Ken Baker - FishbowlLA

Matt Donnelly: Yet Another Journo Joins Buzznet

Greg — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:25:16 +0000

Matt Donnelly leaves E! (again), and this time — maybe — for good! Donnelly informed us that “after a great couple of months with Ken Baker and his team, I’m headed back to writing (after newsgathering with Ken) and reporting for Buzznet‘s Celebuzz.”

As we reported earlier, Jeff Leeds and Leslie Simon are already on board, and the place “is exploding.”

Congratulations, Matt!

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E! Names Ken Baker Executive News Editor

Greg — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 08:45:55 +0000

More on this breaking story. For now, here’s the press release:

Baker Joins E! From Us Weekly, Where He Most Recently Served as Editorial Director for the Magazine’s Web Site, Usmagazine.com

Los Angeles, CA, February 4, 2008 — E! Entertainment, the global leader for entertainment and celebrity news, has hired industry news veteran Ken Baker as Executive News Editor. In this role, Baker is charged with obtaining and reporting entertainment and celebrity news and information for E!’s various news outlets, including E! News, Daily 10, Eonline and E! News Now. The announcement was made today by Jeff Shore, Senior Vice President, Production for E! and Suzanne Kolb, Executive Vice President, Marketing and Communications for E! and Style, to whom Baker will report.

“Ken’s outstanding relationships within the entertainment industry and track record for exceptional reporting make him the perfect addition to our news organization,” said Jeff Shore. “E! is the leader in entertainment news and Ken will play a key role in ensuring we continue to deliver the most reliable, up-to-the-minute entertainment news and information across our E! Everywhere platform 24/7.”

Baker, who holds a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, got his start as a newsdesk assistant for David Brinkley, Ted Koppel and Sam Donaldson at ABC News in Washington, D.C. After working as a newspaper reporter, Baker entered celebrity journalism as a staff correspondent for People magazine. The author of three books, including his Oprah Winfrey featured memoir Man Made, Baker in 2000 joined Us Weekly, holding the title of Senior Writer, Bureau Chief, West Coast Executive Editor and, most recently, Editorial Director of the magazine’s web site.

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Us Magazine Comments on Baker’s Departure. Kinda.

Greg — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 10:54:11 +0000

Our sister blog, Fishbowl NY, got the “official” comment from Us Weekly about the departure of Ken Baker. Basically, Ken and Us “agreed to mutually part ways.”

For a magazine whose cause d’etre is to create fights and delivery dishy scandal, we have to say we’re pretty disappointed.

Earlier:
FBLA Exclusive: Face of Us Weekly, Ken Baker, Leaves The Mag

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FBLA Exclusive: Face of Us Weekly, Ken Baker, Leaves The Mag

Greg — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 16:20:00 +0000

Ken Baker, the editorial director of Usmagazine.com, and quite possibly the most senior employee of Us Weekly (he’s been there eight years — longer than Janice Min) sent a surprising e-mail to friends.

The e-mail:

Friends,

I’ve decided that Golden Globes weekend is a good time to join the Hollywood writers and go on strike!

Kidding aside, I just wanted to let you all know that I was recently asked to relocate to NYC and continue my editorial director work for Us Online. As a family, however, we decided that now wasn’t a good time for a move. So, after nearly 8 amazing years on staff at Us Weekly, I am moving on to some new and exciting opportunities. Seeing Us grow over the years into a celebrity media powerhouse — and then watching Usmagazine.com almost double its audience since I helped relaunch the site last January — has been gratifying and humbling beyond words.

It has been a really fun ride at Us, and I am so grateful for all the doors it has opened, and I must give many thanks to Jann, Janice, Gary, Mark, Kathryn (to name a few), and the mag’s super-talented edit crew, especially in L.A. Not to mention Lindsay, Britney, Paris and Nicole!

You’ll be seeing my new work very (very) soon, and when I can share all the exciting details I will let you know everything.

Best wishes,
Ken

Ken (pictured here with his family) doesn’t reveal what his next move will be, but the guy’s a staple on both CNN and E! so smart money is on him ending up parlaying one of those regular gigs into a full-time venture. And this here exclusive kinda smells like a clue.

Good luck, Ken!

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FBLA EXCLUSIVE: Us Weekly’s Ken Baker Bringing the Fun to the Internet

Greg — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 07:52:24 +0000

Ken Baker, Us Weekly’s West Coast exec editor, yesterday was named Editorial Director of Usmagazine.com, which makes perfect sense to us. This was the guy, after all, who told us that the secret to the mag’s success was boobs, clothes and celebrity sex. What better platform for all those things than the Internet?

But does the world really need a Wenner-brand version of E! Online, TMZ.com, Defamer, etc.?

Ever the salesman, Baker assures FBLA that his site will be different.

“Us Weekly has thrived by giving readers a TV-in-a-magazine experience,” Baker told us. “I want to give the Usmagazine.com audience the same fun experience of celebrity.”

continued…

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