In N Out

What’s a better term for a press release full of good news about a TV weatherman? There are many possibilities, but for the purposes of this item, FishbowlLA is going to opt for “hot PR front.”

The news was delivered at the beginning of the week, alerting LA Story star Steve Martin, we journalists and everyone else in SoCal that FOX 11 is wisely sticking with weatherman Pablo Pereira. He joined the station in September 2011 and has now been officially confirmed as the full-time meteorologist for KTTV FOX 11 and KCOP Channel 13. As such, Pereira will continue to provide weather forecasts for Studio 11 L.A., FOX 11 News at 10 PM, KCOP My13 News at 7PM and KCOP My13 News. From the hot PR front:

“This is my dream job,” said Pereira. “Getting the opportunity to work alongside such a talented team is truly a great honor and thrill. I look forward to continuing to provide accurate and informative weather forecasts to KTTV/KCOP viewers.”

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Kara Swisher got the jump today on a big announcement about the San Francisco Chronicle. In an aggressive move to revive the fortunes of both the paper and website (SFgate.com), the parent company has hired a pair of media execs who will be very familiar to SoCal readers.

Demand Media’s Joanne Bradford is the Chronicle‘s new president, while former Los Angeles Times CEO Jeffrey Johnson has been tapped as publisher. From Swisher’s AllThingsD post:

While the Chronicle and its website is the largest for local news in the Bay area, it has lagged a lot in aggressively covering key trends — such as tech — and the fast growth of the region… Its daily print circulation is now 265,000, and combined with its website it reaches close to two million people.

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In 2008, during the height of the economic downturn, the position of managing editor at LAT regional newspaper The Daily Pilot was eliminated. Today, in a very hopeful sign, that Times Community News (TCN) slot is being returned to the masthead.

Appointed to the position is 34-year-old Alisha Gomez (pictured). She started out with TCN in 2011 as a contract employee; moved to full-time in July 2012; and now occupies an impressive expanded perch. From this afternoon’s announcement:

Gomez will help oversee the staff of 24 that produces the Daily Pilot, Coastline Pilot and Huntington Beach Independent, which have a combined print circulation of 137,000. She previously served as managing editor of the Huntington Beach Independent and the Coastline Pilot and, on June 3, will add the Daily Pilot to her duties as part of a planned newsroom reorganization.

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For five years, Josh Stewart (pictured) covered city, county and state issues for The Capital newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland. Eric Hartley meanwhile was also once a metro columnist there, additionally reporting at separate times on cops and the courts. Now, both work for the Orange County Register.

Stewart is the paper’s new Tustin reporter, while Hartley is covering police and court matters for the recently expanded community section The Current, which blankets Costa Mesa and Newport Beach. From today’s announcements:

“I was attracted to the Register because it is the only print operation that’s growing both its coverage and staff and has the backing to do solid journalism,” Stewart said. “In a very simple way, it is a departure from the ‘do more with less’ double-speak that’s become the vernacular throughout the industry, and it’s a move [that will lead to] better papers for readers.”

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It wasn’t that long ago that we were writing about Stephanie Elam’s move from CNN New York to NBC Southern California. Less than a year later, the Howard University grad and former CNN business reporter has straight-reversed that career direction, heading back to the closer confines of CNN’s LA office.

Those who follow Elam’s Twitter feed have known about this latest career move for upwards of a week. This afternoon, CNN has made it official:

During her tenure at KNBC, Elam’s reporting centered around emergency awareness, empowering Southern Californians with information to be earthquake ready, water safety and informed about money matters. She covered the release of John Smith, a man jailed 18 years for a crime he did not commit; the 2012 Golden Globes red carpet; and she anchored KNBC ‘s breaking news coverage of the Seal Beach murders.

“Stephanie is an excellent communicator and tenacious reporter, and we are pleased to have her back as a part of the CNN family,” said Terence Burke, vp of newsgathering for CNN U.S.

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Not long ago on Twitter, KFI AM 640 newscaster Aron Bender was singing the praises of Katherine Timpf, a one-time intern at the station making a big splash at Fox News with her exclusive coverage of some Facebook foolery. Today, a separate KFI-to-FOX success story continues.

Araksya Karapetyan (pictured), who started out during her college years interning at both KFI and KABC-TV, has been promoted to full-time anchor with the FOX 11 Morning News.* She joined the station last year as a general assignment reporter and fill-in anchor, where she had been contributing to the 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. weekday newscasts as well as Studio 11 LA.

The Newhouse School grad will anchor weekday newscasts from 4:30 to 7:00 a.m. and again from 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., as well as continue to contribute to Good Day LA. From today’s announcement:

“Araksya’s smart and in-depth reporting is matched by her exceptional commitment to the community,” said Kingsley Smith, FOX 11 vp and news director. “She has an extraordinary work ethic and has quickly made a name for herself in this area as a reporter who tells compelling stories about everyday people.”

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The Twitter profile for LA Times DC bureau reporter Matea Gold resolutely states: “I still believe in newspapers.” But perhaps not those being coveted by Rupert Murdoch and a pair of Koch brothers.

In what could be interpreted as hedging her bets, maintaining control of her professional fortunes or a little bit of both, Gold is staying in DC but moving up in terms of the daily Beltway newspaper she writes for, as money and politics reporter for the Washington Post.

Warm wishes are flowing across Twitter to Gold, proof of how well-liked a journalist she is. That’s how we first caught up to the news. Kevin Roderick has the Post announcement memo. He also spoke to Gold, who seems to confirm ever so slightly that the transitional aspect of Tribune Co. had something to do with this.

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First, you find a bureau chief. Then – if you’re lucky and work for a media outlet that still has money in the bank – you go beyond the freelance-stringer frontier and give that bureau chief some full-time local assistance.

Such is the case with Ad Age’s San Francisco operation. After installing Cotton Delo as Bay Area bureau chief, the media publication will add, post-Memorial Day weekend, Tim Peterson (pictured), a journalist plucked from competitor Adweek. Via this morning’s announcement:

It’s been a while since Ad Age has had more than one edit staffer in the Bay Area and we think now’s a good time to crank up our coverage there…

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Here’s how Los Angeles Daily News columnist Richard Waggoner put it earlier this spring when rumors of program director Jhani Kaye’s departure from K-Earth 101 and The Wave 94.7 FM were confirmed:

Considered by many, including myself, as one of the true geniuses of radio, Kaye refined the idea of flow as it pertains to the sound of a radio station. Bob Moore, who was managing adult-contemporary KHTZ (now KAMP, 97.1 FM) when Kaye was named to the programming position at new competitor KOST in the 1980s, said that Kaye likened the soft-rock station to a wave, moving up and down gently.

He says that Kaye is the reason KHTZ changed to classic rock in 1986 – he just couldn’t compete against Kaye’s programming prowess.

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After three years covering Golden State politics for the LA Times, Michael J. Mishak is switching to the Sunshine State. Per an announcement this morning by AP South Region editor Lisa Marie Pane and Florida News editor Terry Spencer, he is joining the wire service as a Miami-based politics writer.

Before the LAT, Mishak covered the labor and politics beats for the Las Vegas Sun. From today’s announcement:

“Mishak’s appointment to this new position marks a critical expansion of the AP’s national political reporting team,” said Liz Sidoti, AP’s political editor based in Washington. “It will help ensure that the AP fulfills its mission to provide competitive, comprehensive and clear campaign coverage during the upcoming 2014 and 2016 contests while also chronicling changes in the public’s attitudes and behavior.”

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