Tag Archives: journalism

Media News & Moves for May

Posted on May 15, 2013 by | Leave a comment

http://prnbloggers.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/agility-logo.png?w=127&h=125&h=125

MEDIAware, PR Newswire’s Audience Research Department newsletter, features recent media news and job changes in the industry. Here is a sampling of this month’s edition:

Fort Lauderdale’s South Florida Sun Sentinel (http://www.sun-sentinel.com) won the prestitgious 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for its outstanding series “Above the Law: Speeding Cops”.  The series led to numerous police officers being suspended and one who got fired for his excessive abuse of speed. Investigative Reporter Sally Kestin, Investigative Editor John Dahlburg and Database Editor John Maines were part of an entire team at the Sun Sentinel that worked on this series. You can read the winning series here: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/speeding-cops/

The Denver Post (http://www.denverpost.com) won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News with its coverage of the Aurora Movie Theater mass shooting last year.  The Pulitzer cited the Post’s use of social media, video and the written word in their winning coverage of the story. You can check out their winning coverage here: http://www.pulitzer.org/works/2013-Breaking-News-Reporting

The Alcohol Professor (http://AlcoholProfessor.com) is a new blog about liquor, spirits & ale. It was started by beverage connoisseur Adam Levy (https://twitter.com/AlcoholProfessr) who also founded the New York International Beverage Competitions. The sites main contact is Senior Editor-in-Chief Amanda Schuster (alcoholprofamanda@gmail.com).

Minneapolis’ Star Tribune (http://www.startribune.com) won two 2013 Pulitzer Prizes for Local News and Ediorial Cartooning. Glenn Howatt, Brad Schrade and Jeremy Olson won the Local News Pulitzer for their work on a series about the rise in infant deaths at Minnesota day-care centers. You can read that series here: http://www.startribune.com/local/150283965.html. And Steve Sack won the Editorial Cartooning award. You can view a bunch of his great political cartoons here: http://www.pulitzer.org/works/2013-Editorial-Cartooning

Columnist Daniel Ruth and Editorial Editor Tim Nickens won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing for the Tampa Bay Times (http://www.tampabay.com). Their op-ed pieces and columns were a campaign that helped reverse a decision to take fluoridation out of the water system in the area. You can check out pieces of their work here: http://www.pulitzer.org/works/2013-Editorial-Writing

The New York Times has made its own crossover as for the first time ever, they have published an article in Spanish. “A Drug War Informer in No Man’s Land” will go down in NYT history.
You can read it in Spanish here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/29/us/mexico-dea-fugitive.html or in English here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/29/us/us-mexico-dea-informant.html?pagewanted=all 

Representing The New York Times in the category of Investigative Journalism, David Barstow (barstow@nytimes.com) and Alejandra Xanic von Bertrab were selected as Pulitzer Prize winners for their year and a half long project which centered on Walmart’s interests in Mexico. The journalists investigated the Multinational Retail Corporation’s use of coercion as a means to gain a competitive advantage in Mexico. Eventually, the exposé led to an investigation by the Justice Department into whether Walmart violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

A series of 10 articles which covered the business practices of Apple and other technology companies, won a group of journalists at The New York Times a Pulitzer Prize in the category of Explanatory Journalism. The series focused on the question of whether or not the United States could be considered a lucrative place for innovators to manufacture new products. Apple’s choice to employ cheaper manufacturers in China, passing over the opportunity to invest in the United States’ turbulent job market, was one example used in the series. The reporters included Keith Bradsher (https://twitter.com/KeithBradsher), David Barboza (barboza@nytimes.com), Charles Duhigg (duhigg@nytimes.com), David Kocieniewski (kocieniewski@nytimes.com), Steve Lohr (lohr@nytimes.com), John Markoff (https://twitter.com/markoff), David Segal, David Streitfeld (https://twitter.com/DavidStreitfeld), Hiroko Tabuchi (https://twitter.com/HirokoTabuchi), and Bill Vlasic (vlasic@nytimes.com).

The Pulitzer Prize in the category of International Reporting was given to David Barboza (https://twitter.com/DavidBarboza2), Shanghai Bureau Chief of The New York Times. Barboza composed a series of articles that focused on the overwhelming wealth which many of China’s top leaders have kept in hiding. According to Barboza, over the span of a year he “pieced together hundreds of names and a web of connections among more than 100 companies found in China’s official financial records.”

Sports Reporter for The New York Times John Branch (https://twitter.com/JohnBranchNYT) was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in the category of Feature Writing. Branch composed an article entitled “Snow Fall: the avalanche at Tunnel Creek,” about a fatal avalanche in the Washington Cascades. Branch combined text, online video and graphics to vividly illustrate what took place.

The Pilot newspaper in Southern Pines, N.C. is launching yet another magazine. It already publishes PineStraw and O. Henry. Now it adds Salt magazine to its line-up of cultural publications. As with the other magazines, Jim Dodson will head up Salt as Editor. The free, monthly magazine is scheduled to launch later this month with a distribution of 18,000.

Following up on a Charlotte, N.C. story previously reported on in MEDIAware, the FCC gave final approval on the sale of WYMT-TV and WJYZ-TV to Fox Television. With the ruling, the stations were free to hire more personnel. Lynda Grahl was chosen as VP of Finance and Jay Abbattista was added as VP of Sales. Both report to the previously hired GM Karen Adams. As a result of this purchase by Fox, another local Charlotte station, WCCB-TV, will switch affiliations from Fox to the CW this summer.

There have been two personnel changes at the Cooking Channel and Food Network. VP of Digital for Emerging Brands Mark Levine (mlevine@scrippsnetworks.com) has been promoted to VP of Programming and Multiplatform. And new to the stations is Todd Weiser, who was hired as VP of Programming and Development. He arrives from Animal Planet, where he was previously Director of Development.

After 21 years in print, The Rhinocerous Times (http://greensboro.rhinotimes.com) is now an endangered species. The publication originally had two editions: Greensboro and Charlotte. It folded the Charlotte edition back in 2008. Now with a growing debt, the Greensboro edition is closing as well. The website will remain but for how long is not known.

Culture Critic Philip Kendicott of The Washington Post won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. In one of the articles submitted for the award Philip examined the use of controversial photographs in the media. You can read the piece here: http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-12-27/entertainment/36016736_1_images-subway-track-pleasure

Aereo (https://www.aereo.com)has been hit with a copyright lawsuit by almost every major network trying to prevent Aereo from creating a free streaming of their content. This is something to keep an eye on, as it can change the way networks will distribute its content if Aereo wins the case.

KSL-TV, the Salt Lake City NBC affiliate, has announced on its Facebook page as well as its website that it will no longer air episodes of the network series “Hannibal.” This decision was made due to the extensive graphic nature of this show. The time slot will be replaced with a special edition of KSL 5 News at 9 pm. “Hannibal” is a TV show about serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a literary character created by author Thomas Harris and initially made famous by the movie “The Silence of the Lambs.”

KMOV-TV in St.Louis won the 2012 Investigative Reporters and Editors Award. Craig Cheatham and Jim Thomas won in the category of “Ware Zone: The Destruction of an All-American City.” Read more at http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/kmov-wfaa-win-ire-awards_b86802

Mike Herrera, Long-time New Orleans broadcaster, passed on April 6 at the age of 66. Herrera who for the last five years served as an engineer at WWL-TV previously worked as a staff announcer, Weathercaster and Producer/Director at WVUE-TV for more than four decades.

