at KCSN-FM, is author of the classic The Art of the Interview: A Guide to Insightful Interviewing and a novelist as well.

He's begun a new series of audio and video podcasts, initially focusing on new music but soon to expand to a broad range of modern/post-modern genres in film, drama, dance, and books. Check it out soon!

_______________

Finally, Happy New Year!

Here's a gift to start 2010 off right from Paul J. Krupin, whose Direct Contact PR web site is a treasure trove of resources for publicists. He writes:

Each year for the past five years I've created an annual publicity plan to help people look ahead and map out their ideas for publicity throughout the year. It's a free pdf file download I just give away to anyone who can benefit.

This unique publicity planner provides a month-at-a-glance roadmap to holidays throughout the year and identifies the lead time for each holiday. This years edition now captures all sorts of monthly calendar events and weird and unusual national and world holidays.

The special design makes it easy to develop a detailed personalized framework of key dates and events so that you map out your strategy and ideas to promote your book, product, business, organization or event in 2010 and make sure you take advantage of the needed lead time to work with target media.

You'll find this Planner on his site's Free Downloads page, which also has a generous group of sample news releases on a variety of subjects.

Check out his blog, too.

Thanks, Paul!

December 14, 2009 News (*updated)

2009-12-14T15:28:00.000-08:00

This LA Times news just in, per LA Observed, via an LA Times memo (read memo by taking the link):

Kelly Scott will succeed Lisa Fung as arts and culture editor and Suzanne Muchnic is retiring as arts reporter after 31 years at The Times.

If you're looking for V Page editor Mia McNeice at Variety, note this auto reply I got today:

Thank you for your e-mail. I am currently out of the office on maternity leave. If you have any questions about events and the V Page please contact Vanessa Morsse. Have a great holiday season and I will be in touch once I return.

The email address @variety.com is Vanessa.Morsse.

The LA Times moves religion writer Duke Helfand over to the Business staff as a health industry writer, per LA Observed.

And Business writer Lisa Girion goes to "metro," according to this memo.

LA Observed also says that more LA Times layoffs are coming tomorrow (December 15). I read that more layoffs at Fox TV (local) are imminent as well.

From Cision:

Senior editor and columnist Lorrie Lynch has been let go from USA Weekend. She leaves amidst recent staff layoffs at the publication and at USA Today, as previously reported in The Navigator. Lynch joined the magazine in 1990 and penned the celebrities Who's News column.

and

Francis Lam has joined the Internet magazine Salon.com as a food editor and has helped launch the site's food section. He most recently served as a blogger for Gourmet.com and was a contributing editor for Gourmet magazine until its recent closure. Lam can be found on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Francis_Lam

Wanted to make a special shout out to Harriette Smith and her In the Wings blog… check it out here!

I'm concluding with this video from Disneyland that details how candy canes are made. Merry Christmas, everyone!

December 7, 2009

2009-12-07T09:53:00.000-08:00

Gawker reports:

DailyCandy will now stop publishing city-specific editions in all but five of those 12 cities: New York, London, LA, Chicago and San Francisco. Subscribers in the other cities will now receive an "Everywhere" edition, supplemented with local news and events twice a week.

Details and memo here.

The Huffington Post launches an LA site. Read Editor Willow Bay's welcome with details here. She concludes with:

We hope you'll enjoy hearing from these new contributors and others we'll continue to add to the mix. Our Los Angeles editor, Billy Silverman, and I would like to hear more from you, too. Send us your ideas for stories, tips, and feedback in the comments below, or email us at losangeles [at] huffingtonpost.com.

LA Observed reports the LA Times hiring of writer Amy Kaufman to join the "movie group." Her…

…responsibility principally will be to report breaking news for Calendar and Company Town, although she also will write feature stories and analysis pieces.

More info and memo here.

Also from LA Observed:

Hollywoodnews.com expects to launch in January with former Los Angeles Times film reporter Robert Welkos as the editor and Carlos de Abreu as CEO and publisher.

Take this link for more.

From Cision:

Chris Gray has left USA Today, where she served as a travel assignment editor and editor of the travel section, Destinations and Diversions. At this time, a direct replacement has not been named for her role, but travel section editor and reporter Kitty Bean Yancey, 703-854-3768, is the best contact for Destinations and Diversions. Gray will continue to write her travel blog, Chris Around the World. She can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/caroundtheworld.

and

Vickie Bane has accepted a buyout at People and is no longer with the weekly magazine, where she served as a staff writer. She covered news and personalities at the Los Angeles bureau.

and

Laura Dye Lang is no longer with Sunset Magazine, where she served as home editor. A replacement has not been named for her role at the lifestyle magazine.

and

Lisa Trottier has been named travel editor of Sunset Magazine. She also contributes to the Sunset Traveler blog. She previously served as a contributing editor for the publication.

Thanks very much to the intrepid Brenda Rees for this:

Just got a call from an ad rep from Edible Los Angeles regarding the winter issue of Edible Los Angeles, a fine publication, if I do say so!

Seems that they are "suspending" their winter issue because of some "restructuring" complications. They are planning to print a spring issue.

Seems a little suspect to me, but I like the publication and hope this isn't a sign of another magazine going south.

November 30, 2009 News

2009-11-30T12:41:00.000-08:00

LA Observed breaks the news that LA Times Readers Rep Jamie Gold is leaving the paper and speculates…

…it's unclear if her exit is part of the fairly large newsroom reduction (via buyouts and layoffs) that staffers expect to hit next week. The buzz is that several staffers who lose their jobs will be invited back as contract workers, at lower pay and without benefits, to begin once the calendar year turns over on Dec. 31…

More LA Times… read the announcement of its new hire, "Steven Zeitchik [who] is joining The Times’ entertainment team as a reporter and blogger assigned to cover the movie industry."

So sad to read about Mike Penner's death…

Downtown News writer Anna Scott debuted her own blog a few weeks ago, with this welcome message:

This is a blog about LA people. Or, to put it more fancifully, Angelenos revealed, one question at a time. That's pretty much it. Angel City will consist entirely of Q&As with all kinds of Los Angeles denizens, from Hollywood types to barflies to artists (not that those descriptions are mutually exclusive, but you get the idea).

And who will be conducting said interviews? That would be me, Anna Scott, an L.A.-based journalist and dancing fool.

According to this FishbowlDC post, the Washington Post…

… is closing their offices in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. Three news aides will be let go but the reporters in those cities have been offered positions in Washington.

Effective date is December 31. Take link above for more details.

For anyone who missed this, dated November 16:

The following Playbill.com editors and writers can be reached at the following address and phone number:

Playbill.com
525 Seventh Ave.
Suite 1801
New York, NY 10018
Phone: 212-557-5757
Fax: 212-661-5866

Andrew Gans: Ext. 166
Ken Jones: Ext. 133
Adam Hetrick: Ext. 114
Ernio Hernandez: Ext. 112
Matt Blank: Ext. 140

This from FishbowlLA is also from November:

Dennis Romero has been hired as news blogger for the LA Weekly. In the month since former blog editor Steven Mikulan parted ways with the paper, Romero has been a regular contributor to LA Daily. Editor Drex Heikes announced to the staff [in November] that Romero would join the paper as a full-time staffer.

2009-11-12T11:21:00.000-08:00

This makes my heart sing… Don Shirley is back, at the wonderful LA Stage blog…

"…to blog about theater in the L.A. area. He has observed the scene since the early ’80s: as a KCRW contributor and a Los Angeles Times free-lancer, as a Times staff reporter and frequent reviewer from 1990 to 2006, and as the theater critic of LA CityBeat from 2006 until the alternative newspaper and web site folded earlier this year.

Don will choose his own topics and will express his own opinions, which are not necessarily those of the LA Stage Alliance or its members. He welcomes disagreeing comments — especially those that are thoughtful and civil. He hopes to post fresh commentary frequently. Please join the conversations."

This, on the other hand, makes my blood boil… LA Observed has a memo from the LA Times which says…

… the Entertainment Department has openings for two general assignment reporters who can write news and features across the full spectrum of our coverage areas -- from fine art, theater and classical music to movies, television and pop culture.

LA Observed surmises, and I have no doubt of it, that they're looking to replace the already excellent writers they laid off with those who might work for less. Disheartening. And a whole bunch of other adjectives I'd rather not use.

More LA Times-related stuff…

Since my last posting – and you don't need a weatherman to see which direction my finger is pointing – the Times had a bunch more layoffs last month. Among those no longer there are Barbara Thornburg; Diane Haithman,Tina Daunt and Ken Hively.

Cision reports that Metromix Los Angeles music editor Scott Sterling is also gone.

Kurt Streeter has segued from sports columnist to metro columnist, and he will, according to Cision, "focus on producing more long-form front page stories."

The aforementioned Ken Hively, photographer, has set up his own business. Reach him @gmail.com: kenhivelyphotography. He has a web site coming soon. I have a phone number, which I'll email directly if you let me know you want it. Thanks to the fabulous Nancy Hereford for the tip.

More from Cision:

Entertainment industry site TheWrap.com has nabbed recently laid off LA Weekly staff writer Steven Mikulan. His new column, L.A. Noir, will focus on the intersection of celebrities, crime, Los Angeles media and the entertainment industry. Also joining the site as deputy editor is Josh Dickey, who ends a decade of work with the Associated Press.

According to the person who answered the AP phone, long-time AP-er Steve Loeper is currently Deputy Entertainment Editor.

Also from Cision:

The Press-Enterprise in Southern California has made cuts in its newsroom and six staffers have been affected. Julia Glick, metro reporter; Sonja Bjelland, metro reporter; Sean Nealon, higher education reporter; Chris Richard, regional reporter; Melanie Johnson, education reporter; and Melissa Eiselein, community news reporter, have been laid off from the daily.

and

Sister stations KVEA-TV and KWHY-TV in Burbank, Calif. have each canceled one of their Spanish language newscasts. KVEA-TV's Buenos Dias, which aired on Mondays through Fridays from 6am to 7am, and KWHY-TV's Primero de la Tarde, which aired on Mondays through Fridays from 1pm through 2pm, have been canceled.

and

Unquiet Thoughts is a new music blog www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/alexross hosted on The New Yorker's Web site. It features notes on music by Alex Ross, who also serves as a music critic for The New Yorker. The blog, which Ross began on October 14, 2009, provides music commentary, continuations of his New Yorker pieces, audio excerpts from recommended new CDs, videos and more.

Tim Mangan's classical music blog on the OC Register site has a new "address" -- be sure to bookmark it!

Jason Middleton is now consulting for LA.com and is no longer the editor.

Jenny Peters announces on Facebook:

Jenny Peters is happy to announce that she is the new Editor in Chief of "Bel Air Magazine," a bimonthly luxury lifestyle print and web magazine scheduled to begin publishing [next spring]. Let the pitching begin! And if you would like to advertise to the residents of Bel Air, the Holmby Hills, and Beverly Hills, have we got a deal for you! All other outlets remain in place here, by the way. Here's to a profitable 2010!!

RIP Metropolitan Home magazine, as of the December issue. More from LA Observed here.

StyleSectionLA's Emili Vesilind reported about two weeks ago that Leila Baboi, West Coast market editor for Women’s Wear Daily, was laid off. More here.

Also from a few weeks back, Gawker says:

We're told the Los Angeles bureau [of Forbes] has been eliminated, along with LA-based staff writer Evan Hessel. We also hear Scott Woolley has been axed.

The full post with news of lots of other "brutal" Forbes layoffs is here.

LAIst reports that KPFK is beefing up its schedule with daily news programming. Details here.

And finally, thanks to the well-connected Flo Selfman for passing this along from Lynn Weiss

After 12 years, as hard as it is for me to believe, I am leaving Entertainment Weekly. (Sure, I was tempted to go for the baker’s dozen, but why be greedy?) However, I’m leaving for an exciting new opportunity: I will be heading up New York Magazine’s entertainment blog, Vulture.com. Starting next January, we’ll be expanding it into a national site, with a staff of breaking-news reporters, sharp bloggers, and savvy TV recappers, and unique new site features. I’m sure I’ll be working with you when I get over there (I start Tuesday, Nov. 17; my last day at EW is tomorrow), so please keep me on your mailing list and email alerts. My new contact info @nymag.com is Josh_Wolk.

P.S. Just a quick shout-out to the late ultra-publicist Frank Liberman, who's gone off to that great clipping service in the sky. I'm looking forward to the celebration of his life at a memorial service this weekend. I've known Frank since I was a little girl, and I'm sure many of you do too.

October 19, 2009 News

2009-10-19T09:11:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the wonderful Lucy Pollak for passing along the latest arts contacts from the LA Times, with the caveat that “this is still all in flux for now.”

