‘LION’ AIMS TO HELP COMMUNITY NEWS OUTLETS
Dylan Smith, the editor & publisher of the nonprofit tucsonsentinel.com, also holds down a position that doesn’t include an ampersand: He’s now the chairman of the board of LION, the organization of Local Independent Online News Publishers.
“It’s a nationwide network of people doing what I do: run local and neighborhood websites,” Smith said. “We have a wide range of involvement—for-profit, nonprofit sites—and we cover cities and regions, down to people who do very focused neighborhood coverage in big cities.”
The advent of the online news website is an example of technology changing the traditional journalism model. Newspapers don’t have a monopoly on reporting any longer, although finding reliable news sources online can still be challenging. LION hopes to change that: Part of the organization’s focus is on finding quality reporting within the new structure, and coming up with ideas to make the model financially viable, which is a big hurdle.
“With newspapers shutting down, and with thousands upon thousands of layoffs in the newspaper industry, there are still people making some healthy money running sustainable sites in the long-term,” Smith said. “We want to be able to share that, and share best practices as others start things up—(making it so new sites are) not having to go through some of the mistakes other sites made.”
LION participated in a major recruiting push last week at the Block by Block event in Chicago.
“It went great,” Smith said. “We had dozens of publishers there expressing interest. A good number of people signed up.”
LION hopes to launch a more-extensive website soon at lionpublishers.com, as recruiting and networking efforts increase.
‘STAR’ COLUMNIST BRODESKY IN CAR-BIKE CRASH
Arizona Daily Star metro columnist Josh Brodesky is leaving for the The Arizona Republic soon, but he almost didn’t get the opportunity to ply his trade at the state’s largest paper.
Brodesky was riding his bike when a Toyota Camry struck him at Drachman Street and Mountain Avenue. Brodesky, writing about the incident in his Star column on Sunday, Sept. 16, said he suffered a concussion and some serious road rash after he was knocked from his bike.
Brodesky said his doctor told him that his bike helmet, which cracked when his head hit the ground, played a major role in limiting the severity of his injuries.
SANDERS LEAVES STAR FOR TEP
Another big departure for the morning daily: Veteran Arizona Daily Star photographer David Sanders recently left the newspaper for a position with UNS Energy Corp., the parent company of Tucson Electric Power.
“I am leaving the Star to be a photographer/videographer for Tucson Electric,” Sanders wrote on his Facebook page.
JACKSON A CMA BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR FINALIST
Buzz Jackson, program director and afternoon-drive personality at KIIM FM 99.5, has made the final cut in the Country Music Association’s Medium Market Broadcaster of the Year category.
Jackson is one of six finalists, and one of just two afternoon-drive hosts. The other four are on morning shows. Jackson won an Academy of Country Music Broadcaster of the Year award two years ago. He was nominated for the CMA award once before.
MACKEY JOINS CUMULUS
Former Lotus on-air personality Adrienne Mackey has been added to the roster at Cumulus. She’ll have a variety of duties at the cluster, generally in a fill-in capacity, from on-air shifts to traffic reports.
Mackey spent six years at Lotus, most notably at classic rocker KLPX FM 96.1, but she crossed over to the cluster’s alternative-rock station KFMA FM 92.1 on occasion.
LOTUS GEARS UP CONCERTS
Classic rockers George Thorogood and Molly Hatchet have agreed to perform on Oct. 7 at AVA at Casino del Sol. The Sunday-evening double-bill, sponsored by KLPX FM 96.1, is a fundraiser for the American Lung Association.
That will mark the second show in as many weeks put together by Lotus Broadcasting. KFMA FM 92.1‘s Fall Ball is slated for Sunday, Sept. 30, at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium. The Offspring and Hollywood Undead head up the eight-band bill for the all-day event.
TV STATIONS GARNER EMMY NOMINATIONS
KUAT Channel 6, KOLD Channel 13, KGUN Channel 9 and KVOA Channel 4 have all received news-category nominations for the 2012 Rocky Mountain Emmys.