William Glaberson says farewell to The New York Times. His 25-year career at the newspaper came to a halt on April 26th. He most recently served as Court Reporter, throughout these 25 years he covered Guantanamo Bay and the Crown-Heights trail.

Highly respected Chicago Sun-Times Movie Critic Roger Ebert has passed away. Over the course of his expansive career, Ebert hosted various television programs such as “Sneak Previews”, “At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert”, “Siskel and Ebert and The Movies”, alongside Gene Siskel, and the series “Ebert & Roeper & the Movies”. He also produced his most recent show, “Ebert Presents: At the Movies”. Ebert was an author of more than 20 books and won a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.

Nils Larsen has stepped down as CEO at the Tribune Company. He managed Tribune local stations, WGN America and WGN Radio. Jonathan Wax has been named Senior Vice President of scripted programming for WGN America. Wax currently serves as Vice President of drama development at Twentieth Century Fox, Inc.

Edible Milwaukee, a new magazine set to launch its May issue, will focus on the production, distribution and consumption of food in the greater Milwaukee area. The magazine reaches out to the local and regional food consumers and buyers who are zealous about food quality. Jen Ede will serve as Publisher and Editor for the quarterly. You may reach her at jen@ediblemilwaukee.com or http://ediblemilwaukee.com.

You can view the whole May issue of MEDIAware here: http://www.prnewswire.com/knowledge-center/mediaware/

And all of the Regional Updates here: http://www.prnewswire.com/knowledge-center/mediaware/May-2013-Updates-By-Region.html

You can also follow all of the latest media moves and news from PR Newswire’s Audience Research Department on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/PRNmedia

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Online Influence

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Media News & Moves for March

Posted on March 5, 2013 by | Leave a comment

http://prnbloggers.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/agility-logo.png?w=127&h=125&h=125

MEDIAware, PR Newswire’s Audience Research Department newsletter, features recent media news and job changes in the industry. Here is a sampling of this month’s edition:

Over the past few years Newsweek Global (https://twitter.com/Newsweek) has endured several foundational changes including a 50/50 partnership with The Daily Beast in 2008 and the groundbreaking announcement of plans to go digital late last year. With a new year and a new digital Newsweek and Daily Beast on the horizon Editor-in-Chief Tina Brown (https://twitter.com/TheTinaBeast) unveiled a new name — NewsBeast.

Beginning in March, readers will notice one notable Editor missing from the Vogue (https://twitter.com/voguemagazine) masthead. Managing Editor Laurie Jones announced that February 28th would be her last day with the mag. Before beginning her iconic tenure with Vogue, Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour was hired by Laurie Jones at New York Magazine. Later Wintour brought Jones over to Vogue where she would become Managing Editor.

The International Herald Tribune, the New York Times Company’s 125-year-old Paris-based newspaper is getting a name change. This Fall the paper will be known as The International New York Times. In addition, the brand change will combine forces between the New York Times website and the Tribune’s to create one international news site for the rest of the world outside of New York, You can check out the newspaper here: http://global.nytimes.com and https://twitter.com/iht.

Global pharmaceutical company SCRIP Intelligence (http://www.scripintelligence.com) names Brett Chase US Companies Editor. Chase was previously Deputy Managing Editor for Crain’s Chicago Business, Deputy Business Editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, health industry team Assignment Editor for Bloomberg News and Milwaukee Bureau Chief of the American Banker in Chicago. Contact Brett on Twitter at https://twitter.com/brettchase

A rash of television station re-designs have occurred this past month with three in the South being updated. WTVC-TV in Chattanooga, WXIA-TV in Atlanta and duopoly WDRB-TV/WMYO-TV in Louisville have all recently undergone renovations. WTVC-TV in TN now features a high definition set with LED color changing lights, large back-lit graphics and a 1×4 strip of monitors in the Weather Center With a rear projection screen.NBC affiliate WXIA now includes a new Gannett graphics package. Also, the set has color changing, frosted plexiglas and flat screen monitors including a large freestanding 3′ by 4′ monitor array. While construction on the set of the Louisville stations has just begun, it is scheduled to be expanded by 11,000 sq. ft. The existing facility dates back to 1980 and is too small for the station, which has grown considerably in that time.

Being a field reporter has its dangers. Just ask News 14 Carolina Reporter Caroline Vandergriff. Vandergriff was struck by a car while reporting on a story about severe weather in the area. While reporting from a major intersection in Charlotte where the traffic lights were out due to the storm, two cars collided after one lost control and struck Vandergriff. She was immediately taken via ambulance to the local hospital where she ended up staying for a week. She is back at work now.

Entertainment Weekly announced two veteran Contributors would bid farewell to the Time Inc. magazine. Senior Writer and Film Critic Lisa Schwarzbaum was the first to accept a buyout package earlier this month. Shortly after TV Critic Ken Tucker followed suit. Tucker was a member of the founding staff of the magazine in 1989. According to Adweek, the buyouts are a result of a 6% overall cutback set in place by publisher Time Inc.

WSB-TV in Atlanta is just one of the many companies in Georgia donating to the relief of tornado victims.After a tornado struck down in Bartow and Gordon counties, the ABC affiliate donated $50,000 to the Red Cross to help victims of the tornado, which spawned winds of more than 135mph. The epi-center of the storm was in Adairsville, Ga., where three fatalities were reported.

WKYT-TV in Lexington is adding another newscast to its line-up. The CBS affiliate will now air news 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. This makes two early afternoon newscasts in the market with WLEX-TV of NBC being the other. WKYT-TV’s news will be anchored  by DeAnn Stephens. She was re-hired specifically for the show. She can be emailed at deann.stephens@wkyt.com. Stephens also can be heard on WBUL-FM in the morning. A pioneer in Carolinas television passed away last month.

Reporter Jane Harrington-Smith passed away at the age of 62 from heart failure. Harrington made history as the first black female Reporter/Anchor at Winston-Salem, N.C. station WXII-TV in the turbulent 70s. She also hosted a weekly program called “Shades of Ebony.” She worked there for six years before moving to Indiana. She worked at WTHR-TV in Indianapolis, covering such big stories as the Mike Tyson rape trial in 1992. Harrington was a graduate of Fisk University in Nashville and a member of the Black Professional Journalists Association.

Last month, Reporter Ann Mercogliano (http://twitter.com/AnnMercogliano) departed WCBS and sister station WLNY-TV. This month she join joins WPIX-TV (http://pix11.com/) as a freelancer. She will be reporting both mornings and evenings when needed.