Kelly Scott - Theater
Sherry Stern - Dance and Music
Bret Israel - Art & Architecture

In other LA Times news, the magazine is taken back under the newsroom’s control and Editor Annie Gilbar is let go, with Nancie Clare, previously deputy editor, assuming Annie’s title. Read the press release here.

And according to Cision:

Martin Miller has been named TV editor at the Los Angeles Times. He most recently was an assistant arts and entertainment editor for the daily and before that, he was a television staff writer. He also has covered health and lifestyle and was a writer in the features department.

Thanks also to Larry Mayer, who passes this along…

KCSN dropped ALL classical music announcers and is now automated, at least from 6am -6pm weekdays.

Writer Steven Mikulan is gone from LA Weekly. Details here.

October 12, 2009 News

2009-10-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

SO MUCH to catch up on… I’ve been super swamped without a second to post. Some of the info below is a little old, but in case you missed it, it’s all here. Thanks to everyone who wondered if I’d fallen off the edge of the earth!

DAMN! This last week from Cision:

Michelle Grabicki has departed The Hollywood Reporter, where she served as associate editor, features and oversaw the About Town page. No replacement has been named.

LA TIMES

1. GREAT NEWS from the Times for us PR types with fundraiser-party clients: Ellen Olivier is now covering same for the Image section! She writes:

"Scene & Heard"… will also be online, and feature additional photos.

Reach her @society-news.com (ellen.olivier)

2. DEPUTY ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR SHERRY STERN TAKES OVER THEATRE REVIEW AND FEATURE ASSIGNMENTS FROM LISA FUNG. Lisa’s promotion is described as follows:

The Los Angeles Times today announced Lisa Fung as Online Arts & Entertainment Editor. In her new role she will oversee round-the-clock multimedia coverage of all arts and entertainment, including Calendar, The Envelope and Company Town, as well as more than a dozen latimes.com blogs. In addition, Fung is charged with developing new online properties and services to enhance The Times' standing as the definitive source for news, information and analysis about pop culture, celebrity, movies, music, television, social media, video games, arts, culture, awards and the business of Hollywood.

Full story here.

Congratulations, Lisa!

3. SEAN GALLAGHER is the Times’ web site’s new managing editor replacing Meredith Artley who left to join CNN.com.

4. From Cision:

JIM NEWTON [stepped] down Sept. 28 as editorial page editor of the Los Angeles Times. He will become an editor at large of the section, and deputy editorial page editor Nicholas Goldberg will replace him as editor.

4. This, also from Cision, happened a while ago…

DONNA FRAZIER is no longer at the Los Angeles Times. She had served as the executive editor of the Image section… No replacement has been named, but relevant pitches can be directed to Image editor Booth Moore.

And of course you’ve all heard by now last week’s announcement of the demise of Gourmet Magazine, after the November issue, and three other Conde Nast publications: Cookie, Elegant Bride, and Modern Bride. Here’s the New York Times’ take on it.

Good to hear from the wonderful Michael Burr in early September. He writes:

Just wanted to let you know that I will be reporting for RadarOnline.com. Please keep me in mind for any interesting celebrity news, stories and items. Many thanks for your help and I look forward to working with you soon!!

Reach him via gmail.com -- michaelburrla

Frontiers Editor Aaron Drake writes to say:

I’ll be handling all the Theater Listings and Reviews for the magazine, please direct all Theater-related materials to me – Brian Padgett is no longer working at Frontiers.

The masthead lists Drake alongside the mag’s other Editor Stephan Horbelt.

Has anyone else used Cision’s Journalist Tweets? They have a free email alert function that I just signed up for to see how/if it works.

Be sure to check out writer Pauline Adamek‘s new site, www.ArtsBeatLA.com, which features “timely reviews and information about Los Angeles Theater, Concerts, Opera and Art, also Films and Books.”

The Daily Breeze’s Toni Sciacqua has been promoted from managing editor to editor. According to Cision, the ME post won’t be filled. Follow her here on Twitter. Congrats, Toni!

Congratulations are also in order for AP Music Editor Nekesa Moody, whose nuptials I read about in Sunday’s New York Times; this wonderful wedding section is one of the Times' weekend hightlights for me. The people-driven coverage of mostly ordinary folks and how they met/courted focuses on telling a good tale. For the random famous person covered (not that often), it’s the story rather than their celebrity that’s important -- case in point is the wedding of John Kerry’s daughter, also covered today. Wonder if the LA Times would EVER do anything like that?

Thanks to the fabulous Lucy Pollak, who passed this along last month

Style Section L.A., a website dedicated to showcasing the talents and trends that shape style in Los Angeles, launches [September 9] at StyleSectionLA.com.

The site was co-founded by veteran L.A. fashion writers Emili Vesilind, Erin Weinger and Andrew Harmon, after they found themselves in the freelance pool following the major downsizing of style reporters at newspapers and magazines last year.

The mission? Marry evocative storytelling and gorgeous photography with modern-day speed and spunk, while cluing users in on the city's rich cultural landscape-from that ultra-happening bar in K-Town and the secret shopping spots of local style arbiters to the profound social implications of side ponytails.

Stories in the first month include a profile on L.A. designer Kimberly Ovitz, a video of American Idol's Jackie Tohn navigating L.A.'s jankiest thrift stores, a fashion shoot spotlighting L.A. fashion designers with "Fame" co-star Kay Panabaker and a feature story and portrait series that calls out some of L.A.'s (somewhat) unsung influentials, including dancer/choreographer Ryan Heffington and Wren designer Melissa Coker.

Emili Vesilind is a former Fashion Staff Writer for the Los Angeles Times and West Coast Retail Editor for WWD. Andrew Harmon is the former West Coast Editor of men's fashion bible DNR, and current Senior News Editor for The Advocate. Erin Weinger is a former Fashion Staff Writer for the Los Angeles Times.

They suggest using this email @stylesectionla.com: editors. But we know better. See specific contacts on their Contact page.

Ran into respected music writer Tim Mangan at the Hollywood Bowl in late August, which reminded me that I need to read his arts blog at the Orange County Register more often. You do too. Check it out here.

Same for Al Martinez's work. Check out his post on his 60th wedding anniversary.

From the New York Observer some weeks ago:

Jon Landman, the New York Times' deputy managing editor, is the paper's new culture editor.

More here.

Thanks to mannfolk PR's Omar Cunningham for passing along this info (some weeks ago) from Signature Magazine's publishers:

Hellin Kay has been appointed the Editor-in-Chief and Creative Director of Signature Magazine. She joins us with over a decade of experience in every facet of the fashion industry and publications in the U.S. and abroad. Most recently she was West Coast Fashion Editor for WWD in Los Angeles . Hellin has been staff Fashion Director and photographer for Russian Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Elle and Spoon Paris as well as a freelance contributor to L'Uomo Vogue, British Vogue, i-D, Elle, Nylon, French, Blackbook, Celeste, and Preen. Her personal photography work and short films have been published in books and exhibited in New York, London and Moscow .

Kay's email address at signatureladirect.com is hkay@.

The magazine’s full masthead is here.

This (from the New York Post) is also from a while ago, so I don’t know if there have been any updates, but if it’s true, it's very sad:

After failing to sell their guidebook empire for $200 million, Upper West Siders Tim and Nina Zagat are not only putting off their retirement plans, they're struggling to keep it afloat.

Over the last three decades, the pioneering Zagats -- he's 69 and she's 67 -- have turned a hobby that started in a Manhattan apartment kitchen into a brand that sells millions of books, reviewing eateries, hotels and leisure spots in 104 countries. But it is losing substantial ground to online rivals, including Chowhound and Yelp, said a source familiar with the matter.

Yelp? PLEASE. I can't begin to count the number of incredibly annoying phone calls I've gotten from their seemingly endless sales reps wanting to help a client "enhance" their presence on Yelp – for a few bucks, of course.

Read about how "KTLA-TV’s Leila Feinstein will now create and produce a daily healthcare initiative" in this LA Observed post.

Per an auto-reply email last month, Aimee Machado no longer works at KPCC.

Johan Graham, who runs a benefit auction firm, was (in August) looking for a PR specialist "to help me get my name out. If you are interested please contact me at 760-954-9964 and feel free to check my web-site at www.auctioneerist.com."

OK… that’s it for now!

August 24, 2009 News

2009-08-24T16:12:00.000-07:00

New-ish editor for Valley Life Magazine is Deborah Shadovitz.

Gawker reports layoffs at Salon.com, including Culture Editor Joy Press.

Thanks to LA Observed for the tip that former LA Weekly music writer John Payne debuted a new music website, bluefat, recently. From the home page:

Welcome to bluefat, a magazine for music, film and visual art devotees with open minds and a fondness for the diverse. Updated weekly, bluefat is a deep plunge into works spanning wide formal regions, from rock, pop, jazz and folk to international traditional music, contemporary classical music and new-/non-genre sounds, as well as commentary on groundbreaking new filmmakers. In-depth conversations with artists forging paths outside the boundaries of popular taste visit realms where pure expression is the name of the game.

CAN YOU HELP?

Writer Debra Levine sends this along…

Save Film at LACMA, a three-week-old grassroots movement founded to convince the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to reverse its decision in cutting a valued forty-year-running classic film program, is looking for a pro-bono partner in the area of public relations.

In three short weeks, we have attracted a significant following in our online petition online that presently has more than 2,500 signatures.

The effort is sponsored by a blog. It has an affiliated facebook group – 3,500 fans -- and twitter feed.

We have had significant coverage in the Los Angeles Times, on TIME.com, and a major article in the New York Times is anticipated this week. We need to keep our interactive online campaign fresh and add to our print coverage. We anticipate the need to reach out to television to cover our upcoming celebrity-filled “Popcorn” summit with LACMA on September 1.

Please reach out by email or phone 323 662 0261 to Debra Levine (debra@levineonline.com) at Save Film at LACMA. We’re already rocking; we want to keep rolling! We need your help. Many thanks!

August 10, 2009 News

2009-08-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

The contact for Local News Service, the new pool news crew for KNBC, KTLA and FOX, is Ellen Winston at KNBC. Her @nbcuni.com address is ellen.winston.

Thanks to the intrepid Lucy Pollak for passing this on from Alexis Johnson, late of Angeleno:

I hope this finds everyone well. Just wanted to let you know that today [August 6] is my last day at Angeleno--after three phenomenal years, I've decided to go back to USC to get a master's in public art studies. I will still be frequently freelancing for the magazine, covering beauty and culture, but am also helping launch a new, LA-based style website on September 1st with a few former LA Times Image section writers (details to come).

For future fashion and party coverage pitches, contact Jade Chang (jchang). For all calendar requests, send press releases to eventsla.
[addresses are @modernluxury.com]

Alexis's @gmail.com address is alexismarissajohnson, and her web site is here.

And thanks to Mannfolk PR's Omar Cunningham for this tip:

Eryka Clayton, Ed/Chf of Signature LA Direct Magazine, just shot out a "moving on" email stating that she is leaving the magazine to move onto her next project, which she will let us know of in the very near future.

Ex-LA Times writer Robin Rauzi, now of The Journalism Shop (see post below), passes on the news that "UCLA Live will likely be in the market for an interim publicist asap, and that interested parties should contact the marketing director Phil Rosenthal."

This is a quick shout out to the lovely Harriette Smith and her film/theatre blog. Take a look here.

August 3, 2009 News

2009-08-03T15:03:00.000-07:00

Very interesting "mea culpa" from the New York Times with regard to a large number of errors in a story on the passing of Walter Cronkite.

Lynne Heffley, one of my favorite former LA Times writers, and a bunch of colleagues have debuted a web site where you can find

"highly skilled newspaper veterans interested in taking on freelance assignments. All members are former Los Angeles Times staffers offering a wide range of skills and interests, from investigative reporters to book reviewers, page designers to project managers. If you are looking for help with a complete editorial project, email us and we'll get you in touch with the right people."

Check it out here!

Speaking of former LA Times writers, veteran music critic Robert Hilburn has a book about his career coming out in the fall, Corn Flakes with John Lennon (couldn't he think of a better title? No matter, his writing is worth it whatever it's called) and a web site with blog. Take a look.

LA Times.com Entertainment Editor Richard Rushfield departs for Gawker.com as its west coast editor. Details from LA Observed here.

Perhaps connected to the above, the Times has also announced Scott Sandell's appointment as "morning entertainment editor, Calendar," with a memo, which begins:

We are pleased to name Scott Sandell as the morning entertainment editor for the Calendar and Company Town operations. In this newly created position, Scott will give us an earlier jump on the news each day and improve coordination among Calendar, Company Town, the Web, the photo and graphics departments and the rest of the paper. Working a 7 a.m.-to-3:30 p.m. shift, Scott will scour the wires, papers and the blogosphere to put together our early morning coverage. He will be responsible for an internal memo that will be distributed to senior editors at 7:30 a.m. that gives a heads-up on stories moving to the Web and enterprise on deck for the day.

