December 14, 2009 News (*updated)

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

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.