Ken Tonning, the President and General Manager at Tampa’s WTSP-TV announced he will retire in July. Before joining the station in 2008, Tonning worked for stations including KUSA-TV in Denver and WXIA-TV in Atlanta where he was the Sales Manager. Beginning his career in 1974, he was credited for altering traditional journalism and pushing the envelope of newscast reporting. http://www.wfla.com/story/21058646/gm-of-st-pete-tv-station-to-retire-in-july

In a strange twist, Orlando’s WKMG-TV hires the son of an Anchor at a competing news station. Justin Warmoth joined WKMG as a News Reporter with the blessing of his father Greg Warmoth who is the Anchor for Orlando’s WFTV-TV. Surely journalism runs in the genes of this family. http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2013/02/wkmg-hires-son-of-wftv-anchor-greg-warmoth.html

The Web Producer at WFOR-TV, Dave Game has passed away. Dave was only 57 and leaves a long legacy in the industry. Game, a veteran journalist, came to WFOR in 1985 where he served as a General Assignment Reporter, Investigative Producer and Reporter. He is accredited with creating one of the first broadcasting websites in South Florida for WFOR. http://miami.cbslocal.com/2013/02/06/longtime-cbs-miami-web-producer-dave-game-dies-at-57/

WTVT-TV Channel 13’s Andy Johnson has left the Fox TV station after over three decades with the company. Johnson joined the station in 1979. A native of Tampa as well, the low key retired Meteorologist has not spoken on his plans hereafter. http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/content/wtvt-ch-13-forecaster-andy-johnson-leaves-air-today-after-33-years-marking-low-profile-depar

Journalist Mike Guy (http://twitter.com/MrMikeGuy) has stepped down as Editor-in-Chief of The Fix.com. He still regularly contributes to Playboy Magazine and Wenner Medias Men’s Journal. He will also continue to be the Editor-in-Chief of Hopper.com. Thrillist (http://twitter.com/Thrillist)features off-the-beaten-path activities, restaurants and products found around the world. The website is easily accessed by each city; a total of 21 are featured, including New York, London and Miami. The site managers are looking to add more cities to explore in the near future.

London’s Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk) is opening a new Washington, D.C. office and it will be headed by David Martosko (http://www.twitter.com/EditMeDavid). Martosko was the Executive Editor at The Daily Caller. Martosko’s new title will be U.S. Political Editor.

You can view the whole March issue of MEDIAware here: http://www.prnewswire.com/knowledge-center/mediaware/%20

And all of the Regional Updates here: http://www.prnewswire.com/knowledge-center/mediaware/March2013UpdatesByRegion.html

You can also follow all of the latest media moves and news from PR Newswire’s Audience Research Department on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/PRNmedia

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Content and Trust: Highlights for Communicators from Social Media Week NYC

Posted on March 1, 2013 by | 3 Comments

Social Media Week 2013New York is the global capital for media, so it is not surprising that during Social Media Week NYC much of the conversation centered on journalism and the people that are helping it evolve. But perhaps that is my perspective because that is what I personally was interested in and gravitated to.

Since this is my story – and my highlights — we’ll go with the idea that New York City is at the center of the media universe.

One thing is certain, in the words of Aaron Sherinian of the United Nations Foundation, “There’s never been a better time to be in communications.”

Look at all the tools now available to communicators. The Internet and social media have opened up a whole new world of opportunities for sharing and distributing information.

But with opportunity comes challenges.

“More and more people will take an image that they did not shoot and share it on Twitter and Facebook,” said Rubina Fillion, social media editor at The Wall Street Journal who spoke on a visual media panel. They don’t bother with source and attribution, which then leads to an issue with trust. “People don’t trust as easily anymore,” Fillion added. Think about fake images from Hurricane Sandy.

But the issue of trust is not simply about images that may or may not honestly represent a situation.

The lines of demarcation for journalism are perhaps easily blurred as media companies try to figure out how to keep the revenue stream alive, how to staff a publication when advertising and subscriber monies are no longer enough to keep the books in the black.

People don’t start their days by opening up a newspaper (either in print or on the web) and reading through its content anymore, according to Ben Smith of Buzzfeed who spoke on a panel which addressed the issues of funding a newsroom and the boundaries of journalistic ethics.

People are looking at their Twitter feeds and checking for top stories and trending topics before they get out of bed. And “part of that experience with news now includes cat videos,” said Smith.

Steve Rubel of Edelman and Eric Carvin of AP

Speaking on a panel at the Associated Press offices, Steve Rubel, chief content strategist at Edelman spoke of the history-making moment during the Super Bowl this year when @AP ran a sponsored tweet from Samsung. In the midst of what has always been editorial content from the AP was an advertisement.

It was a first, but not the last, according to Rubel, “Media companies are more and more accepting of marketing content.”

The walls between the marketing department and the newsroom seem to be getting thinner.

Rubel stated, “More and more journalists are acting like marketers.” They are marketing their work as well as the media organizations they work for. And, “marketers are starting to operate in real-time.” Think of Oreo’s marketing move during the Super Bowl. They are acting like each other.

Andrew Sullivan (The Dish), Derek Thompson (The Atlantic) and Ben Smith (Buzzfeed)

Andrew Sullivan (The Dish), Derek Thompson (The Atlantic) and Ben Smith (Buzzfeed)

Andrew Sullivan of The Dish, who was on the same panel as Buzzfeed’s Ben Smith, spoke with passion and sadness when he stated, “It used to be clear when you were reading an article or an ad. Now they have things called ‘native advertising’ or ‘sponsored content.’”

To repeat the words of Aaron Sherinian, “There’s never been a better time to be in communications.” There are so many avenues available to us and so much potential for making good choices and bad ones.

I would like to think that we are all trying to take the high road, make ethical choices, although sometimes we make mistakes. We lose sight of the path we intended to stay on. We lose the trust of our audience.

What are you doing to keep your audience’s trust?

Victoria Harres is Director of Audience Development at PR Newswire, the main voice behind @PRNewswire, social media lead for @Business4Better and a frequent speaker and writer on social media for business. 

→ 3 Comments

Posted in Digital Content

Tagged , , , , ,

Media News and Moves for February

Posted on February 5, 2013 by | Leave a comment

http://prnbloggers.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/agility-logo.png?w=127&h=125&h=125

MEDIAware, PR Newswire’s Audience Research Department newsletter, features recent media news and job changes in the industry. Here is a sampling of this month’s edition:

Time Inc. (http://www.timeinc.com), publisher of Time Magazine, Sports Illustrated, People and In Style announced that they would be laying off 500 employees across the world. These cuts include 250 jobs in New York which accounts for 6% of its workforce. Among those cut was Health Editor-in-Chief Ellen Kunes. Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes and Time Inc. CEO Laura Lang‘s put the layoffs in motion after Time Inc. saw a 6% decrease in revenue in the third quarter of 2012. The culprit of the layoffs was a revenue shortage caused by the drops in print advertisments and magazine subscriptions.

Al-Jazeera (http://www.aljazeera.com and https://twitter.com/ajenglish) purchased Current TV (http://current.com) for $500 million. Current TV was former U.S. Vice President Al Gore’s startup vehicle designed to provide news analysis, politics and commentary. This purchase puts Al-Jazeera into nine times the amount of homes it was reaching previously.

The Boston Globe could be up for sale again. The New York Times Company tried selling the paper three years ago but was unsuccessful in finding a deal. The possibility of selling the paper was revisited again last year although CEO Janet Robinson wanted to wait in hopes that the launch of the Globe’s new pay wall would improve its sales.

Univision has renamed and rebranded their Telefutura network. It is now named Unimas. http://tv.univision.com/unimas/

This month The New York Times (http://twitter.com/nytimes) announced major changes to its masthead with several top veterans accepting buyout packages. Among those saying their final good byes to the paper are Assistant Managing Editor Jim Roberts, Sports Editor Joe Sexton, and Culture Editor Jon Landon. The buyout packages were developed as a way to avoid major layoffs and did alleviate the bulk of the necessary budget cuts. Editor Jill Abramson (abramson@nytimes.com) (https://twitter.com/JillAbramson) expressed sincere gratitude to all those who will be bidding the paper farewell. Now that the NYT’s shake-up at the top has come to an end, expect several familiar names at the paper to take on new and increasing responsibilities.