Read the rest of it here.

July 27, 2009 News

2009-07-27T09:40:00.000-07:00

From writer Karen Young about her new online community news magazine:

Last summer you posted information about the Sun Community Newspapers going on hiatus so I just want to give you an update. I was the editor of the newspaper group at that time and we never re-opened. I'm writing to let you know that I personally created and launched an online community news magazine for the San Fernando Valley on June 22 — www.mydailyfind.com.

My mission is to spotlight the people who live, work and create in the San Fernando Valley. My tagline is: Rolling out the red carpet for community in the San Fernando Valley. I also have a free daily email to subscribers with "my daily find" which is a person, product, event, business — it really runs the gamut. The email is an article that then lives on the site

I believe that MY DAILY FIND is a new model for community journalism on the web. I have original articles with bylines, bios and photos of the writers. There is no blogging, citizen journalists or aggregated content. I use a lot of photos.

Contact address [@mydailyfind.com] is karen…

Auto reply from Robin Goldsworthy, city editor of the Crescenta Valley Sun…

Thank you for contacting me. As of July 6, I no longer work for the Tribune Company/LA Times/Valley Sun newspapers as the CV Sun was closed on July 3. To submit information pertaining to the Crescenta Valley, contact Dan Evans, director of editorial, at the Glendale News-Press [Address @latimes.com is at dan.evans]. If you need immediate assistance, or wish to submit information for La Canada, I invite you to contact the La Canada Valley Sun Editor, Carol Cormaci, at (818) 790-8774. To contact me, send an email [@gmail.com] to robingoldsworthy2.

On a somewhat related note, there's a new-ish blog with "Real-time news about Glendale, Crescenta Valley, Burbank and La Cañada" from the LA Times Community Newspapers staffs of the Glendale News Press, Burbank Leader and La Canada Valley Sun.

LA Observed reports changes at the Wall Street Journal's LA bureau here.

The LA Times Readers Rep blog announces new sports editor here.

Thanks to the sainted Libby Huebner for passing this along, from Doug Ramsey's Rifftides:

JazzTimes magazine announced today that it will come back to life with an August issue. A post on the magazine's site says that a Boston company, Madavor Media, has acquired JazzTimes. It describes Madavor as "a market-leading enthusiast publishing and trade-show group."

Read the whole post here.

The inspirational Zan Dubin Scott recommends Vocus' blog, which also has a comprehensive "media moves" section.

Got this in a press release from Kristen Calavas:

TheLookbook.com (http://thelookbook.com) is pleased to announce the hire of Shannon Levy to the position of Beauty Director. Levy previously served as the Managing Editor of Makeup Artist magazine for 5 years. She is also a Contributing Editor to On Makeup magazine and will continue in this capacity while working as Beauty Director for TheLookbook.com. Prior to her tenure at Makeup Artist, she was a beauty reporter & contributor at InStyle magazine. TheLookbook will be launching a Beauty & Makeup Artist division in the Fall of 2009.

From Fishbowl New York about two weeks ago, this news:

New York public radio station WNYC just announced that it has purchased classical music station WQXR from The New York Times, promising to maintain its classical format and transform it into a public radio station.

As part of the deal, Univision Radio Inc. will pay $33.5 million to swap its FCC broadcast license for 105.9 FM and transmitting equipment for the New York Times Co.'s license, equipment, and signal at 96.3 FM. Then WNYC will pay the Times Co. $11.5 million for 105.9 FM's FCC broadcast license, transmitting equipment, WQXR's call letters and Web site.

Full details here.

Deepest condolences to music writer Greg Burk and his wife on the loss of their daughter, Lily.

July 15, 2009 News

2009-07-15T15:45:00.000-07:00

Jeremy Kinser moves to The Advocate from Frontiers-In Los Angeles with this parting email, noting that his last day…

…will be Tuesday, July 21. It's been a wonderful seven years with Frontiers/IN Los Angeles/Frontiers in L.A. I've accepted a position at The Advocate and am very excited about this new challenge… Please know that the magazine is in very capable hands with our Associate Editor Stephan Horbelt. If you want to introduce yourselves, please contact him at stephan.horbelt [frontierspublishing.com]

In response to my question, Jeremy adds:

I'm replacing their Arts & Entertainment position but I think my title will be Senior Editor.

Congrats!

There's a new foodie blog: GrubStreet Los Angeles, with this info from the welcome message:

For three years, New York Magazine's Grub Street has done the hungry work of a New York City food and restaurant blog, obsessively covering every crumb of news. But there's a world of cuisine beyond the five boroughs, and as of today Grub Street is going national, expanding its horizons across the continent to here in Los Angeles (and touching down in Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, and San Francisco along the way).

So with that — hello, welcome, good to see you! I'm Hadley Tomicki and I'll be your server/editor while we explore the ongoing adventure that is eating in Los Angeles. We'll be covering anything and everything edible in The City of Angels, from unsung street food to the latest celebrity-chef showcase, obscure local eateries and markets to the strictest reservations.

Wonder if Hadley T. is related to Bill T.?

These next items are a little old, but here they are anyway…

Fishbowl LA reports on four non-layoff editorial staff departures from Entrepreneur Magazine: Associate Editor Kim Orr, Research Editor James Park, Associate Web Editor Elizabeth Wilson, and Associate Editor of Franchise Allison Gergley. Take link for details.

WWD reports...

Tina Brown and Gabe Doppelt are reuniting for the third time, as Doppelt leaves as W’s West Coast bureau chief to join The Daily Beast, founded by Brown at InterActiveCorp. Doppelt, a former editor in chief of Mademoiselle and VH1 producer, began her career as Brown’s assistant at Tatler and was an editor at large at Brown’s short-lived Talk… Doppelt will be hiring reporters for the new bureau and will be working out of IAC’s Los Angeles building.

From LA Weekly's blog:

Long-time Los Angeles journalist Drex Heikes will return to California this summer to become LA Weekly's next editor…

Read the full story here.

You've probably already read about the top editor-level changes at the LA Times from a week or so back, but if not, check it out here.

As an aside, I got the LA Times Magazine with my paper last Sunday. Guess they finally ditched the "preferred zip code"-only delivery that was in effect for a few months.

Wonder if people have stopped freaking out yet about changes to the weather and comics pages?

June 22, 2009, News

2009-06-22T10:12:00.000-07:00

I must rectify a grevious omission from my last post when I forgot to credit my esteemed and beloved colleague Libby Huebner, aka the sainted Mrs. Johnson, for the Jazz Times tip.

Lest I err again, let me thank the similarly esteemed Lucy Pollak for passing this on:

Hi everyone

Please welcome Stephan (pronounced Steven) Horbelt as our new associate editor. We're very excited to have him on our editorial staff. His e-mail is Stephan.Horbelt [at] (frontierspublishing.com). Stephan will be writing our calendar and theater listings so please add him to your mailing lists.

Thanks,
Jeremy Kinser
Editor-in-Chief

Nikke Finke reports the departure from the Hollywood Reporter of veteran writer Ray Richmond.

Follow these LA Times CultureMonster blog arts writers on Twitter:

@KnightLAT, @HawthorneLAT, @smuchnic, @lfung, @sherrystern, @dhaithman, @charlesmcnulty, @boehmm, @markswed

June 17, 2009, News

2009-06-16T20:55:00.000-07:00

Not sure how recently this changed, but KFRN's current address is 3605 Long Beach Blvd., Suite 445 / Long Beach, CA 90807 (moved from 3550), per Public Service Director Suong Tran.

Thanks to this NY Times blog for info about the new online Tablet Magazine (www.tabletmag.com):

Calling itself “a daily online magazine of Jewish news, ideas, and culture,” Tablet magazine began publishing Tuesday. The Web site is a project of the nonprofit Nextbook Inc. and the sister organization of Nextbook Press, which publishes a line of Jewish-themed books. Tablet lists an impressive bunch of contributors and is edited by Alana Newhouse, the former culture editor of The Forward, along with Jesse Oxfeld, who has worked at New York magazine and Gawker and serves as executive editor.

Tablet Magazine
295 Lafayette Street, Suite 501
New York, New York 10012
Main phone: 646-277-2400
Fax: 212-226-5619

If you have a story idea to pitch, please contact the appropriate section.
Arts & Culture pitches: arts@
Life & Religion pitches: life@
News & Politics pitches: news@

(All email addresses are at tabletmag.com)

The La Crescenta Valley Sun gets folded into the Glendale News Press as of July 4, with more details here. Both are owned by the same company, of course, as is the La Canada Valley Sun, which remains in place as a separate newspaper. So far.

Jazz Times attempts a Lazarus – this from their web site:

06/08/09
An Important Message From JazzTimes Management
By JazzTimes
To our readers and members of the jazz community:

JazzTimes has temporarily suspended publication of the magazine and has furloughed the bulk of its staff while it finalizes a sale of its assets. The brand and operation will undergo reorganization and restructuring in order to remain competitive in the current media climate. Print publishing is expected to resume as soon as a sale is closed. New information and statements will be posted atwww.jazztimes.com as they become available.

Thank you for your patience during this challenging period.
JazzTimes Management

From EaterLA.com:

Hi, I'm Kat Odell, and today, after nearly a month of contributing to Eater LA, I'm officially taking over as the site's new editor. I'm a longtime foodie with a propensity for cheese, sushi, and doughnuts who calls Venice home, and I'm excited to bring dining and drinking news your way in the classic Eater style -- with a few new twists, too. As ever, we can't do it without your help, so if you spot some fresh plywood, signage, or anything else resty-related, hit the tipline.

Kat's eaterla.com email address is la@.

RIP Cousin Keith -- it's been a year today.

June 11, 2009, News

2009-06-11T12:58:00.000-07:00

A warm shout-out to a great group of PR pros with whom I spent a lovely evening of food and conversation: Zan Dubin Scott (ZDS Communications), Lucy Pollak (Lucy Pollak Public Relations); Alison Deknatel (Operation USA's Communications Director), Judith Borne (Bourne Identities); Susan Gordon (special events and PR consulant), Allison Rawlings (Geffen Playhouse Director of Communications), Joanna Brody (Brody Public Relations), Mindy Berman (Mindy F. Berman Communications) and Alexia Haidos (DoubleA PR and Marketing).

Thanks to Leticia Rhi Buckley for passing along this news from Maryl Celiz:

As most of you know, I am no longer editor at Hoy, however, I'm going to start collaborating with a new Hispanic property called Cafe Magazine (print mag out of Chicago and website www.cafemagazine.com) and would love to begin receiving all your wonderful media alerts once again.

Please add me to your databases for anything that has to do with art/music/culture/health/film coverage. I'm currently looking for calendar events and artists/sites to feature in the email newsletter. Quirky and interesting photographs taken by latinos will also be featured. Please pass this along to anyone on your team that works with this type of content and feel free to send me information asap.

Her gmail.com address is Maryl Celiz.

KCET's Vicki Curry sent word of her layoff on Wednesday.

I'm sorry to report that after nearly 14 years with KCET, I've been laid off. It was long expected -- SoCal Connected is on hiatus and there's no other production currently happening at the station. There's a chance I'll return when SoCal Connected starts up again. But in the meantime, I'm looking forward to a brief respite and then new opportunities. I plan to continue working in television & video production but am open to all possibilities. So if you hear of anything that makes you think of me, please let me know!

It's been a pleasure working with you over the years and I hope to keep in touch. If you need to reach anyone at KCET, Val Zavala is still there…

Vicki's gmail.com address is Vicki.Curry

Love to my good friend KW.

And thanks to everyone for your support of and enthusiasm for this blog!

June 9, 2009 News

2009-06-09T09:46:00.000-07:00

A bunch more people were let go at the Hollywood Reporter, according to this from The Wrap, which also noted the demise of Radio & Records.

And both John Hobbs and Christopher Cappiello have left Frontiers-INLos Angeles magazine, according to a tip from my beloved friend Kenny Werther. Editor Jeremy Kinser remains.

At Los Angeles Magazine, Matt Segal gets promoted from features editor to executive editor, Rick Meyer moves up to articles editor, and Amy Wallace comes aboard as editor-at-large, according to this memo (with more details) from Editor-in-Chief Mary Melton posted at LA Observed.

These last few weeks have brought the debut of two sites:

Jenny Peters launched www.JetSetJen.com with this message:

I've been working on launching my own web magazine for the last few months, and am happy to announce that it is up and running as of today. You'll find weekly movie reviews there, along with lots of other things to read about, including other entertainment stories, as well as travel, food, wine, fashion, spas, cars, celebrities; all of life's fun stuff, and the things I have been covering for the last twenty years for many other outlets.