KUAT, the UA’s PBS-affiliated outlet, garnered nominations in 17 categories. Mitch Riley and Luis Carrion were well represented. Riley was nominated in numerous categories for his multifaceted work involving a feature on the Zoppé Circus. Thomas Kleespie was nominated in multiple categories as well.
KOLD received seven nominations, including Best Daytime or Evening Newscast in a Medium Market. Aaron Pickering got a nod for weather talent, as did Dave Cooney for sports anchor.
KGUN was nominated for four awards. Among them, Best Team News Coverage for its efforts on the Monument Fire near Sierra Vista, and a nomination for a news show related to the anniversary of the Jan. 8, 2011, shootings. Erin Christiansen is going head to head with Pickering in the weather talent category.
KVOA received two nominations, and Tucson 12, the city of Tucson’s channel, received one.
The Rocky Mountain Emmy winners will be announced Oct. 6 in Glendale.
This article appears in Sep 20-26, 2012.
So glad to hear Adrienne Mackey has landed on her feet! May KLPX rue the day they let her go…
Schuster,
David left for TEP several weeks ago. A little late to the party, eh?
Adrienne Mackey is moving on up in the world of radio! She is a top notch radio personality and any station is fortunate to have her! I’m glad to know that better and smarter stations have scooped her up since KLPX doesnt understand what they lost!
Ads on air personality is great! She brightens up my day every time I listen. Can’t wait til she gets her own show !
How is Adrienne Mackey “moving on up in the world of radio?” She’s going from having her own show to being a fill in traffic reporter and on-air person. Seems to be a step down.
Besides, working for a company that lost $1.8M from continuing operations in Q2 2012 (lost $1M more Q2 2012 than Q2 2011) isn’t what I’d consider job security.
To “lastdeejay” – STAY TUNED!………So glad to hear Adrienne’s voice back on the air this week -she really rocked the traffic! Can’t wait to hear more of her more often……love that deep, sexy, raspy voice. The happy tone in her voice makes me SMILE.
Does “being nominated for a regional Emmy” = “paying the entry fee” ??
What happened to Nicole Cox who was the longtime news director at KHYT, 1330 AM?
Did she get hooked up with another station. Losing radio news personalties is so sad for the community.
Losing radio news personalities is part of the nature of that business. In radio/television they have their moments and disappear into private lives, usually raising a family and/or venturing into a more stable form of employment. It’s short lived. I liked Vic Caputo on KOLD and KNST. Michael Goodrich on KGUN. Both are retired. I hear their names pop up in conversation at the office. They are missed.
@Chuck g, I believe Ms. Cox is doing occasional voice over work in the wake of being fired without cause at KJLL (KHYT is 107.5 FM). She lost her lawsuit against their management due to some silly technicality (more likely due to Sprei land deal money greasing the judicial skids) and is likely working as an accountant, assuming the fallout from KJLL’s implosion hasn’t damaged her professionally. With a voice like hers, she should be working a major media market, not hobbled by avaricious vermin in a backwater like Tucson.
The station who used to be KJLL and is now KWFM-AM 1330 has shut down apparently. Since Thursday of last week. The new GM that took over the station 2 years ago pretty much took the mild success that John C Scott and crew had achieved, and flushed it down the toilet. KJLL 1330 Tucsons Jolt a.k.a. Tucsons Star KWFM 1330 is now dark. The GM Dawn Avalon has been missing for weeks and refuses to even comment on her endless list of screw ups and failures. You’de think you would just leave town and never mention Tucson again if you were her.
The station is still under the ownership of S.Sprei, so it hasn’t been sold. Maybe he’ll give another girl he meets in some back alley a shot at running it next…
As far as Nicole, I hear her voice all over the place. I think she was making more money working for a voice over firm than she ever made at a radio station.
Is this the same Nicole Cox, the former business manager and bookkeeper of KJLL The JOLT? The one who sent the flowers for Aldona Sprei’s funeral from the staff and herself and then took the money out of the station bank account to pay for paid them. The jolters:
John C. Scott (Ulm) – General Manager
Mark Ulm – Board Operator
Amy Ulm – Salesman
Nicole Cox – Business Manager & Bookeeper
Joel Caton – Production Director
Christopher Lidberg – Salesman
Randy Howard – Chief Engineer
Charles Aubrey – Board Operator
were so cheap they didn’t even pay for their own flowers. They made the deceased pay for them. THATS SAD. Says a lot about the kind of people they are.