Boston’s Phoenix Media WFXN-FM has been sold to Clear Channel Communications. Only the signal has been sold, Phoenix Media will keep its call letters. The station consisted of 21 employees. Most of the employees’ have left except for Program Director Paul Driscoll and Promotions Director Mike Snow.

The Crossover (https://twitter.com/crossover) is a brand new show which premiered on January 26th on the NBC Sports Network. The show is hosted by Michelle Beadle (https://twitter.com/MichelleDBeadle) and Dave Briggs (https://twitter.com/DaveBriggsTV). Beadle is a former ESPN SportsNation host and Briggs is a former “Fox & Friends” host. The show features sports news, pop culture and social media news.

The Financial Times (http://www.ft.com and https://twitter.com/FinancialTimes) is planning to cut 25 jobs via either buyouts or layoffs. Editor Lionel Barber believes this will save up to $2 million a year. He also hopes to add 10 new staffers to the digital side of their operation.

SiriusXM Satellite Radio (http://www.siriusxm.com) added two million new subscribers in 2012. They now have 23.9 million subscribers tuning in daily.

The Tribune Company has emerged from bankruptcy. After restructuring, the company is anticipated to trade its newspaper assets and focus on its 23 television stations, including WGN America. Peter Liguori has been named CEO of Tribune Company. He will manage the Tribune Broadcasting Company network and the company’s publishing and digital operations. Liguori most recently served as COO at Discovery Communications.

There’s a new publication in Miami, Florida. NEW YOU magazine (http://www.newyoumedia.com) is a quarterly magazine dedicated to helping women find the latest anti-aging methods and technologies. Ruchel Louis Coetzee (ruchel@newyoumedia.com) is the Editor. Follow NEW YOU on Twitter at http://twitter.com/NewYouMedia

Earlier this month, Editor-in-Chief Cindi Leive (cynthia_leive@condenast.com) (https://twitter.com/cindi_leive) announced the addition of Ying Chu (ying_chu@condenast.com) (https://twitter.com/yingchunyc) to the Glamour (http://twitter.com/glamourmag) masthead as the new Executive Beauty Editor. Chu comes to the magazine after a stint as Marie Claire‘s Beauty and Health Editor for several years.

The Washington Times (http://www.washingtontimes.com and https://twitter.com/washtimes) started the year with at least 20 layoffs including Sports Reporter Patrick Stevens (https://twitter.com/D1scourse). Executive Editor David Jackson had announced in November that there could be layoffs and there were in January.

Joanna Coles (https://twitter.com/JoannaColes), who just recently took over as Editor-in-Chief of Cosmopolitan magazine (http://www.cosmopolitan.com/ and https://twitter.com/Cosmopolitan and https://www.facebook.com/Cosmopolitan) made an exciting announcement earlier this month. The magazine will be featured on an upcoming reality show on CBS called, “The Job” (http://www.cbs.com/shows/the-job/ and https://twitter.com/TheJobCBS). Coles is no stranger to the TV world as she had a recurring mentor role on the hit show, “Project Runway” while she was Editor-in-Chief at Marie Claire. “The Job” will air on Fridays at 8pm ET in February and Cosmopolitan will be featured on its second episode airing on February 15th. Five contestants will compete for an editorial assistant position at Cosmopolitan.

The Star-Ledger (http://www.nj.com/starledger/) recently announced a large-scale layoff of 34 employees including 18 from the newsroom. The layoffs were due to financial hardships and the effects of Hurricane Sandy. The paper is also considering outsourcing the printing and packaging of the paper. The following link is provided for additional information on this story: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/01/star-ledger_announces_layoffs.html. The Star-Ledger can be followed on Twitter: https://twitter.com/starledger and on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/Star.Ledger.

After a short prime time career WNYW-TV’s (http://twitter.com/myfoxny) Greg Kelly (http://twitter.com/gregkellyfox5) will be returning to “Good Day New York” as Co-Anchor with Rosanna Scotto (http://twitter.com/rosannascotto). The network announced that Kelly would Anchor the 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. newscast just a few months ago while veteran Dave Price (http://twitter.com/DavePriceTV) returned to the network taking over Kelly’s open morning spot alongside Scotto. However, in an unexpected turn of events Price will once again depart from the network allowing for the return of Kelly. Additionally, current early morning Anchor Steve Lacy will be filling in during Kelly’s prime time spots.

ESPN all-pro Sports Reporter Rachel Nichols (https://twitter.com/Rachel__Nichols) has traded teams and is headed to CNN (Cable News Network) to become a Sports Anchor/Reporter there.

You can view the whole February January issue of MEDIAware here: http://www.prnewswire.com/knowledge-center/mediaware/

And all of the Regional Updates here: http://www.prnewswire.com/knowledge-center/mediaware/February2013UpdatesByRegion.html

You can also follow all of the latest media moves and news from PR Newswire’s Audience Research Department on Twitter at: twitter.com/PRNmedia

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Digital Content

Tagged , , , , ,

How to Pitch Lifestyle Editors

Posted on August 31, 2012 by | 1 Comment

Publicity Club of New York (PCNY) hosted a luncheon earlier this month, featuring a panel of five lifestyle editors who discussed how they like to be pitched. Check out comments about it on Twitter via #PCNY.

Peter Himler (@PeterHimler61), president of PCNY, kicked off the dialogue by telling the crowd that these days, “publicists outnumber journalists 3 to 1.” Sharpening your pitching technique is more important than ever if you’re looking to land press coverage.

Each panelist spoke for about 10 minutes, followed by 30 minutes of general Q&A, moderated by Edelman Worldwide’s Lisa Kovitz (@lisakovitz50):

New York Daily News: Life & Style Editor/Producer Lindsay Goldwert

  • Goldwert looks for stories with a “women’s magazine-type feel,” including topics like body positivity and food, as well as “feel good” themes.
  • She notes that article pitches must be as current as possible and relevant to “right now.” She needs subject-matter experts who can talk right away.
  • Stories on celebrities with health problems (and relevant experts) are especially pitch-worthy, e.g., when Paula Deen announced she had diabetes.
  • Pictures are great and the most important part of a pitch!
  • No time for desksides.
  • Contact: @lindsaygoldwert11or lgoldberg@nydailynews.com

WNYW-TV “Good Day New York”: Executive Producer Jason Hartelius

  • Hartelius receives hundreds of emails daily — sometimes even a thousand or more. Be concise, don’t overpitch (i.e., don’t send the same email every day) and don’t use bait-and-switch tactics.
  • Pitches can be as simple as: “Hey, I got this idea — what do you think?” Put relevant information at the top; don’t be longwinded.
  • Subject lines should be catchy. If you write “Attention Jason Hartelius: [Topic]” he will very likely read it.
  • Stories must be local. And no promotional material — the segment should be about the story, not selling. “Know the show!”
  • There is one slot per day for a fun or remote piece. Recent examples include local firemen washing circus elephants and an anchor taking a ride in a monster truck.
  • The show generally has no interest in featuring a guest who has recently appeared or will soon appear on a competitor’s show (no “same day” bookings). The only exception might be if it’s an extremely famous celebrity.
  • Contact: @jasonhartelius12 or desk@foxfiveny.com or GDNYpitches@gmail.com