So please check it out, tell me what you think, and if you like it, bookmark the site, come back often, and tell your friends and family to take a look too. I'll be updating the content every day, so please come back often and don't forget to click on those Google ads now and then, since that's where I will make the cash to keep it going. And if you have a company or client that might be interested in advertising or sponsorship on the site, please let me know.

And Katherine Spiers...

”after a valiant attempt at resistance, …decided to just go ahead and start a blog already. Here it is: http://katherinespiers.tumblr.com/

Discussing restaurants in LA and food politics in general, as well as providing a one-stop portfolio of my work that's scattered about the internet.

The design is still in the beginning stages, but the content is chugging along.

June 2, 2009, News

2009-06-01T21:46:00.000-07:00

I've been on vacation and then catching up from that, but the news stops for no man….

This yesterday from LA Observed:

LA Weekly just announced that longtime editor Laurie Ochoa is leaving. The Weekly story says it is "actively searching for Editor in Chief candidates who will continue LA Weekly's legacy of journalistic excellence while expanding its online presence." Look for speculation about Jill Stewart, the Deputy Editor who some have called a shadow editor since she was installed by Mike Lacey at Village Voice Media, the former New Times group.

Anyone need a job? The Weekly's official announcement of Ochoa's departure is here along with a note about its search for a new editor.

While I was away, I got an email from a guy who was steamed to learn from Media Moves that the LA Times had ceased delivering the monthly magazine to all its subscribers. Shortly thereafter, I checked out the May issue on the Times' web site, and it had a bunch of stuff I was interested in reading… but NOT online. So, I dropped a note to the magazine's Editor Annie Gilbar, sharing with her both of the above points. Here's her response to my question, "Who do we write to let them know that we want the magazine back in our zip code, too?"

Hi Laura

It’s such a long story. People love the magazine – and of course they are frustrated since the distribution has changed.

We are trying to figure it out.

Will let you know when we do.

Meanwhile, thanks as always

Annie

In her reply to me she cc'd Penn Jones, whose name did not ring a bell until a few days later when his departure as publisher of the monthly magazine was announced along with the suspension – after only a few weeks of life – of the LAEtcetera weekly.

LA Observed has more.

Speaking of LA Observed, as I do again and again, I felt like a real grown-up (wink) being invited to its anniversary party last Friday. Putting faces of journalists with names I've known for years was very cool, as was meeting the wonderful Kevin Roderick. Full report from LA Observed here.

I'm sure you've all heard by now that Editor Kit Rachlis and writers Steve Oney, Dave Gardetta and Jessie Katz have departed Los Angeles Magazine. Executive Editor Mary Melton is promoted to Rachlis' spot, and the three writers will apparently continue as free-lancers.

Nice for all these corporations to get rid of staffers and re-hire them for less money (read no taxes to pay, no benefits to pay, no overhead to pay). If you believe that all these layoffs (NOT just in journalism) are REALLY a result of "the economy," I've got some oceanfront property in Arizona you might want to check out.

Lots of interesting info about LA food and restaurant writers (and a photo of Colleen Dunn Bates, Jessica Gelt and Jonathan Gold) in this post by Caroline on Crack, one of my favorite bloggers.

I was very saddened to read about the death of young (34) Daily Breeze writer Vu Nguyen last month.

I had met him in April at Lennox Middle School for a story on Mary Lang, an amazing teacher who's using Shakespeare to help her equally amazing English-development students learn English. I had pitched the story related to my client, A Noise Within, the repertory theatre company, which hosts these kids when they come to the theatre to see the Shakespeare play they've been studying. A lovely guy, he really did a great job capturing how Lang influences her students and generates excitement in the classroom. He told me how he was glad to have the chance to do this type of story, as most of his education coverage was more dry board of education-type reporting. Here's his piece.

What a terrible, terrible tragedy. Life is short.

Check out arts/culture writer Julie Riggott's new web site, Culture Spot LA, which has moved from her blog (ArtsLosAngeles.blogspot.com). She writes:

Our new site is bigger, bolder, and more eye-catching, and it will continue to grow and change. New features include Hot Spots -- listings of our recommendations for the hottest culture spots. We also have a featured article on an amazing exhibit at the Getty. We hope you enjoy what you read and will help us continue to cover the arts in any of the following ways:

--visit often and share your comments
--subscribe to receive emails about new posts
--add a link to CultureSpotLA.com on your website
--tell your friends, colleagues, members, etc. about Culture Spot LA
--become a contributor: share stories and photos
--add Editor +++ at+++ CultureSpotLA dotcom to your press release list
--inquire about advertising
--ask businesses that support arts and culture to inquire about advertising

Check this out, too: KPCC's Kitty Felde is now blogging from DC.

May 13, 2009 News

2009-05-12T18:13:00.000-07:00

LA Confidential has a new editor-in-chief, Sari Tuschman, and deputy editor, Lesley McKenzie, both located in the Century City office. Their @NicheMediallc.com emails are firstname.lastname

Want to announce, rather belatedly that last November, the Jewish Journal's Danielle Berrin was promoted from "Calendar Girl" to full-time staff writer covering Hollywood. Check out her "Hollywood Jew" blog here.

Gary Scott reports this Daily News update:

The Los Angeles Daily News has fired LAUSD/education reporter George Sanchez… Reporter Connie Llanos will continue to cover education for Daily News.

Full post here.

PetersMusicNews.com is up and running to cover music events in the San Gabriel Valley and performers from the area, run by the wonderful Bill Peters. Check it out here, and reach him at this petersmusicnews.com address: editor

Katie Klapper passes on the news that Western Interiors has folded and that its Editor-in-Chief Michael Wolleager is now Editor-at-Large at Luxe.

KNBC's "YourLA" show is no longer operational, so take it off your list if it's still on.

Got a press release titled “THE NEWSHOUR WITH JIM LEHRER” AND PBS ANNOUNCE MAJOR CHANGES" that said in part:

Among the changes outlined by Mr. Lehrer and Linda Winslow, executive producer of The NewsHour, are a change in the name of the program from The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer to PBS NewsHour; a change in the broadcast format ― moving from a single anchor to a dual anchor each evening; and the addition of a correspondent who will serve as a bridge between The NewsHour’s broadcast and digital platforms. Lehrer will remain executive editor and primary anchor of the new PBS NewsHour and will lead the transition.

Full press release here.

May 7, 2009 News

2009-05-06T21:42:00.000-07:00

This blog is two years old this month. Can't quite believe it. Thanks for all the support and tips.

Got a note that Senior Editor Bob Hofler is now in charge of assigning theatre reviews at Variety. Variety.com email is: bob.hofler

Fishbowl LA reports the arrival of former CityBeat film critic Andy Klein at BrandX.

Restaurant critic Merrill Shindler is back on KABC 790 AM. His show airs 7-8 pm on Sundays.

Los Angeles and San Francisco editions of The Onion shut down, per this memo from President and CEO Steve Hannah, courtesy of LAIst.com

As most of you have heard through the very twisted grapevine by now, we have decided to shut down our print operations in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Both staffs were informed in person yesterday that their last editions would be published this week. It is an unpleasant task to discontinue print in those two cities—and to lay off the good people who worked hard to make them profitable—but I believe it is the wise business decision to make.

At the quarterly Board meeting in Chicago two weeks ago, we took a hard look at the company’s business operations in this very tough economic environment. Overall, we are weathering the storm, and, as you know, we have avoided taking many of the draconian measures employed by other media companies. Unfortunately, despite healthy readership in both Los Angeles and San Francisco (readership has actually risen despite our reduction in copies in recent months) the advertising in both cities has been abysmal.

This stands in stark contrast to other parts of our business—both the majority of our print markets (Milwaukee, Madison, Minneapolis, Denver, Boulder, for example) as well as our rapidly growing digital enterprises (theonion.com, avclub.com, the Onion News Network and Decider.com—which are growing nicely and in some cases dramatically. So, at the end of the day, you have to make a decision whether to pump money into parts of the company that are straining us financially (LA and SF print) or reroute that capital into the areas of the company that are growing in size and value.

We chose the latter.

We love our print publications. They are the foundation of the Onion and, in the majority of our markets, they make us money. We have no plans at this time to cease publication in any of our other markets.

May 4, 2009 News

2009-05-04T14:36:00.000-07:00

Nice to see some good LA media outlets among the Western Publishing Association's Maggie Award winners, including LA Weekly, Sunset, Where Los Angeles (way to go, Benjamin!), and the late LA Stage. Full list here.

Thanks to LA Observed for passing on this info from SCVTALK.com, the Santa Clarita Valley blog. Take the link for more details.

A brand new, locally-owned and locally-staffed newspaper will be coming soon to newsracks near you.

Jay Harn, former publisher at The Signal, has told SCVTalk that he’s launching a weekly newspaper called the Santa Clarita Valley Independent.

The 30-40 page weekly tabloid-style paper will feature original news, sports and entertainment stories as well as opinion pieces.

Looks like my zip code is too low class for the LA Times' monthly magazine to be included in my paper (loyal subscriber that I am!), but I found it online here. I'll probably take the time to read Howard Rosenman's remembrance of Leonard Bernstein, but nothing else caught my interest. Still, what are the odds I would have read more – and viewed their ads – if I'd gotten the paper version? Inquiring advertisers might want to know.

Got this tip today, not connected to the above paragraph, but certainly relevant. Looks like the LA Times will offer a product for "the rest of us" (subscribers, anyway). Reference to this LA Etcetera made in John T. O'Loughlin's memo quoted in this post.

The Los Angeles Times is launching LA Etcetera, a new weekly lifestyle magazine, on May 10. Its coverage will include entertainment, fashion, food, shopping and the nightlife of Southern California. The magazine will be home-delivered to Times subscribers with the newspaper’s Sunday edition.

Initial circulation will be 480,000. LA Etcetera is being produced by the editorial staff of the newspaper’s monthly magazine, LA, with Annie Gilbar as editor in chief.

April 27, 2009 News

2009-04-26T14:39:00.000-07:00

Cuts at the Daily News last Friday, according to LA Observed, were Oscar Garza and:

according to multiple newsroom sources… City Hall reporter Brandon Lowrey and Santa Clarita reporter Jerry Berrios.

LA Observed has part of Garza's farewell memo, which contains the news that:

The DN will soon stop delivering over the hill…

More cuts at NPR, with details in this New York Times piece.

Features Editor Brenda Tabor is no longer at Westways, I learned last Friday. Al Bonowitz, the other features editor, remains in place.

Got an email kicked back from Amy Wolf, who was Sunset Magazine's travel editor, which said:

I'm no longer working at Sunset. For travel-related matters please get in touch with [Features Editor] Christine Richard.

Another email kick-back was passed on to me by Susan Gordon, this one from Los Angeles Magazine (although we already reported Margot's departure):

Margot Dougherty is no longer with Los Angeles magazine. She can be reached via me.com at margotdougherty.

Please contact Lesley Bargar with information regarding the dine section. Mary Melton can be contacted regarding Encounters.

April 23, 2009 News

2009-04-22T21:50:00.000-07:00

Very sad news: the passing of LA Times reporter Annette Haddad. LA Observed has the memo from Times Editor Russ Stanton.

Also at the Times, Steve Padilla has joined the national desk as an assistant national editor. Memo here.

Laura Clark is another name among the Variety layoffs last week.

Interesting story in the NY Observer about coverage of Hollywood by bloggers vs "traditional" media, with juicy quotes from Peter Bart, Anita Busch, Nikke Finke and Sharon Waxman.

LA Confidential news, according to FishbowlLA:

Sari Tuschman, formerly of E! Entertainment Television has been named editor-in-chief. Lesley McKenzie was promoted to deputy editor from sister publication Michigan Avenue. Alison Miller has been appointed publisher, and Jason Binn, CEO and founder of parent company Niche Media, has taken on the role of editorial director.

April 15, 2009 News

2009-04-14T18:33:00.000-07:00

Brand X goes live online as of now and in print every Wednesday. Take the link to read the intro letter from Editors Dean Kuipers and Deborah Vankin. An excerpt:

Look for upcoming features on green-collar jobs, DIY mixology, steampunk in video games and so much more. What iPhone app measures your car’s global footprint? Who is L.A.’s new, breakout, eco-conscious fashion designer? What’s the next online meeting space post-Twitter? Because it’s produced by the Los Angeles Times, Brand X will always feature the best info on must-see area concerts, exhibitions and events. It packs all the listings power L.A. needs but has expanded to address strategies for living as global citizens. Global citizens who like to have fun.

