They’re high-fiving today in the halls of USC’s Annenberg journalism school. Alongside five nominations for California Watch, four for the LA Times and one for Bill Simmons’ Grantland, digital campus hub neontommy.com has landed a 2012 Online News Association (ONA) Online Journalism Awards nomination for their April 21 report about the fatal shooting of two Chinese graduate students.

The byline for the article lists (former) executive editor Ryan Faughnder, (former) deputy editor Tracy Bloom and NeonTommy staff. The group-effort breaking news track was of the now-familiar Internet kind that featured multiple, subsequent top-of-page updates:

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Another blog about Los Angeles launched this past month, this one from native sons Hillel Aron and Richard Rushfield. They’re a pair left jaded by journalism careers, which have included a good deal of reporting on both Hollywood and the city that surrounds it. “We know the rules,” they write. “A website about Los Angeles is supposed to be about the search for the cutest artisanal tamale stand made of sustainable vegan bamboo. Or it can be a website devoted to kissing up to talent agents, deputy editors, chefs, curators, hoteliers and dead buildings.”

But they promise something different: “We come to point fingers and poke eyes, to name names and call names and dig up dirt.”

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The New York Post has been doing a good job of keeping tabs on the ongoing saga of Variety’s sale. This morning, the paper suggests that Avenue Capital Group’s outlook has been changed somewhat by the due diligence process:

Sources tell Page Six that when Avenue’s bean counters recently ran Variety’s numbers on the deal, they wound up lowering their bid. “Everyone’s been balking at the price,” a Hollywood insider familiar with the sale told us, adding, “another problem is that [any new buyer] will then have to put money into it immediately, to bring Variety into the modern age.”

The Post also claims that while Ron Burkle is officially out, PMC’s Jay Penske is “still circling.” Hear that, Variety gang? Nikki Finke and Mike Fleming could still possibly become colleagues.

Previously on FishbowlLA:
Report: Variety’s New Owner is… Avenue Capital

On Monday, LA Times TV reporter Scott Collins shared a solid contextual look at the recent Tonight Show layoffs. We caught up with his piece tonight and were plainly amazed that there has not been more media pick-up of paragraph number three:

Leno even offered to work for free to save more jobs, according to people familiar with the matter, who said the offer was rejected because executives believed it would set a bad precedent. These people said Tonight was now barely breaking even.

Got that? Leno was reportedly willing to forego his entire $26 million (or thereabouts) annual salary, which he famously banks while paying the bills with coin earned from stand-up appearances. Despite this staggering offer of charity, the rest of this week’s Leno coverage has been gleefully focused on disparaging Leno slams made by Jimmy Kimmel and Howard Stern.

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Why on earth did it take 30 years for the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) to open an LA chapter, as they finally have this summer? In his weekly sideline KCET.org column, KPCC reporter Adolfo Guzman-Lopez wonders aloud about this odd bit of history and then provides the answer.

He learned during the LA chapter’s first networking event August 23 that there had for several decades been a “gentleman’s agreement,” whereby the NAHJ deferred to the older local ties of CCNMA: Latino Journalists of California. However, at a recent national NAHJ gathering, it was agreed that this approach no longer made sense:

During the 2000s CCNMA’s activity in LA tapered off. “I think it would be wrong for us to depend on one organization,” said SAG-AFTRA representative Ray Bradford, whose organization co-sponsored the mixer. “Bring on two, bring on three, as long as we all have a unified mission of equality and respect, and quality journalism, bring it on.”

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In her new role as Entertainment Editor, Abbey Goodman will oversee all entertainment coverage on CNN Digital platforms, both online and mobile. She will be based out of Los Angeles.

According to the CNN release, Goodman, “is the former executive editor of RollingStone.com, Us Weekly and On the Inside, a start-up celebrity guide to New York City.” She’s also written about entertainment and culture for a number of publications and websites, including CNN.com. Her 2011 interview with punk musician and women’s right activist Kathleen Hannah remains a must-read.

After six years on the air, KPCC (89.3 FM) has decided to drop the Patt Morrison show, according to a announcement Tuesday morning on the station’s website.

In regards to Patt Morrison‘s future at the station, vice president for content Russ Stanton told the staff that “I am very pleased to report that Patt will be shifting into a new role here that draws on her unique experience and style.”

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You know college football is right around the corner when billboards featuring the opposition start popping up in each other’s neighborhood.

A USC billboard went up on Westwood Boulevard and Lindbrook Drive featuring USC quarterback and Heisman Trophy favorite Matt Barkley with the words “WE PLAY TO FINISH.”

According to the Los Angeles Times, it’s one of 30 billboards that are featured throughout Los Angeles.

Well, make that 29.

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Looks like Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Norm Clarke was right on the VIP money.

Over the weekend, Drudge linked to the reporter’s August 26 item about the potential for even more scandalous media materials to come out of Prince Harry’s recent boisterous visit to The Strip. This morning, Radar Online managing editor David Perel seems to confirm that possibility via an anonymous source:

“There is video of Harry partying naked with women in the Las Vegas hotel room,” a source familiar with the situation said. “There have been some very quiet inquiries to see how much the video is worth.”

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Now in its fourth year, the “It Takes a Family to Raise a Village” (ITAF) conference hosted by the National Organization for Marriage’s (NOM) Ruth Institute had a most unusual guest at its recent San Diego summer confab: Media Matters for America blogger Carlos Maza.

Taking advantage of the event’s expansion to include recent college graduates, the openly gay Maza (pictured) applied as a gag, fully expecting to be smoked out by a quick Google search. Instead, he received a ‘Congratulations!’ email and soon found himself socializing on Day One (July 26) at a group dinner in Marina Village:

I told them I was a practicing Catholic (false) who recently graduated from Wake Forest University (true), where I was a member of the university’s debate team (true). I told them that I worked with my mom at a computer software company in Miami, FL (false) but was planning to move to Washington, DC in order to be closer to my long-term college girlfriend (absolutely false).

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