The Huffington Post: Women’s Editor Margaret Wheeler Johnson

  • HuffPost Women typically features news items and original reporting, essays from “ordinary” women, body image, women’s health and compelling stories.
  • Do not pitch off-topic ideas about dieting and nutrition, parenting and fashion and style. Wheeler Johnson is not interested in any stories that include the words “your man.”
  • If you’re a woman, ask yourself: “Would you want to read this story?”
  • No product pitches.
  • Images are great! Nice images can be turned into a slideshow. This is a great option for book publicists in particular.
  • To know what types of topics to pitch, read the front page! And watch out for cross-posting (e.g., sometimes fashion stories are reposted from HuffPost Style).
  • She looks for fresh perspectives from subject-matter experts.
  • Experts must have links to back up their statements. Quotes from health experts in particular will be checked.
  • Wheeler Johnson doesn’t usually leave the office to cover events, since Huffington Post has a national audience.
  • She doesn’t understand the concept of a deskside; the pitch should be engaging and well-crafted enough that a deskside isn’t necessary. If she’s looking for a fresh quote, she’ll call you on the phone.
  • Typos in article submissions are a big no-no; the editorial department is busy enough already.
  • Contact: @mwjohnso14 or scoop@huffingtonpost.com

WPLJ-FM “The Big Show With Scott & Todd”: Producer Joe Pardavila

  • Radio in general has a large reach for suburbanites, particularly in the New York area, which has lots of commuters (i.e., “bridge and tunnel”).
  • This morning radio show targets women ages 25-54 in the New York area in particular. The crowd includes college-educated women, soccer-mom types and even teeny boppers (since they’re in the car with Mom). This audience might not want to listen to Justin Bieber, but they certainly know who he is.
  • Press releases and pitches don’t need to be longer than one paragraph. If Padavila isn’t interested in the idea, extra paragraphs won’t help.
  • Have fun with a pitch. Pardavila is not interested in anything morose, depressing, technical or “high brow.” Simple stories are best!
  • People say: “I want to wake up and laugh.” Keep that in mind.
  • Contact: @joepardavila or bigshow@plj.com

BuzzFeed Shift: Editor Amy Odell

  • BuzzFeed wants every single article they post to go viral. Most traffic on the site comes from Facebook. Think about what people want to click on.
  • Common topics cover style, beauty, health, fitness, food, grooming, powerful women, career, celebrities, relationships, hipsters. Anything funny!
  • Fashion pitches in particular must be funny or relatable; high-fashion pieces are not appropriate.
  • Odell says press releases are basically never funny, and she hardly ever finds story ideas from them. She might open a press release if the idea sounds really bizarre.
  • What does Odell want from PR pros? Exclusive access to experts or celebrities.
  • She can’t use content if it’s posted on other sites — original material is a must.
  • She prefers to use stories immediately; there’s not much lead time, unless it’s an interview a celebrity that has to be planned in advance, for example.
  • Odell typically doesn’t cover events, but she might send reporters to an interesting event so they can live tweet from it (to draw in new followers). But it most likely will never become an article.
  • No desksides.
  • Contact: @amyodell56 or amy.odell@buzzfeed.com

Written by Grace Lavigne, senior editor of ProfNet, a service that helps journalists connect with expert sources. To read more from Grace, check out her blog on the free social networking site ProfNet Connect.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Digital Content, Tools & Tactics

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Journalistic Freedom – Don’t Take it for Granted

Posted on July 18, 2012 by | 2 Comments

Yassen Zassoursky, President of the Lomonosov Moscow State Univeristy’s Department of Journalism, and a legend in journalistic circles. (Courtesy, ITAR-TASS)

Today, I was thinking about how I would start this blog post on journalistic freedom, and found myself standing on my driveway for several minutes holding my local paper in my hand.  My neighbors leaving for work must have thought I was crazy.  What stopped me was the renewed realization that the news in that morning paper was made possible by the dedication and sacrifice of thousands of journalists around the world, many of whom are struggling to have the freedom of speech we take for granted.

At the World Media Summit, I had the good fortune to meet several journalists who had been leaders in the fight for journalistic freedom in their own countries, in the face of oppression and censorship.  Their stories, dedication and creativity under fire were uniformly inspiring.

I talked at some length with Adel Ghonim, the Board Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of the Middle East News Agency (MENA) in Cairo.  He told me privately that MENA stands for free speech, and will as long as he runs the agency.  MENA journalists were at the forefront of the Egyptian Spring uprising, and reported what was really happening in Tahrir Square without censorship – frequently at the risk of their lives, in many cases using social media channels.   When those were blocked, they did whatever they could to get the word out.   Adel later reinforced this idea through an interpreter to the WMS delegates during his speech in one of the breakout sessions: “Censorship must be fought…  We must continue to search for new techniques that are interactive between the media and the mass public.”

Cherif Rezki, CEO/Publisher of El Khabar newspaper in Algeria and Adel Ghonim, Chairman of the Board and Editor-in-Chief of the Middle East News Agency in Cairo, Egypt.

Cherif Rezki, the CEO/Publisher of El Khabar in Algeria echoed this sentiment.  El Khabar is an independent newspaper that started in 1990, after the fall of the repressive one-party government in 1988.  El Khabar’s Arabic and French editions are frequently critical of the government.  During the civil war in 1992, many of El Khabar’s journalists were jailed, and were targets of fundamentalists in their country.  To Cherif, he is proud of the ability his staff has in journalistic freedom because it was fought for so desperately.

Mujtaba Ayan, the Senior Program Manager of Internews, a radio station operating under the USAID Afghanistan Media Development and Empowerment Program, had another interesting story.  Journalistic freedom is a new concept in their country, and in many cases truthful but unpopular messages can result in danger to their local correspondents.  Still, Internews prides itself on its integrity, and truthful reporting.  Terrorists are in almost every village, and keeping their journalists safe require some very difficult measures.  Even then, it doesn’t always work.  Last year, Internews lost 17 of their number in the line of duty.  The sincere way Mujtaba told me his story was very moving.

I also talked with representatives from the Croatian and Montenegrin news agencies about their experiences before, during and after the Balkan war.  Both were journalists during this period, and both had similar stories about censorship, repression and eventual journalistic freedom.

There was considerable discussion during the Summit on this topic as well.  On the third day of the conference, during a speech by Peter Horrocks of the BBC Worldwide where he commented that the government of Iran has threatened and imprisoned family members of his journalist team and jammed the BBC Farsi signal, Ali Akbar Javanfekr Shahri, the Managing Director of the Islamic Republic News Agency (Iran) challenged Horrocks ,  saying through an interpreter that what the media is reporting in Iran is not truth, but “the global hegemonic powers have always worked to carry out their imperialistic goals and through skilled methods have caused fear in my country.”  Horrocks then invited Shahri to come on his BBC Farsi television show in person and refute those claims.   The discussion got more heated before the session ended.  During the break, Horrocks was mobbed by other journalists who wanted to shake his hand.