Variety layoffs yesterday include Executive Editor Michael Speier. The Wrap has the full story, including this excerpt from RBI CEO Tad Smith's gloomy memo:

We recently completed our quarterly forecast for the full year and the revenue outlook continues to concern us. On January 26th I wrote to you that we might reduce further our staffing levels if the economic circumstances became worse than our already conservative expectations for 2009. We are in that unfortunate situation today.

If you work with Atlanta clients, you'll want to check out this list of 74 journalists laid off at the Journal/Constitution, including four arts critics.

I enjoyed (and recommend) this lovely and funny story by LA Times arts writer Diane Haithman about her dog Heidi's (and her) brush with show biz fame.

Couldn't resist posting this adorable photo from last Sunday:

CREDIT: White House Photo, 4/13/09, Lawrence Jackson

FYI TO BLOG READERS ON MY EMAIL LIST I'm sending email alerts from my laura.stegman address AND also now from a newer one, laura_stegman (in both cases from hotmail.com), in case you want to "white list" that second one.

April 6, 2009 News

2009-04-06T09:37:00.000-07:00

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.

April 2, 2009 News

2009-04-02T09:25:00.000-07:00

I was asked by Cision to contribute to their "Expert Articles," and my piece, titled WEB SITES A PR PROFESSIONAL SHOULD CHECK EVERY DAY, is up today! Check it out here. A few of you are actually mentioned by name.

****

Kelly Scott transfers from the LA Times' national desk back to , according to this memo posted on LA Observed. To quote directly:

To start, Kelly will help out with our arts and culture coverage and captain our effort to enhance coverage of celebrity life in SoCal.

****

KTLA expands its news schedule in collaboration with the LA Times. LA Observed has all the details but here's an excerpt:

KTLA-TV today will launch the one-hour KTLA News at 1 and KTLA News at 4:30 to its weekday morning news schedule… Concurrently, the station has elevated Jason Ball to news director from his previous role as assistant news director… Frank Buckley and Michaela Pereira will anchor the afternoon broadcast, with Jessica Holmes reporting on weather and entertainment. Los Angeles Times business columnist Tom Petruno will deliver “Money Matters”, the first local television news report on Wall Street’s closing bell, while Times’ food editor Russ Parsons and test kitchen manager Noelle Carter will cover the “Eat Beat.”

****

Wanted to pass along a suggestion if you're looking for professional copywriting services. Dee Long, a writer colleague with whom I go back years and years, specializes in sales and promotional copy, along with news and feature writing with fast turnaround and flat rates to fit your budget. Contact her at (818) 989-5649 or by aol.com email: dlong34522

March 30, 2009 News

2009-03-29T17:34:00.000-07:00

Deborah Vankin kindly responds to my question about media contacts at the new Brand X with the following. All are latimes.com.

…please do include me in your PR blasts… Please also include Brand X editors Alie Ward and Alexandra Le Tellier. deborah.vankin, alexandra.letellier and alie.ward

****

Good marketing work by the Getty. Check out this TV commercial, which Mike Boehm wrote about on the excellent LA Times CultureMonster blog.

****

You've already heard the news, I'm sure, that City Beat LA's final issue was last Thursday. Good report by Diane Haithman in the aforementioned LAT CultureMonster blog, with the publisher's memo and comments from Alan Rich and Don Shirley.

****

Easy come, easy go… from Cision Navigator's Media Updates last week:

Genetta Adams, who joined the Associated Press in September 2008 as the entertainment editor, has exited the news service.

****

Christian Science Monitor goes online only as of last Friday, with a weekly print edition. Found their staff list here, but Cision specifically lists Clay Collins as editor of the print Weekend Edition, and Owen Thomas as the online edition features editor. Check it out with the paper to be really sure, though.

****

LA Times blog LA Now reports on a plea for support from the Palisadian Post, and I quote Martha Graves' reporting:

The Post, known for its comprehensive coverage of the local scene, has not been exempt from the declines in advertising revenue afflicting other papers throughout the country. Owned by a small family-owned company in Illinois, the weekly has responded by cutting office hours to 35 from 40 per week to lower payroll costs. With advertising down, the Post also has gotten smaller: 18 or 20 pages, contrasted with the 22- or 24-page issues in better times.

What isn't mentioned in the editorial is that the paper has had to lay off two employees in its commercial printing office, or "back shop," and cut the pay of remaining staffers, says Libby Motika, senior editor.

"We know that Palisadians value this paper and would like to see it flourish for another 80 years," the [newpaper's] editorial says. "So here are a few ways you can help us outlast this economic tsunami." It goes on to urge readers to renew their subscriptions, encourage their neighbors to subscribe, buy gift subscriptions for their children away at college, advertise their businesses and bring in commercial printing jobs, including "the book you've always wanted to write."

Help if you can – my office has a subscription, and it's not expensive and always a good read.

March 26, 2009 News

2009-03-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

VERY interesting news in a memo from John T. O'Loughlin, who has the lofty title of "EVP and CMO/Targeted Media and Marketing, Los Angeles Times Media Group." The memo was posted on the LAT Pressmens blog, and I'll just quote directly for parts. Take the link to read the rest.

First, Metromix will be phased-out of print distribution, and replaced with a more expansive, truly multimedia lifestyle product, called BRAND X (thisisbrandx.com). As part of this transition, the editorial content will move under the direction of the LAT newsroom, lead by Dean Kuipers. Brand X will build upon the strong readership base that embraced Metromix over the past year, and now reflect the market’s need for a broader and more interactive content offering. It will reach beyond just entertainment to curate next-generation ideas on culture, tech, food, events, social networking, volunteering, style, the outdoors and beyond. A key part of the company’s overall audience strategy, Brand X is designed to be conversational and geared toward the growing segment of influential young digital adults who are not regular consumers of the LA Times in print or online. And because Brand X is produced by the Los Angeles Times, this new property will draw from every newsdesk, and offer all the listings users expect from the staffs of Metromix.com and latimes.com.

In regards to our Hispanic media offerings, Hoy will move from daily to weekly distribution, debuting with a crisp, new design and content plan. As part of this change, Vivelohoy.com will join Hoy and reverse-publish content as branded entertainment pages in each week’s edition, as well as introduce new video content to the site in the process. We’ll also be adding local service guides for heath, beauty, entertainment and immigration, to mention just a few. Saturday’s Fin De Semana weekend product will introduce zoning for the first time in its 500,000 copy home-delivery footprint, allowing us to better compete for local retail advertising. [snip]

In regards to our TCN North titles (Glendale News Press, Burbank Leader, LaCanada Valley Sun and Crescenta Valley Sun), we are pleased to welcome Dan Evans as new Director of Editorial. [snip]

Finally, LA, Los Angeles Times Magazine is making two bold moves. First, we will take a more focused audience approach for the monthly flagship publication through a new targeted distribution model that will add it to single copy sales of the LA Times, but tighten the overall footprint to focus on select zip codes. This will take affect with the upcoming April 5th edition and should yield improved response for clients and increased efficiency for us. Plans are being finalized for introducing a themed weekly edition to run on alternate weeks, with debut as early as April 19th. Tentatively named LAetcetera, it will also have a controlled distribution model, is expected to run 16-24 pages with more great writers and columns, can now cover the social scene on a weekly basis and will provide magazine advertisers looking for greater frequency to reach their best prospects - currently not an option we offer them.

This guy's marketing-speak is so thick, it's hard to figure out what he's saying, but it sounds like the LA Times Magazine will be inserted only in issues distributed to "select zip codes." You can bet that won't be anywhere in east or south L.A. It's unclear to me whether this "Laetcetera" is part of the magazine or a separate piece, but either way, the fact that it will "cover the social scene on a weekly basis" sounds promising for those of us who rep non-profits. Unless by "social scene," he means bars, clubs and raves, which is highly possible.

According to LA Observed:

A critic emails that the editorial side was strongly against the name, citing its "unappealing and retro Gen X connotations." The email adds: "It's the brand that always loses to Tide," but the decision was made by the marketing side (the same marketing department that thought Metromix would be a hit in print.) A Times editor emails that the Brand X name is "terribly unpopular among the rank and file, especially, it seems, among the people who are going to be putting it out."

The Times' LA Now blog announced this earlier this week:

The Times is launching Westside Watch, the first of several neighborhood pages the paper will be rolling out this year. Westside Watch is devoted to covering communities of Los Angeles' Westside, including Westwood, Century City, Bel-Air, Brentwood and Pacific Palisades, and the incorporated cities of Santa Monica, Culver City, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood.

Nothing too exciting or original so far, just a compendium of existing online and newspaper coverage packaged into one page, although they add this in the above post:

Look for more features coming soon to Westside Watch, including… essays about Westside life and issues from contributors in the community.

They direct newstips to the @latimes.com email address of metrodesk.

Got this from the Jewish Journal's Dikla Kadosh, Calendar Editor/Contributing Writer:

Thanks for sending us notice of this event. However, there have been a few changes at The Jewish Journal recently that you should be aware of. We will no longer be publishing our Arts in LA quarterly, so if you could please only email us events that have a Jewish angle for the regular Journal Calendar, that would be helpful. Also, Danielle Berrin no longer assists me with the Calendar, so there is no need to include her in future emails.

Lucy Pollak sends this sad news about the passing of Gene Warech, who wrote for Random Lengths Newsmagazine in San Pedro and for Laguna Coastline News and had been an LADCC member, with the funeral service info posting requested by his wife, Lynn.

Gene Warech died on March 16. He fell in a store and went into a coma – Lynn thinks the fall might have been precipitated by some kind of a stroke, but she doesn't really know.

The service will take place on Sunday, April 5 at 1 pm:
Hillside Memorial
6001 West Centinela Ave
Los Angeles CA 90045

Lucy adds this today:

John Farrell will now be writing the Curtain Call column for Random Lengths: He asked me to give out his info to whomever is interested.

The hotmail address is johnfarrellbsi

Deepest condolences to the Warech family.

Omar Cunningham passes on this news, quoted from the publication's email:

Signature Magazine & LA.Direct have merged to form Signature LA Direct Magazine – Southern California’s new leading luxury lifestyle publication. The revamped publication will introduce readers to the newest authority focusing on exclusive celebrity covers and interviews, fashion, trends, arts, leisure, philanthropy, and more. The size will be 9” X 10.875" and the magazine will publish monthly, printing 12 issues per calendar year, and will be available at the southland’s busiest newsstands and stores for sale ($3.95) while also offering complementary copies at the finest hotels, boutiques, shopping districts and other hand selected locations from Santa Barbara to San Diego with its largest concentration in Los Angeles and Orange County. The new brand is a comprehensive approach that satisfies industry needs by offering print advertising, online advertising, access to our email databases, sponsorship opportunities, and successful platforms that create exposure to the world’s most influential reader. The brand is set to launch both the new publication and website (www.signatureladirect.com) on April 1st, 2009.

Please make note of new contact info:
14930 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
O. (818) 285-0360
F. (818) 386-0747
editorial@signatureladirect.com
www.signatureladirect.com

Hope their editors spell better than their marketers.

From Al Martinez a week or so ago:

Greetings out there. It has been several weeks since I departed the L.A. Times and I thought I'd bring you up to date on, well, things. If, however, you prefer not to be on this mailing list, just send an email and you're off.

Meanwhile, my daughter Cindy, whom I wrote about, is effectively fighting cancer and the prognosis is good after one round of chemo. More chemo coming up and then other treatments. I appreciate all the caring you have expressed.

I am keeping up with my blog more or less and will be doing more for this blog and another website, plus columns in the local Topanga Messenger, Grand Magazine and a book in progress.

Also, the writers workshop I conduct at my house on Saturdays is going great and I invite you to participate. It's for both pros and amateurs. About 75 participants have taken it and seem to have gained by doing so.

I have worked out this message system with an expert and now it's supposed to be a blind send. I hope you're all happy, angry and involved in whatever you're doing. And don't drop your subscription to the Times because of me or for any other reason. It needs our support and we need newspapers. God help us all if we have to rely on TV news or the internet. I shudder to think.

Hey, check out my newest blog posting at http://almartinez.org/wordpress

March 23, 2009 News (*updated)

2009-03-23T16:03:00.000-07:00

VERY distressing news that among the LA Times layoffs today (numbers vary between 40 and 50) is Deputy Arts Editor Craig Fisher. Craig is a great guy, and this is really a loss.

LA Observed reports that transportation writer Steve Hymon was laid off as well. Take the link for more details on Hymon, and stay tuned for more bad news.

*And more from LA Observed, although this isn't related to the layoffs:

Charlie Amter left The Guide at the LAT to be news editor at OK! magazine.

Reach him @okmagazine.com with charlie dot amter.

Check out former LA Times food writer Barbara Hansen's excellent Table Conversation web site.

