Is it a good thing when a media organization desperately in need of spin control hires a PR person whose last name can be phonetically spelled out as as “I-am-you-know”? In the case of newly hired Patch.com point person Janine Iamunno, we think so.

It’s been an active week in the media spotlight for the AOL seed-funded start-up, beginning with our October 12th FBLA item Patch Hits South Pasadena, Press Club. That same day, The Business Insider shared a long and very detailed look at what’s been going with the online local news venture, including some notably forthright let’s-nip-this-in-the-bud reaction comments from Iamunno.

Separately, LA Weekly reporter Dennis Romero – to his credit – took time to comment on our aforementioned October 12th item, right around the time that his newest broadside against Patch was hitting the airwaves. Under the expanded headline Did AOL’s Patch Take Content Again – This Time from an NBC Los Angeles Story About Sand Replenishment in Venice?, Romero examined whether or not the publication of a City News Service (CNS) piece under the byline of Venice Patch local editor Samantha Page may have constituted plagiarism.

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In these times of journalistic layoffs and media conglomerate belt-tightening, the rapid, ongoing Southern California expansion of community news hub venture Patch.com seems almost surreal. Yesterday, after some last-minute technical hiccups, the AOL seed-funded enterprise turned on the newest of its area websites, South Pasadena Patch, the same day the L.A. Press Club announced that San Francisco-based Patch west coast editorial director Marcia Parker (pictured) will be flying down to address the organization’s annual meeting on Thursday, October 14th.

When a new Patch launches, one of the first orders of business for readers is to click on the biography page of the site’s local editor. In the case of South Pasadena Patch, the new hire is Sonia Narang. After receiving a Master’s in journalism from UC Berkeley, the California native honed her skills as an online video producer for PBS’ Frontline, NBC Nightly News, MSNBC.com and others.

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