The highlight of that day was being able to spend a few minutes with Yassen Zassoursky, the prestigious Moscow State University’s Department of Journalism.  Zassoursky survived extreme censorship and repression under the Stalin regime, and has seen the changes over the last 60 years in Russia.  An educator since 1957, Mr. Zassoursky has trained the most prominent journalists in the Russian Federation, and an outspoken critic of journalistic openness in Russia.  He holds numerous awards, including the prestigious Mahatma Ghandi  medal from UNESCO.  In the few minutes I was able to speak to him, he told me the Russian Federation has too few independent media, and not enough journalists .   Russia will not have true journalistic freedom until there is greater diversity and ‘too many voices to silence’.   He is an amazing old gentleman, and it was a great honor to meet such a legend in the field of journalism.

All of this was running through my head as I stood on my driveway.  I thought of the challenges these people, and those like them have faced in their careers, and still face every day.

I’ll never look at my morning paper the same way again.

 Author Colleen Pizarev is PR Newswire’s vice president of communications strategy.  She is a global media expert and is available to consult with PR Newswire clients on global press release distribution.

 

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Digital Content

Tagged , ,

World Media Summit: Global Journalism, Common Challenges

Posted on July 12, 2012 by | 1 Comment

At dinner at the Metropol. From left to right: Mujtabva Ayan, Senior Program Manager for Internews, Afghanistan (Kabul). Me (Colleen Pizarev, PR Newswire.) Kjell Dragnes, Foreign Editor of Actenposten, Norway. Markus Weidling, Head of International Services at DAPD news agency.

The first day of the World Media Summit was devoted to a city tour of Moscow, giving the delegates time to meet each other and discuss issues that are of particular interest to them.  Seeing the sights of Moscow was an interesting experience, but even more interesting was talking to the journalists on the tour.

Old and new. St. Basils Cathedral, amidst modern Moscow.

Having been on this journalist world stage for the past 15 years, I was not surprised at how well PR Newswire was regarded by the global media.  We play on an equal footing with many of the local news agencies, but I was a bit surprised at just how widely we are used as a trusted source of information.   I almost never had to explain what we do, or who we are.  The most common comment I received when handing out my business cards was how much the particular journalist liked our PR Newswire for Journalists site.  This is a testament to the effectiveness of our global Media Relations teams, who are the face of PR Newswire to the media in their regions.

Colleen’s Facebook updates from the Summit were addictive.

Attending the conference were the Managing Directors and Chief Editors of several of PR Newswire’s exclusive partners – Kyodo News Agency, Yonhap News Agency, APA (Austria), DPA (Germany), Middle East News Agency (MENA), ANTARA (Indonesia) and of course ITAR-TASS, our hosts.  It was nice to be able to see some old friends, and strengthen ties.

It was also nice to make so many new contacts with important publications around the world.  From the CEO and Publisher of Algeria’s most widely read independent newspaper El Khabar, I learned about how they continue to fight to maintain journalistic freedom in their country.  From Internews, the largest radio station in Afghanistan, I learned how they use radio to reach those citizens in remote areas, and to get news to those who have a low literacy level.  Keeping their journalists safe is another daily concern, and made for some interesting discussions.

I also spent some quality time with the Publisher of the Cameroon Tribune, and learned a lot about how news is researched and consumed in her country.   I also enjoyed conversations with senior journalists in Togo, Mauritius, Serbia, Croatia, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Norway, Finland, Cuba, Argentina, Cambodia, and Libya.  We discussed the struggles they have to maintain quality journalism in the face of shrinking revenue and budgets.

Even the newly formed, but not yet recognized republic of Transnistria sent two representatives to this conference.  They were quite popular – most people wanted to meet representatives of a country they didn’t know existed until that morning – myself included. They were kind enough to share some of the challenges they face as journalists in their breakaway Eastern European republic.

One of the most valuable discussions I had was a lunch with Peter Horrocks, the Director of Global News from BBC Worldwide.  We discussed the Internet and Social Media and how it’s affecting journalism today.  I didn’t realize that was the topic of his plenary session presentation a few days later, but his insight was both interesting and valuable.

My knowledge of communications in many countries has not only been updated, but in many cases completely changed.  If you have any questions regarding media or communications practices in pretty much any country in the world, I would be happy to oblige with a discussion.  Contact your account manager at PR Newswire to arrange an appointment.  I’m very happy to share the knowledge I’ve gained from this experience.

Author Colleen Pizarev has vast experience in global public relations, and is PR Newswire’s vice president of communication strategies.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Online Influence

Tagged ,

Dear Gracie: 10 Most Popular Posts From the Past Year

Posted on June 1, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Each week, Dear Gracie answers questions from ProfNet Connect readers with advice from our network of nearly 50,000 ProfNet experts. Has there been a question burning in your mind lately, something you’ve been wondering that none of your colleagues can answer? Please send it to grace.lavigne@prnewswire.com

It’s the one-year anniversary of my Dear Gracie column! There’s no way I could have written over 52 entries without the support of the ProfNet Connect and PR Newswire communities, including those who sent in questions, the enthusiastic readers, and of course, the experts I quote — so thanks!

When I first started writing Dear Gracie, it was meant to be a general advice column — any question on any subject. After the first few weeks, I started receiving more and more questions about PR and media issues specifically, and eventually the column became an advice column for PR professionals and journalists.

Here’s a look back at the top 10 most popular blog posts (in no particular order) from this past year:

1. How to Write Catchy Headlines

What type of headline turns the most heads? This article provides tips and techniques for print and Web articles, including advice on how to use puns and ambiguity effectively.

2. The Great Serial/Oxford Comma Debate

Dear Gracie actually used to occasionally feature grammar questions — that is, until Grammar Hammer was born.

3. Nine Non-PR Skills Every PR Person Needs

Featured on PRDaily.com, this article was particularly popular with PR professors and their students. The list showcases traits that are not usually associated with PR. Do your skills match up?

4. Branding vs. Advertising vs. Marketing vs. PR

Have you ever wondered what exactly the differences are between these fields? You’re not the only one.

5. When Clients Want to Distribute Non-News

Advice for PR professionals on how to talk down “that client.”

6. Tips for How to Appear on Camera

So you wanna be a star? Check out this advice on looking and feeling good through the lens.

7. Hashtags 101

How to mind your social media manners on Twitter, with a particular focus on hashtag etiquette.

8. Why Small Business Needs PR

How to convince small-business owners that they need PR.

9. #HowToRespond to an @AngryCustomer

If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all. But what if you HAVE to say something?

10. How to Stand out on a Panel

Learn how to dazzle audiences with your wit and wisdom.

Thanks again for reading Dear Gracie! Until next week…

Gracie

Written by Grace Lavigne, senior editor of ProfNet, a service that helps journalists connect with expert sources. Dear Gracie is published weekly on ProfNet Connect, a free social networking site for communicators. To read more from Grace, check out her blog on ProfNet Connect.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Tools & Tactics

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Dear Gracie: Tips and Tricks for Interpreting Polls

Posted on May 25, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Each week, Dear Gracie answers questions from ProfNet Connect readers with advice from our network of nearly 50,000 ProfNet experts. Has there been a question burning in your mind lately, something you’ve been wondering that none of your colleagues can answer? Please send it to grace.lavigne@prnewswire.com

Dear Gracie,

With elections approaching, I’ve seen a lot of polls in the news recently. How do we know if the polls are accurate or biased?