LA Mag news, per LA Observed, a bit old, sorry for the delay:

Recent staff departures at cost-cutting Los Angeles Magazine, per sources: senior editors RJ Smith and Margot Dougherty, art director Joe Kimberling, Guide editor Michael Mullen. The Guide is being discontinued in print (will go online), except for a Coming Attractions section in the front of the book.

This is from Michael's farewell note; all addresses are @lamag.com:

Mary Melton (mmelton) is overseeing the [Guide] Web effort, and Shayna Rose Arnold (srarnold) will be working closely with her. I don't recommend that you immediately bombard them with submissions, but they're the point people for the Guide as it will appear online. Sara Wilson (sewilson) edits Coming Attractions in the magazine.

According to themediaisdying's Twitter post a week or so ago:

MOVIELINE'S HOLLYWOOD LIFE has ceased publication - website will be reinvented.

It's been a hectic few weeks... will catch up and have more news posted as soon as possible.

March 6, 2009 News

2009-03-06T12:11:00.000-08:00

Good news from Evan Henerson, who announces:

Effective this week, I’ll be the new L.A. Stage Scene writer for Examiner.com, a news, culture and general interest website written by -- presumably -- insiders. If you haven’t heard of Examiner.com, prior to now -- and I hadn’t either before I answered their call for freelancers -- hop on the site, and look around. In fact, hop on and look around often and spread the word, since we writers (or Examiners, as we’re called) get paid by the page view.

I envision my work as kind of a mixture of my late theater blog, The City in Curtains, and the feature writing and reviewing I used to do for the Daily News. The content will be my own property, and I’ll be linking, repackaging and posting to other publications I’ve been freelancing for like Backstage West, CurtainUp and any other sites I can drum up.

His sbcglobal.net address is ehenerson.

Gary Scott reports layoffs at the Riverside Press Enterprise including:

Barbara Tarshes, executive news editor
Richard Fisher, assistant managing editor
Glenn Gullickson, city editor
Cindy Martinez Rhodes, reporter
Imran Vittachi, reporter
Greg Vojtko, photographer
Zeke Minaya, SB County reporter
Melanie Ladonga, news assistant
Jessican Logan, night cops reporter

The LA Times' Dodger Thoughts blog adds that Diamond Leung, Dodgers beat writer, also got the ax.

Former Daily News staffer Greg Hernandez debuts his Greg In Hollywood blog, described on its About page as offering:

…fly-on-the-wall accounts of Hollywood events to coverage of the independent film and local theater scene, brings you interviews with celebrities, newsmakers and creative types, and keeps you up to date on entertainment, LGBT, and political news.

From Cision's The Navigator:

AOL.com’s fashion and beauty Internet magazine, AOL StyleList.com, has welcomed a new editor to its team. Sarah Cristobal recently joined the site as senior fashion editor. She was most recently the senior editor of Harper's Bazaar's Web site.

February 26, 2009 News

2009-02-26T16:34:00.000-08:00

Read this LA Times memo (courtesy of LA Observed) about the new structure for covering business and entertainment, which says in part

...we are establishing a new department that will be headed by Sallie Hofmeister, who is leaving her post as business editor for the masthead job of Assistant Managing Editor/Arts & Entertainment. She will report to Managing Editor Davan Maharaj.

Joining Sallie will be Craig Turner, who is leaving his position as weekend editor to become Arts & Entertainment Editor. Craig has spent the past seven years guiding our best enterprise efforts into our two biggest circulation days of the week, Saturday and Sunday. Sallie and Craig will oversee the merging of our entertainment reporting groups in Calendar and Business, and they will work closely with Richard Rushfield and Joseph Kapsch at latimes.com as we continue to expand our online entertainment news and information offerings.

Wonder if this means more CLEARLY NECESSARY front page stories on Britney Spears' father??

Add food section writer Amy Scattergood to the list of LA Times layoffs.

And finally, the Times has just named John Corrigan to replace Hofmeister as business editor and Mary Braswell to replace Turner as weekend editor.

Liz Smith is not exactly Helen Thomas in the overall scheme of things, but surely she is too – well, I don't know what, but SOMETHING – for this to happen (from Fishbowl LA):

Gossip columnist Liz Smith has been dropped by the New York Post after 33 years. Col Allan, Editor-in-Chief of The Post, decided against renewing Smith's contract. Smith's column had already been cut from six days a week to three…

… She will also be posting on the site wowowow.com, of which she is a co-founder.

Got a tip that LA Stage Magazine is going online only for the time being, per Editor Lee Melville.

KCRW's Sarah Spitz passes this on:

On March 16th, 2009 public radio station KCRW-Santa Monica (89.9 FM and KCRW.com) welcomes veteran entertainment industry reporter KIM MASTERS to the helm of the station’s award-winning weekly program about the business of entertainment, THE BUSINESS (Mondays at 2:30 pm Pacific time on radio; streamed live, available on-demand and as a podcast @ www.KCRW.com).

Producers are Matt Holzman and Darby Maloney – first name dot last name at kcrw.org.

New Angeles Monthly is now publishing quarterly, with the next issue probably coming out in April. Josh Lurie is still editor.

February 24, 2009 News

2009-02-23T17:54:00.000-08:00

LA Times layoffs include Image section writer Monica Corcoran, per LA Observed.

Daily News layoffs include TV critic David Kronke, per Gary Scott's blog. LA Observed reports late Monday that remaining entertainment writer Greg Hernandez is laid off as well.

Leticia Buckley draws our attention to free-lance arts writer Debra Levine's arts Arts Meme blog.

Don't know any details about this, but apparently Alan Rich has replaced Donna Perlmutter as City Beat's classical music writer.

Publication of Vergudo Monthly magazine "has been suspended" as of the February issue. Arroyo Monthly, with editor Irene Lacher, is still in place. Both are owned by the company that publishes City Beat and Pasadena Weekly.

"Reader-friendly" and "relevant" do not, apparently, mean what they used to. The Daily News ran this note to readers on Monday.

You will notice changes in the Daily News beginning with today's edition. For starters, we have redesigned the newspaper to make it more reader-friendly. To save on newsprint costs and adjust to the current adverse economic climate, we are making the following changes to our format:

On Mondays and Tuesdays, you will find the comics, puzzles, TV grid and advice columns in the front section. Dilbert appears on A2 on Mondays. There will be no dedicated Business or Opinion page on Mondays, but both will return on Tuesday.
Wednesday through Sunday, the L.A. LIFE section returns with comics, TV and advice columns and other features. Dining coverage continues on Wednesday and health coverage moves to Thursday.

We thank you for your loyal support as we confront this troubled economy. We are committed to producing a relevant local news report that is focused on the San Fernando Valley.

Just to be an equal-opportunity grumbler, I'll mention that I'm no longer a devoted reader of the LA Times' shell-of-its-former-self LA Now blog.

On the other hand, I will say that I actually read most of what was in the February LA Times Magazine and found it pretty well done.

February 13, 2009 News

2009-02-13T11:16:00.000-08:00

Writer John Morell announces:

LosAngelesonthecheap.com, which is a site/blog dedicated to finding inexpensive tours, tickets, hotels, restaurants, etc. that would be of interest to Southern California visitors. It's part of the CitiesontheCheap.com network, which includes several other U.S. destinations and so far we also have Montreal and Auckland, New Zealand as part of the network.

I just wanted to get the word out to the PR community that I'm looking for great deals in this area that I can publish. You can roam through the site, we did a piece on cheap CityPass tickets, great rental car deals outside of the major companies, doing Beverly Hills inexpensively, staying along the So Cal coast for under $100, that sort of thing.

John, check your in box for something from me this morning.

Masthead with updated contacts for FineArtsLA is here.

This may be old news, but here's Entertainment Today's current address and other contact info:

12021 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 398
Los Angeles, CA 90025
@entertainmenttoday.net, send to editor
213-387-2060 ext 1 phone
213-341-2225 fax

Sorry to hear about LA Stage Alliance's Director of Operations Sara Adelman and Communications Manager Darren Schroader being laid off. Here's the blog post recapping the organization's "downsizing."

Details moves into the just-shuttered Domino's New York offices. Info here.

Change in editorship at Glendale News Press and Burbank leader as

Danette Goulet, editor of the Glendale News-Press and Burbank Leader for four years, announced plans [last week] to step down, citing plans to move her family to Boston and raise her 7-month-old son.

Full story here.

February 2, 2009 News

2009-02-02T11:51:00.000-08:00

New address for Daily Breeze:

Daily Breeze

South Bay Tower

21250 Hawthorne Blvd., Suite 170

Torrance, CA 90503

Thanks to the LA Times' Andrew Nystrom for clueing me in to this list of LA Times-related Twitter pages.

This via LA Observed is news from last week but didn't get into my last post.

Tim Doyle, formerly of Variety and Maria Russo, formerly of The Los Angeles Times, are the lead editors of Sharon Waxman's new Hollywood news website … A news release says the contributors to The Wrap include Kim Masters, who recently departed National Public Radio; Andrew Gumbel, the author and correspondent for British newspapers; Nicole LaPorte, a former film reporter for Variety who has just completed a book about DreamWorks; Mark Lisanti, former editor of Defamer; Johanna Neuman, who covered Washington for The Los Angeles Times and USA Today; and Peter Mehlman, a former co-executive producer of Seinfeld and leading television writer and producer.

Masthead with email addresses is here.

January 30, 2009 News

2009-01-30T13:23:00.000-08:00

LA TIMES – HOW LOW CAN IT GO?

LA Observed has latest disturbing details here with links to earlier reports. Bottom line is more layoffs and folding the California section into the main news section.

LESS VARIETY

New layoffs earlier this week at Variety, including our friend Phil Gallo plus Mike Jones, Alys Marshall, Andrew Barker, Byron Perry, Lisa Weinstein, Martha Hernandez, Diane Garrett, Ben Fritz, Anne Thompson and Jeff Sneider More details from LA Observed.

THIS AND THAT

From Cision:

The Daily Endorsement www.esquire.com/blogs/endorsement is a new pop culture blog written by the editors of Esquire magazine. The blog… features picks and pans of new ideas, links, products and services chosen by bloggers Matt Sullivan, Tim Heffernan, and Sammy Davis.

Also from Cision:

Gustavo Arellano is now the host of the radio show Four O'Clock Tuesdays with Gustavo Arellano on KPFK-FM. The show focuses on local news and issues in Southern California.

Thanks to Omar Cunningham of Mannfolk PR for the tip that Domino Magazine is closing. The following is from the New York Times:

This new reality has gripped the publishing industry as well. In just the last three months, the magazines Cottage Living, Country Home and O at Home have folded. Now Domino, a four-year-old title that had grown to a readership of more than 800,000, has become the eighth major home design magazine to cease publication since November 2007 — when Condé Nast shocked many in the industry by shuttering another of its home magazines, the 106-year-old House & Garden.

SHOUT OUTS TO…

Bob Thomas, just retired from FORE Magazine but still fervently covering classical music at his blog.

and

Rick Orlov for his thorough reporting.

(Though that should be a given for journalists, it's been my experience this past week that one of the nation's highest level national media outlets -- not a newspaper, not a radio or tv outlet, not even a blog -- was guilty over and over again of biased and inaccurate coverage of one of my clients that had to be updated and corrected several times. Which makes writers like Rick all the more appreciated.)

MORE UNSOLICITED OPINION…

"It's Always the Publicist's Fault, Right?" Department

Not that I know all the facts, but I disagree with Nikki Finke's assessment that bad pr counsel is the real problem at the Motion Picture and Television Fund closing some of its facilities. Isn't it always SO easy to blame the publicist? Read about it here.

"Well, Sometimes it is the Publicist's Fault" Department

Read this on Sharon Waxman's blog about the film critic who'd had it with an overly persistent publicist.

January 21, 2009 News

2009-01-20T19:34:00.000-08:00

I'm a bit behind in posting, what with the holiday Monday and the wonderful events of Tuesday, but here you go, definitely in no particular order.

This tip came yesterday from Omar Cunningham, Mannfolk PR:

Just got an email from one of the editors here in LA office of TEEN that the magazine has folded, effective immediately.

More layoffs from last week:

Jim Farber, features writer, Daily Breeze
Andy Klein, film critic, LA City Beat

According to Fishbowl LA, the Weekly killed Robert Abele TV column, but he will still freelance for them and others.

With regard to ongoing arts writer layoffs, the Geffen, CTG and Pasadena Playhouse artistic directors put out a statement "decrying the decline in voices and calling on the arts community to keep the conversation going," according to the LA Times Culture Monster blog. Read all about it here.

And keep Steven Leigh Morris on your lists with same contact information. He's LA Weekly Theatre Critic at Large. His loss (full-time job, benefits) is our gain (still a great theatre reviewer covering theatre). Isn't corporate greed wonderful?

