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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.