Puzzled by Polls

*********

Dear Puzzled by Polls,

Three ProfNet experts provide some insight:

What You Need to Understand About Polls

“Creating and fielding a poll is not something that just anyone can do at the drop of a hat,” says Jason Reineke, associate director of the Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) Poll, which is a statewide, biannual poll of Tennesseans; as well as the university’s assistant professor of journalism.

“It is both an art and a science, and the people who do it well usually have extensive training and expertise,” continues Reineke. “Like a journalist, lawyer or medical doctor, being a pollster is a profession.”

Polls are snapshots in time and not predictive tools, explains David Schultz, law and graduate school professor at Hamline University’s School of Law, and editor of the Journal of Public Affairs Education. For example, polls conducted today about the presidential elections are not necessarily indicative of what will happen in November.

“A common problem with political polls is that they are often fielded by one party to support its agenda,” adds Bob Clark, president of 24K Marketing.

Some polls are better than others, but the value of a poll can be better determined by the goals that it was designed to address, rather than one-size-fits-all rules, says Reineke. “Nonetheless, there are some standards that can be applied across most polls.”

Transparency

Pollsters should freely and honestly report information about the poll’s funding, affiliation, methodology, data and analysis, explains Reineke.

“If the source of a poll can’t or won’t tell you how they sampled respondents, how they interviewed them, what the questions and response options were, what the response rate was, or other details about the poll, then the results should be taken with a commensurate grain of salt,” he advises.

Also, be skeptical of a poll if it was designed and conducted by someone without recognized credentials, experience and reputation, says Reineke. Just you’d be skeptical about a doctor without a degree or a journalist without any bylines.

Reineke suggests checking out the website of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR). “If a pollster is not a member of AAPOR, or is dismissive of the organization — or worse yet has never heard it of — that should be cause for concern.”

Poll Questions

One indicator of bias in surveys are leading questions, says Clark. For example: Are you better off now under the Obama administration than you were four years ago?

This question is biased because it ties Obama to the issue, says Clark.

“A poll is only as good as the questions asked,” agrees Reineke. Questions should not encourage or discourage respondents to provide a particular response over others, and should only ask about one thing at a time.

Conversely, answers to questions should not include biased or politically charged words, says Clark. For example, phrases like “tax breaks for the rich” (instead of “tax reduction/reform“), “Obamacare” (rather than “healthcare reform“) and “War on Terrorism” (instead of “War in Afghanistan“) are all political labels with divisive meanings.

“Answers to questions that include these terms are more likely to be used by one party to validate their agendas,” Clark explains. Thus, this is not a projectable measurement of public sentiment on issues.

Reineke also suggests considering these three guidelines regarding poll answers:

  • Response options should be exhaustive, meaning that any possible response is represented by a response option.
  • Response options should be mutually exclusive, meaning that participants will need one and only one response to indicate their answer.
  • Pollsters, and consumers of their results, should also pay attention to potential order effects, meaning the ways in which a previous question, or a participant’s response to it, might affect interpretation or response to following questions.

Population Sampling

“Polls work by contacting a sample of the population of interest,” says Reineke. That sample should be representative, meaning it should have the same proportion of all important characteristics as the population.

Representative samples are often achieved through random sampling, which means every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected, he says. “Pollsters should be prepared to explain how their sampling is random if they claim it is so.”

“In cases where sampling is not random, pollsters should be able to explain how their sample is representative of the population, and provide appropriate cautions about the extension of results to groups who were not adequately represented in the sample,” continues Reineke.

Population Size

“The size required for a random sample to be representative of the population in question is dependent on the size of the population,” says Reineke. “The larger the sample, the smaller the margin of error.”

In the simplest terms, “margin of error” is a statistic that shows how well the selected sample predicts things about the entire population.

Look at margins of errors when evaluating polls, suggests Schultz. “I would say any poll with margins of errors greater than +/- 4 are meaningless, since that means the results could be off by as much as eight points.”

Interestingly, there is not much difference between the margin of error for a sample of 5,000 Americans vs. a sample of a million Americans, says Reineke. However, there is a significant difference in margin of error for a sample of 500 Americans vs. 2,500 Americans.

Statistical formulas aside, as a rule of thumb, you should look for a sample between 500 or 1,000 for state polls; and 1,000 or 2,000 for national polls, says Reineke.

“For presidential polls, I am suspect of any poll with survey samples of much less than 1,000 people,” agrees Schultz. “They probably need about 1,200 to 1,500 people to be accurate, especially if one wants to tap into swing voters or the views of particular subgroups.”

Also, ignore any poll that does not have a confidence level of at least 95 percent, says Schultz. Some polls have confidence levels of only 90 percent, which means they are only 90 percent confident that responses were within their margin of error. In other words, 10 percent of the time they are not sure if sample answers were indicative of the true population (not good).

Furthermore, polls are only as good as the underlying assumptions that go into them, continues Schultz. For example, a poll that lists 50 percent of those who responded as Democrats is skewed in terms of over-representing Democrats.

That’s why samples are sometimes weighted to better represent the population of interest, says Reineke. For example, if African-American males ages 18-35 are 1 percent of the sample, but 2 percent of the population, a pollster might mathematically adjust the sample so that responses of individuals in that demographic actually count as two responses each, thus better reflecting the population.

Regardless, pollsters should report their sample size and their margin of error, and provide information about how they sampled so that others can evaluate their claims and methods, Reineke stresses.

Gracie

Written by Grace Lavigne, senior editor of ProfNet, a service that helps journalists connect with expert sources. Dear Gracie is published weekly on ProfNet Connect, a free social networking site for communicators. To read more from Grace, check out her blog on ProfNet Connect.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Tools & Tactics

Tagged , ,

December Media Moves and News

Posted on December 6, 2011 by | Leave a comment

PR Newswire’s Audience Research Group continually updates the media database that powers our MEDIAtlas service, and our popular Microlists, which let you target niche audiences on the fly.  Here’s a summary of recent media and blogger updates.  Updates by region can be found here:  http://www.prnewswire.com/knowledge-center/mediaware/December2011MEDIAtlasUpdatesbyRegion.html

After four years, Philadelphia’s 6ABC Action News Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/6abc.ActionNews?ref=ts) has topped 100,000 likes. That may seem small, but WPVI-TV’s news page had 27 million post views in September and that number speaks volumes. The number one news station in town has become the number one go to news site in the Philadelphia area on Facebook to reach its viewers/readers online with Action News updates and breaking news. If you add up all of their talent pages they reach another 280,000 people as well. This has proved to be a successful model of the marriage between social and broadcast media. Their main website is: http://www.6abc.com and their Twitter page is: https://twitter.com/6abc

Gannett recently passed a new rule onto its readers: If you want to say something on any of their sites for example The Orange County Register and The San Diego Union-Tribune you must join Facebook to do so. This rule is mandatory for anyone to provide any online commentary to its stories for all of its newspaper sites and broadcast entities as well.

The axe has fallen again at the New York Daily News. As part of its down-sizing plan, the Daily News has let go the following personnel: Senior Features Writer Jane Ridley; Front Page Editor John Cochran; City Hall Reporters Frank Lombardi and Kathleen Lucadamo; Deputy Police Bureau Chief Bob Kappstatter; Reporters Jose Martinez, Mike Jaccarino and Barbara DiGiarmo as well as Scott Shifrel, who covered the Federal Courts. Also leaving the paper but not laid-off are Managing Editor Stuart Marques and Photo Editor Gretchen Viehmann, who resigned from their posts.