On that same subject, check out some action underway by the LA Stage Alliance, which Morris writes about here.

Change can happen, though – check out this cool video, and congratulations to our new President!

Writer extraordinaire Julie Riggott debuted her new Arts Los Angeles blog with this announcement:

So far, I've got posts about LA Opera, movies, sculptor Robert Graham and the LA Phil. Check it out and let me know what you think. Also, be sure to add my email address to your press release list. (Some of you already have, so I have a lot of great ideas for future posts.) If you like what you read, spread the word to others who have arts events to share.

Reach her via email @att.net, with jariggott.

From Gary Scott's blog:

Los Angeles Daily Journal entertainment reporter Noah Barron sent his colleagues an e-mail... announcing that Jan. 28 will be his last day on the job. Barron's departure comes roughly a month after associate editor Alan Mittelstaedt quit.

Thanks to the intrepid Lucy Pollak for passing on the info that Adam Pockross is current What's On editor at The Argonaut. His @argienews.com email is whatson.

Indie103.1 is no more, replaced by "a format called "El Gato" -- playing regional Mexican rhythmic and cumbia music." Full story at the Franklin Avenue blog.

Thanks to PRNewser for the link to MarketingSherpa.com's article titled No-Cost Resources for PR Pros: Top 10 Email Newsletters, 6 Content-Rich Sites, Popular Blogs. I won't hold it against them that this blog wasn't included.

Lesley Balla departs as editor of EaterLA.com, and Ben Leventhal replaces her (his @curbedla address is bl).

Lesley's new gig in her own words, follows:

I will be the editor of Tasting Table LA, a new daily email newsletter launching in February. My new role begins Jan. 26.

Why I'm most excited: I'm still all about the LA dining scene, the food, drinks, events, the people. But what you get is one tasty little tidbit directly to your inbox highlighting the best of the city--first-hand recommendations, trends, dishes, recipes, cocktails, wine, chefs, tastemakers, and reviews of new hot spots or timeless classics. There's even a little space for news and goss...we'll cover it all. It's like a trusted friend tipping you off to something new and fabulous, which has always been my role anyway. To get a feel for Tasting Table, check out the New York site. http://www.tastingtable.com/index.htm.

More importantly: Sign up for Tasting Table LA now and be the first to get it when we launch on Feb. 16. And then PLEASE tell all of your friends! http://tastingtable.com/LA/

Her @hotmail.com address is lesba.

January 12, 2009 News

2009-01-11T18:25:00.000-08:00

You're surely heard the bad news already about LA Weekly's layoffs of Theatre Critic Steven Leigh Morris and Film Critic Ella Taylor. Morris' exit column is here.

LA Observed ran this on Friday:

Word, unconfirmed, out of 1st and Spring is that Metromix Los Angeles is shutting down — the Tribune pub's staff will merge with the staff of The Guide at the L.A. Times and a print section of some kind will still be put in those boxes located in sufficiently young and upscale parts of town. Dean Kuipers, editor of The Guide, will oversee the merged operation and Deb Vankin, currently Metromix editor, will run the paper section. Chris Barton is tagged with running the web side.

And though the LA Times has excised Al Martinez's column (again), you can keep up with him here and/or complain to the LA Times Readers Rep at latimes.com of course: readers.rep

Brad Munson replaces Karen Apostolina as Verdugo Monthly editor.

From Cision:

Gabriel Kahn is the new bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal's Los Angeles bureau. He replaces Bruce Orwall, who recently moved to the London office to become their new bureau chief.

and

West Coast fashion editor Hellin Kay was recently laid off from Women's Wear Daily as a part of staff cuts affecting the Los Angeles, Dallas, Boston and London bureaus. Replacements are not expected to be named.

January 9, 2009 News

2009-01-08T22:18:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to my good friend Kitty Felde, who is

heading east to open the first Washington bureau of any public radio station in the country. [KPCC's, that is]

LA Observed has the whole story.

Perhaps I could have been the first to break this news to the blog-o-sphere if only I had actually opened Kitty and Tad's Christmas letter when it arrived in my in box the other day. What a poor friend I am. Kitty – it won't be the same without you, but there's no person more deserving of this opportunity. Big, big congratulations!

MORE layoffs at Daily News; Gary Scott's blog has these names and more info:

Tyrone Harris, editorial assistant
Gregg Miller, graphics
Roger Vargo, photo/pre-pressing
Patrick O'Connor, editorial cartoonist
Steve Dilbeck, sports columnist
Jammie Salugabang, features copy editor/online
Stewart Slavin, copy/slot editor
Simone Trimm, editorial assistant in features

These layoffs, too, from Gary Scott about the Daily Breeze, and he also has Press Telegram, SGV Tribune, San Bernadino Sun and other LANG papers' layoff names.

Bruce Hazelton, photographer
Andrea Hayashi, administrative assistant for features

This from LA Observed:

Blogger spins off: Julia Scott writes the Bargain Hunter shopping blog for the Daily News and will continue to do so, but posts that she has "created my own personal finance blog that is edgier and more personal than the Bargain Hunter. I'm going to use it for posts that are not appropriate for the LA Daily News. It's called Bargain Hunter Babe."

Broadcasting & Cable reports this:

Twentieth Television will not renew The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, its syndicated morning talk show, said Bob Cook, president and chief operating officer of Twentieth on Thursday morning… Original episodes of the show will continue to be produced through June 2009, and it will go off the air next fall.

January 5, 2009 News

2009-01-05T11:27:00.000-08:00

Yes, I've succumbed to Twitter. Follow me if you like.

Sad news – long-time KUSC radio broadcaster Gene Parrish passed away at age 82 on Friday. Here's his bio on KUSC's web site.

Not sure when this happened, don't use mail much anymore, but the Glendale News Press is now located at 221 N. Brand Blvd., 2nd Floor, Glendale 91203.

Harriette Smith asks that we mention her blog, for those who don't yet know about it, previewing films and theatre .

Did you notice that Harold Pinter's LA Times obit in December was written by Mary Rourke and contributed to by Don Shirley, two people who no longer work at the paper?

December 22, 2008 News

2008-12-21T15:18:00.000-08:00

The LA Times FINALLY updated its web site staff list, and I'm wondering if it's correct to infer from Sandy Banks's designation as "staff writer" that she's no longer a columnist?

From Minnesota Public Radio (full press release here):

American Public Media is cancelling weekly production and distribution of Weekend America as a result of the current economy's impact on station carriage and sponsorships. The final broadcast will be January 31, 2009. Thirteen full- and part-time positions will be affected. Weekend America is carried on 134 stations with a weekly audience of about 657,000 listeners.

December 19, 2008 News

2008-12-19T10:56:00.000-08:00

Gary Scott's blog reports the birth (or semi-rebirth) of San Pedro Today:

Joshua Stecker, former editor of the now shuttered San Pedro Magazine, which was published by the Long Beach Press-Telegram, sent around an email announcing the launch of an independent magazine called San Pedro Today that will cover many of the same issues, but without the corporate interference.

News from KUSC:

MaryAnn Bonino returns to KUSC as host of the new weekly series, Sunday Music. Bonino has brought classical music to life for audiences of all ages as a concert producer, public speaker, as well as radio/TV host. As a past member of the KUSC family, Bonino produced and announced several weekly series’ from 1979 to 1989. Bonino is currently Professor-at-Large Emeritus at Mount St. Mary's College, the Founding Artistic Director Emeritus of the Da Camera Society and creator of its Chamber Music in Historic Sites series. She is also the Curator of the Doheny Mansion, and recently published The Doheny Mansion: A Biography of a Home.

Per my question about quests, KUSC Program Director Gail Eichenthal replied, "It will be a predominately sacred music program, with MaryAnn’s particular sensibilities. Really, music of the spirit. Guests will be very scarce, because it’s mostly about the music. Once in awhile, perhaps."

Check out staff changes and other info in LA Observed's post titled "Daily Journal Turmoil Continues"

Modern Luxury's Front Desk magazine is no more, and its Editor Jenn Ball is now filling a role with the Angeleno web site.

Got this from Kristen Calavas, co-founder and president of theLookBook.com, which is a tool for journalists rather than us PR types, but I'm happy to pass it along, especially since Calavas was one of us. And I quote, "I am a PR veteran formerly of BPCM Los Angeles and my business partner is Rhonda Richford, formerly an editor at the Los Angeles In Style magazine office."

…TheLookbook.com (http://thelookbook.com) [is] a new online directory for publicists and stylists in the fashion industry. Need to know who is the PR contact for Chanel in Los Angeles? Want to know who styles Kiera Knightley? Please take a moment to visit the site where this info - plus more! - is listed. Anyone can join and log in is fast and easy.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYONE!

December 12, 2008 News

2008-12-12T10:21:00.000-08:00

Got a tip that Features/Fashion Editor Kristin Young and web writer Lilliam Rivera are no longer at Angeleno and Angeleno Online, respectively. Was told when I checked with the magazine that Deputy Editor Jade Chang is taking over the features/fashion duties.

From an LA Times "auto reply":

Sheigh Crabtree is no longer with Los Angeles Times Interactive. Please direct all inquiries, pitches and requests for TheEnvelope.com and Latimes.com/entertainment to Joseph A. Kapsch- Executive Producer, Entertainment. Joseph.Kapsch at you-know-where.

NPR cancels "News & Notes" and "Day to Day," as of March 20, 2009. Full memo with details from LA Observed.

This from the Washington Post:

Some of those losing their jobs are veteran NPR voices, such as Ketzel Levine, an NPR reporter since 1977, and Vicky O'Hara, an editor and former diplomatic correspondent with 26 years on the job. Others include "News & Notes" host Farai Chideya, "Day to Day" host Madeleine Brand, Washington reporter Libby Lewis, entertainment-industry correspondent Kim Masters and national reporter John McChesney. About half the 64 people cut are journalists.

Interesting news… reassigned Cleveland Plain Dealer Classical Music Critic Don Rosenberg...

…who was removed from his post at The Cleveland Plain Dealer after a history of negative reviews of the Cleveland Orchestra’s music director, struck back on Thursday with a lawsuit.

New York Times story here.

From Gary Scott's blog late last week:

Three Daily News reporters lost their jobs: prep sportswriter Gerry Gittelson, 11-year film critic Glenn Whipp and reporter Justino Aguila. That comes in addition to the departure of Antelope Valley reporter Karen Maeshiro, who quit after the AV section closed. She was told she could stay on at the paper, but only if she commuted to Woodland Hills.

I'm also told the DN Travel section will fold and that travel writer Eric Noland will be reassigned to the metro desk. LANG sports editor Kevin Modesti has also been reassigned as a metro reporter.

December 5, 2008 News

2008-12-05T12:06:00.000-08:00

Nikki Finke reports layoffs and more at the Hollywood Reporter and Variety. Read this for all the news.

Also, Variety's new address is: 5900 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 3100. Zip (LA 90036) stays the same.

LA Observed adds that Backstage's Lauren Horwich was laid off.

This also from LA Observed a few days ago:

The Los Angeles Daily Journal newsroom was told this afternoon, in a very brief meeting, that editor Martin Berg is moving over to columnist and the new editor in chief is David Houston. He has been the San Francisco editor.

An email to LATimes.com Weekend Editor Bettie Rinehart came back to me this week as an auto reply saying she no longer works at the Times.

Thanks to Omar Cunningham with Mannfolk PR, who passed on the news that the high-end luxury lifestyle magazine Atlanta Peach (same publisher as Ocean Drive) folded December 3.

For minute by minute posts about changes at media outlets all around the country, add this to your daily/hourly Twitter "must see":
https://twitter.com/themediaisdying

The LA Times reorganizes its Food section staff, with Russ Parsons re-taking the food editor position. Betty Hallock is deputy editor, and Rene Lynch is, and I quote from the announcement, "assistant food editor/interactive." Details here.

Thanks to Brenda Rees for passing along an email from twentysomethingonline.net, which is soliciting advertising but also apparently interested in getting”calendar events, articles or press releases." Check it out here.

November 24, 2008 News

2008-11-24T10:52:00.000-08:00

Just read this on Cision, although it's a few days old: "Matthew Jaffe has left Sunset Magazine, where he served as a senior writer… No replacement has been named."

Lucy Pollak passes on the news that new-ish Where Los Angeles editor Kristin Viola has left. Editor-in-Chief Benjamin Epstein confirms that pitches should now go to Katie McCarthy, associate editor. @WhereLA.com is her address (Katie.McCarthy)

Thanks to Cary Baker and Rachel Reynolds for the press release about Jason Bentley replacing Nic Harcourt as KCRW Music Director and host of Morning Becomes Eclectic, effective December 1. It's been pretty widely reported, but you can still see the press release here. And LAIst says that "DJ Garth Trinidad will be back weeknights on the station in the 8-10 p.m. time-slot."