Another fantasy about Dawn Avalon and KWFM. Directed only at Avalon and the station with the sole intent to damage and destroy her reputation and business.
Lets look further at the motivation. Why would someone post such an elaborate story? Simple. GUILT. An attempt to defend their actions with lies. They hope to mislead the readers of this thread.
On the internet, a good rule is not to believe what you read. If you’re interested, do the research and check the facts.
In summary, the lies of KJLL former staff will continue here and elsewhere until they are stopped legally by Avalon and Hudson Communications. Keep in mind, their sole intention is to destroy Dawn Avalon and the radio station. Without the internet, they would be lost. Where would they go? Certainly not to court. You’d better have a case and money to play that game. As of this date, only Cox has tried taking her baseless claims to court. She failed.
Avalon has well over 300 hours of recorded conversations and office banter with the Jolters. There are also recovered files from hard drives that were believed to have been deleted by the Jolters. There are company files stolen from the premises and discarded by Mr. Scott. Many things left and forgotten in the feeding frenzy. Then there are the written and verbal accounts of people who were there and witness. It will be fun to see the Jolters memories refreshed.
Per Wikipedia, “Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted.”
Sound familiar? Lets continue, “More often than not, embezzlement is performed in a manner that is premeditated, systematic and/or methodical, with the explicit intent to conceal the activities from other individuals, usually because it is being done without their knowledge or consent. Often it involves the trusted person embezzling only a small proportion or fraction of the funds received, in an attempt to minimize the risk of detection. If successful, embezzlements can continue for years (or even decades) without detection.”
It would be easy to list the actual names, dates and amounts. There is a serious audio clip of Mr. Scott stuttering and explaining how he would have to discuss the trade accounts with Amy and then he goes on blaming all the missing money and trade on the deceased owner. Typical scheme. Deceased or not, I think when this is presented to a jury, they would NEVER accept such large amounts of money/trade being part of a “compensation package”.
BTW, people are terminated from work, including radio stations. It happens a lot these days. They move on with their lives, find new jobs. I don’t think Dawn Avalon is a threat to anyone. The staff at KJLL, led by John C. Scott walked out in fear as they were discovered after years of stealing from the company. The group of former staff who post here knows it and thats the point here. They will keep on posting until they are stopped legally. In the wake of internet crime and what is currently happening in Los Angeles with Leann Rimes and others. It may happen sooner than you think. Remember, sooner or later, the crooks and thieves always get caught.
I’ve said this before. Seems every story presented in Media Watch ends up having comments posted about AM 1330. RJFletcher has demonstrated they have a personal grudge against the owners/operators of that station. So much that their slanderous comments have continued for nearly two years.
On this board and elsewhere on the internet, inflammatory and positively damaging information goes up instantly and stays forever, unchallenged and unproven, to the misery and detriment of anyone who may be a victim.
For the moment it appears everyone is having a ball with AM1330. However, one day it may turn around and those responsible for slander and resulting damage will have to pay for what they’ve done.
To @newsrat (appropriate nom de Net, by the way): slander is only slander if it’s untrue; I can back up every last factual allegation I’ve posted here, as can the former Jolt employees. Watching good people’s careers ruined by imcompetent excuses for human beings will definitely imbue you with a sense of purpose for people to hear the truth. If you don’t like reading it, then don’t.
As for those truly responsible for slander and damage, they are paying for it with the loss of their station, their reputations and hopefully their ability to ever do business in this city again. If they want someone to pay for that, all they need do is look in a mirror and keep writing the checks to pay off their bad decisions. Enjoy writing those checks, rat.
Is there going to be a new column this week?
Why was my question deleted?
Never mind. Back to work.
To answer your question SonoranWinds, the Media Watch column is online — it was just buried in a long-defunct category. My apologies.