Alina Falcon makes a big switch leaving her role as President of News at Univision Network (http://www.univision.com) to become Vice President of News & Alternative Programming at Telemundo Network (http://msnlatino.telemundo.com). You can follow Telemundo on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/Telemundo and on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/Telemundo

Joining the other recently added programs on MSNBC such as “Up With Chris Hayes,” “NOW with Alex Wagner” debuted last month. On the show, Host Ms. Alex Wagner moderates a panel discussion. The panelists vary from show to show. The Executive Producer is Dana Haller. The show airs at noon and replaces “MSNBC Live.” Send story ideas to dana.haller@nbcuni.com.

News 12, Newsday and MSG Varsity are now combined under one umbrella. Cablevision, the owner of the three outlets, is combining both the news and sales staffs. Newly named VP Debby Krenek (debby.krenek@newsday.com) will be in charge of the news department. She has also been given the title of Editorial Director at Newsday while Debbie Henley (debbie.henley@newsday.com) takes over as Editor-in-Chief at the paper. In the sales department Publisher Fred Groser (fred.groser@newsday.com) will now share his head of sales duties with David Kline. Kline is president and COO of Cablevision Media Sales.

After 30 years on-air, Regis Philbin, 80, said goodbye to viewers on Live! With Regis and Kelly. Although this marks the end of his days as Host on Live!, he plans on continuing his television career. Philbin hopes to host a primetime talent show and has formed a production company in hopes of creating a family competition show. Live! has yet to name a replacement for Philbin but potential candidates include Ryan Seacrest, Mario Lopez, Jeff Probst, Chris Harrison, Mark Consuelos, Chris Cuomo, Billy Bush, Neil Patrick Harris and Mike Rowe.

CNN – Cable News Network announces the death of its morning program and the birth of two new morning shows. After over ten years on the air, CNN has called it quits on “American Morning” and it will cease production sometime in January of 2012 . In replacement of the empty morning slot, CNN also makes the announcement that two new morning shows, whose names are yet to be titled, will air during the 5:00-7:00 a.m. time slot. Ashleigh Banfield (Ashleigh.Banfield@turner.com) and Zoraida Sambolin (Zoraida.Sambolin@turner.com) are going to anchor the morning shows. Soledad O’Brien, CNN’s Special Correspondent, will also anchor the 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. morning segment. Shannon High (Shannon.High@turner.com), who has worked with NBC Television Network, is set to serve as Executive Producer for both morning programs. CNN has also launched a new program called “The Next List” hosted by CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta (Sanjay.Gupta@turner.com). The half-hour show, which is set to broadcast weekly on Sundays at 2:00 p.m., will feature guests from various industries. Jim McGinnis (Jim.McGinnis@turner.com) is set to serve as the show’s Executive Producer.

The Pittsburgh Press is back! The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has revived its deceased rival, The Pittsburgh Press, as an afternoon online edition available as a subscription to online readers. Breaking News Editor Tim McDonough (PittsburghPress@post-gazette.com) will also be the Editor of this E-Edition. You can view a sample of it here: http://presssample.post-gazette.com/

The man who ran Engadget, Editor Joshua Topolsky (joshua@theverge.com), returns to the technology field with an online site titled The Verge (http://www.theverge.com/). It covers the latest gadgets and high tech toys. Joshua has brought a lot of the Engadget staff on board for this venture including Managing Editor Nilay Patel (nilay@theverge.com). The site provides breaking news coverage on all things tech, new products, reviews, social media and also features tech content from The Washington Post. The Verge tweets are here: https://twitter.com/verge

The launch of a new media company, MLive Media Group and Advanced Central Services Michigan has resulted in about 550 layoffs at Michigan-based Booth Newspapers and MLive.com. Here is the break down of employees let go for each newspaper in the Michigan area: The Grand Rapids Press released 146 employees; The Flint Journal 91; Kalamazoo Gazette 77; The Bay City Times 71; The Jackson Citizen Patriot 71: Booth Michigan 55; Valley Publishing 20; and The Saginaw News 12. There also were layoffs at The Muskegon Chronicle. The number of employees there was not disclosed. MLive Media Group will handle news and advertising, while Advance Central Services Michigan will handle production, distribution, and human resources. All employees that were part of the layoff are eligible to apply for new positions within the new media company.

Nexstar Broadcasting has terminated several people from WEHT-TV, the ABC affiliate in Evansville, Indiana. Nexstar arranged to acquire WEHT-TV from Gilmore Broadcasting in August. General Manager Doug Padgett and News Director Mark Glover are among those who were let go. Reporter and Weekend Sports Anchor Sean Clark-Weiss; Morning Co-Anchor Whitney Ray; Reporter Nick LaGrange; and Sports Director Mark McVicar will also be let go, as well as other producers, directors and editors. As the station merges operations with independent WTVW-TV, the newscasts will get a fresh look and new talent. WTVW-TV Evening Anchors Randy Moore and Julie Dolan will move to mornings on WEHT-TV and Meteorologist Ron Rhodes will join them.

Philadelphia Magazine (http://www.phillymag.com) has re-launched its old gossip page as a newly designed stand-alone website titled The Philly Post (http://blogs.phillymag.com/the_philly_post/). The site will offer news and opinion from its regular magazine staff along with outside contributors from the Philadelphia region. Janine White is the Editor (jwhite@phillymag.com) and Victor Fiorillo (vfiorillo@phillymag.com) is the main Reporter. The new site is designed to catch on with its younger readers and also keep its core group on top of everything in Philly.

The new Co-Host of NPR’s “All Things Considered” (http://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/) is Audie Cornish, She was previously hosting NPR’s “Weekend Edition” and will take the spot of Michele Norris who has taken temporary leave for a year. Audie joins longtime hosts Michele Block and Robert Siegel. ATC’s Twitter is: https://twitter.com/npratc

Sorry to report Publisher Christopher Ma recently passed away from a heart attack at the age of 61. Christopher was not only a Publisher at the Express (http://www.readexpress.com) newspaper but also a Vice President at The Washington Post Company.

Two Denver Post employees, Religion Reporter Virginia Culver and Pulitzer Prize-winning Editorial Cartoonist Mike Keefe, have accepted the paper’s buyout offer. More staff is expected to take the buyout offer in the coming months.

The American Independent Network has merged all of its sites (The Minnesota Independent, The Iowa Independent, Michigan Messenger, New Mexico Independent) into one online outlet — The American Independent (http://www.americanindependent.com/).

The Los Angeles Times is preparing to merge the design, news and web operations staff into one department after the first of the year. Layoffs are expected.

Real estate developer Douglas Manchester is the new owner of the San Diego Union-Tribune. It’s rumored that Manchester may have future plans to shut down the printing presses and go online only.

It is with great sadness that CNN announces the tragic death of longtime veteran anchor Stanley Wright Case. Fifty-nine year old Case had been hit in a head-on accident during a rainstorm in Birmingham when a truck collided with Case’s car. His wife remains in the hospital in critical condition. Case had served at the network since 1985 and served as the anchor for CNN Radio.

After two years on the air of the HLN network, “The Joy Behar Show” has announced that it will no longer continue production and it set to air its last show in mid- December of 2011. The show deputed on HLN with host Joy Behar back in September 2009. Behar will continue to serve as one of the hosts on “The View”.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Online Influence

Tagged , , , , ,