Thanks again to Lucy Pollak for letting us know that Glenn Esterly is no longer with the Culver City News and interim editor (at yahoo.com) is Gary Kohatsu (gkscriptman).

Restaurant publicists should note this from Peter Dills, who is celebrating the second season of "The Chef Knows" on KJLA TV:

The show airs every Sunday night on cable KJLA TV and Satellite Channel LA TV 57. We take a look at neighborhood and larger eateries and often are looking for the "Best"... the Best taco, margarita or mojito, for example. Often we select a city and spotlight reasons to visit that city. This week we visit the Westin Hotel and the chef is going to make his cranberry stuffing.

Reach him @yahoo.com. (thechefknows)

LA Observed has details of the Fairchild Publications decision…

…effective Monday, Nov. 24, we will begin the integration of men’s wear coverage into WWD. DNR will cease publication with that day’s edition. Some of DNR’s staffers will be reassigned to WWD, reflecting their various areas of expertise.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

November 17, 2008 News

2008-11-16T19:35:00.000-08:00

Hot off the press, so to speak, from Veronique de Turenne (filling in for Kevin at LA Observed):

1. LA Times Real Estate Editor Lauren Beale's layoff was rescinded, and she remains in that position;

2. At the LA office of Entertainment Weekly, Chris Willman and Shirley Halperin, who covered music, were laid off.

The LA Times' staff list is back up on the web site – but NOT updated, and it contains numerous names of folks axed in the last few weeks. Sigh.

But news still trickles out…

Mary MacVean, formerly on the news assignment desk, is now "is moving to the Features staff as a writer who will specialize in issues relating to food. We anticipate her reports will appear in all of the weekly feature sections, in addition to news," according to the Times' Readers Rep blog.

According to the Times' Readers Rep blog, Millie Quan, who was to become a features senior editor with a mission to bring more features stories to Page One, instead was named senior editor/enterprise, effective immediately. According to the statement, "The recent round of staff cuts prompted us to reconsider" the earlier plan.

More from the announcement:

In her new role, Millie will edit Column Ones, helping fill the void created when Roger Smith became national editor. She also will edit narratives, projects and other enterprise. Millie will continue to work with the national editor and several reporters whose stories she edited on the national desk.

From the LA Watts Times:

Aisha Mori Coleman is no longer with the L.A. Watts Times, our new Managing Editor is Samuel Richard, please send your messages to (lawattstimes.com) him at sam@.

Courtesy of LA Observed, Rebecca Schoenkopf has resigned as editor of LA City Beat. Take the link for details.

November 10, 2008 News

2008-11-10T10:30:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Cary Baker for this info from the music industry tipsheet FMQB:

Harcourt Steps Down

KCRW/Santa Monica MD Nic Harcourt has resigned his posts as MD and Morning Becomes Eclectic host, effective November 30 Harcourt will pursue independent projects and continue to host a three-hour show on Sundays from 6-9 PM.

“I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to come to work every day and be surrounded by creative and passionate people and I want to keep the connection alive on my Sunday show,” says Harcourt. “Since I arrived here, I’ve fulfilled many of my dreams as a music lover, meeting and interviewing legends like Neil Young, Paul McCartney,Willie Nelson and Cat Stevens (Yusuf). I’ve also been able to set the stage for future stars, introducing artists like Coldplay, Damien Rice, Dido and Norah Jones on KCRW’s airwaves. I’m equally proud to have played many unsigned and independent artists and to be a champion for Latin Alternative music.

“As a parent of two young children, I believe it’s time for me to explore new career opportunities and expand upon my other activities in movie, television, voice over work, advertising and the Internet. My heartfelt thanks and gratitude go to KCRW, the staff and volunteers who have supported my work through the years, but most of all to the listeners. I’ve always said that I couldn’t do what I do without them and I hope they will join me on Sunday nights,” said Harcourt.

“Nic has enhanced KCRW’s reputation for introducing new artists to listeners in Southern California and beyond on radio and the Internet,” comments KCRW GM Ruth Seymour. His singular gifts as a radio deejay and his ability to spot new talent attracted major media attention from both national and international press. He made performing on MBE an opportunity to be heard by top entertainment executives. In quite a number of instances it led to record contracts, television appearances and club dates.”

Harcourt has served in his posts for 10-years, becoming synonymous with both KCRW and MBE, leaving big shoes to fill.

“Nic is a hard act to follow”, adds Seymour. “We are now in the process of choosing a new Music Director. We have been looking at potential candidates with an eye toward announcing a choice in the new few weeks.”

November 3, 2008 News

2008-11-02T15:31:00.000-08:00

NOTHING BUT BAD NEWS

I've been on vacation for most of October, so this is a recap of (heartbreaking) news you've likely already heard. Best wishes and good thoughts go out to all who've lost their jobs, among them colleagues and friends we've all known for years.

LA TIMES LAYOFFS

This is from LA Observed, which is keeping an ongoing list of the 75 editorial staffers laid off last week. Names are below, titles/descriptions can be found by taking the link.

(AND MEANWHILE, THE EDITORIAL STAFF DIRECTORY PAGE AT LATIMES.COM IS MIA -- FILE NOT FOUND, AT LEAST WHEN I LAST CHECKED YESTERDAY AFTERNOON.)

Carina Chocano
Maria Russo
Scott Timberg
Stephen Braun
Annie Wells
Veronique de Turenne
Mary Rourke
Lauren Beale
John Mitchell
Diane Wedner
Lynell George
Agustin Gurza
Valli Herman
Swati Pandey
Susan LaTempa
Mindy Farabee
Lonnie White
Lynn Smith
Francisco Vara-Orta
Erin Weinger
Thomas Bonk
Emili Vesilind
Karen Tapia-Anderson
Barbara Morrow
David Ng
Susan Brink
Denise Gellene
H.G. (Gil) Reza
Lea Lion
Con Keyes
Steve Springer

DAILY NEWS DEPARTURES

Again, check this link from LA Observed for details; here are the names of those laid off or otherwise gone (buyouts) at the Daily News:

Evan Henerson
Timothy Haddock
Barbara Correa
Mark Kellam

LA WEEKLY DEPARTURES

Thanks once more to LA Observed for this info; get details by clicking the link.

Marc Cooper
Sharan Street
David Caplan
Matthew Fleischer
Laura Steele
Pandora Young

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR CEASES DAILY EDITIONS

Read this article for more, but basically, and I quote from the subhead:

In 2009, the Monitor will become the first nationally circulated newspaper to replace its daily print edition with its website; the 100 year-old news organization will also offer subscribers weekly print and daily e-mail editions.

MEANWHILE….

While all this was going on, some of these same publications announced some musical chairs moves.

From Cision:

The Daily News in Woodland Hills, Calif. has made some recent staff changes. John Miller has been named city editor. He previously oversaw night city coverage. Barbara Jones, former content editor, is now the special projects editor. Jason Kandel, previously a police and crime staff writer, is now news editor for the Web site. City hall reporter Kerry Cavanaugh, will become an editorial page writer at the end of October.

Nicholas Goldberg, is the new deputy editorial page editor overseeing the Opinion page for the Los Angeles Times while Sue Horton, has returned to her former role as the Sunday opinion editor. Goldberg previously served as the opinion editor and joined the paper in 2002. Horton most recently served as a deputy California editor for enterprise. Prior to that, she was the Sunday opinion editor for roughly three years.

The Los Angeles Times has promoted Alice Short to the title of assistant managing editor for features overseeing the health, food, home, travel and image section. She replaces Leo Wolinsky. Short previously served as the news features editor, beginning in March 2006. Before that, she was a calendar editor for the paper. She also served as an editor of the now defunct Los Angeles Times Magazine from 1997 to 2002.

Liane Roth has been upped to features editor of the Valley Life section at the Antelope Valley Press… She was previously a features reporter, but was named editor when Kim Rawley stepped back to take a teaching position. Rawley is now a features and lifestyle reporter and columnist for the daily.

October 13, 2008 News

2008-10-12T13:52:00.000-07:00

POSITIVE NEWS ABOUT LA TIMES OCTOBER MAGAZINE

I really enjoyed David Steinberg's hilarious interview with Jon Stewart!

NEGATIVE NEWS ABOUT LAYOFFS AT KNX AND KFWB

This is from the Orange County Register:

CBS Radio delivered layoffs news to KFWB/980 AM and KNX/1070 AM, pink-slipping three anchors, several reporters and KFWB is also closing both its Orange County and Long Beach news bureaus.

Although CBS did not officially release the names of those who were laid off, other CBS sources confirmed the list included bureau chief Lori Kelman and Jennifer Bauman in the Orange County bureau and Sharon Katchen in the Long Beach bureau.

Bauman, reached at KOCE/50 in Huntington Beach where she freelances for "Real Orange," said, "I’m disappointed for me, but I am even more disappointed for the three million people who live in Orange County who lose our coverage." Kelman, reached at home Friday night, confirmed her exit and said "it's a sad day for everyone."

Katchen has been with KFWB since 1986 and worked in the Orange County bureau for several years before moving over to run the Long Beach bureau. "Everybody needs good luck right now," Katchen said, confirming that the Long Beach bureau is closing.

Others reportedly dismissed Friday at KFWB included anchors Larry Carroll and John Darin, reporters Lonnie Lardner, Dirk Morgan, Chris Sedens, Michael Forest, and Christine Villacorte.

Carroll, a prominent local TV news anchor on KABC/7 and KCBS/2, joined KFWB in 2001. Lardner was critically praised for her recent series on influential power players called "Head Shots."

A KNX spokesperson said Gerry Mulvaney, who works in creative services and did voiceovers for the station, was laid off, but he could not provide any other names. Other CBS sources not wanting to be identified listed Michael Linder, Vicky Cox and Laura Ornest among those laid off.

Cox, Katchen, Kelman and Bauman are all Orange County residents.

IN OTHER NEWS…

From writer Brenda Rees:

I'm leaving the fast-paced and hectic world of full-time freelancing to take on the position of public relations manager at Descanso Gardens. I'm excited to combine my writing and photography skills at such a great institution that's close to home. I may be able to squeeze in some freelancing on the side, so keep me on your lists!

September 29, 2008 News

2008-09-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

NEW LA TIMES AM ASSIGNMENT EDITOR

Nita Lelyveld replaces Megan Garvey, who takes on a different job, as LA Times morning assignment editor. More details here.

RIP

Elmer Dills, veteran restaurant critic, died September 15 at age 82. According to the LA Times:

A public memorial service for Elmer Dills, the longtime restaurant and travel critic for KABC-TV and KABC-AM radio, will be held at 1 p.m. Oct. 3 at All Saints Church, 132 N. Euclid Ave., Pasadena.

Chris Rubin, another food writer, died August 15 (way too young) at 49. This is from the Los Feliz Ledger.

Chris Rubin, Wine and Spirits columnist for the Los Feliz Ledger and writer for many local and national publications, died Aug. 15th in Los Angeles of complications of cancer. He was 49. Rubin had received a liver transplant in June 2006 after a diagnosis of a rare vascular cancer, epitheliod hemangioendothelioma. He wrote movingly of his close brush with death, his subsequent marriage, and his heightened appreciation of life in articles for the Ledger and the Los Angeles Times’ Opinion section. Rubin, a longtime Silver Lake resident, had written for magazines and newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, Daily Variety and Travel & Leisure. Born in Los Angeles, Rubin attended UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC Santa Cruz. He combined his passions for music, food, wine and travel in his articles, which also appeared in Rolling Stone and the L.A. Weekly. Most recently he served as Los Angeles editor for Gayot publications. He is survived by his wife, film writer-producer Deborah Calla; father Stanley; mother Kathleen; sister Angie and brothers John and Michael.

CHANGES AT PRESS ENTERPRISE

According to Cision's Navigator:

Patricia Mays recently accepted a buyout from The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, Calif. and left her post as the sports editor. Assistant managing editor David Ammenheuser is now the best contact for sports-related inquiries.

September 24, 2008 News

2008-09-23T21:47:00.000-07:00

The LA Daily News has moved! New address:
21860 Burbank Blvd.
Woodland Hills, CA 91367

Congratulations to New Yorker Classical Music Critic Alex Ross for being honored with a MacArthur Genius Award! Read more about it here.

On the other side of the coin... check out this excellent column by the Baltimore Sun's Tim Smith on the Cleveland Plain Dealer's spineless decision to "cave into pressure from a faction representing the [Cleveland] orchestra" by prohibiting its veteran music critic Don Rosenberg from covering the symphony any more in favor of a different critic who, presumably, won't be as, well, critical.

Steve Harvey, another highly missed former LA Times writer, starts a blog.