TERI HAYT OFF TO OHIO; ‘STAR’ RAISES NEWSSTAND PRICE

Teri Hayt, managing editor of the Arizona Daily Star, is leaving the newspaper for an executive-editor position with GateHouse Media, where she will oversee the chain’s Ohio newspaper operations.

Hayt is the latest in a growing list of significant Star departures within the last two months. Columnist Josh Brodesky and reporter Rob O’Dell have moved to The Arizona Republic. Photographer David Sanders is now working for UNS Energy, the parent company of Tucson Electric Power. A number of other notable departures from the Star newsroom occurred earlier in the year.

Meanwhile, effective Monday, Sept. 24, the Star bumped its newsstand price from 75 cents to $1; the price outside of Southern Arizona moved from $1 to $3.

Perhaps this is because fewer people are purchasing the product in traditional print form, preferring instead to get the news at azstarnet.com. That is, when they can sift through the constantly moving text in the story during the ad-loading process.

That will be especially fun once the eventual online pay structure goes into effect.

KWFM, BLESS YOU AND YOUR LUNACY

Not that many people noticed, but KWFM AM 1330 went off the air late last week and was still largely silent as of Monday, Sept. 24.

This is not an unusual occurrence; KWFM has been dealing with lengthy outages as of late.

But what might be considered a bit unusual is the response I got when I went to the radio-station offices, near Broadway Boulevard and Swan Road, in search of an answer. Most radio stations have a front-office area where folks can go if they want to, say, pick up a prize from a contest they’ve won. The rest of the office is usually protected by safety glass, so a receptionist needs to let you in if you have business with station employees—but at least a visitor can get in the front door.

Not surprisingly, things are a little different at KWFM. First, I had to climb a flight of stairs at the back of the building, then navigate a labyrinth-like hallway before I got to the station’s poorly marked door.

The door was closed, but I could hear voices inside, so I knocked politely. A very nice, older receptionist—I think her name was Anne—opened it and said hello. There was a man there as well, but he wasn’t so polite. I’d say jittery was more accurate.

So I asked Anne and Mr. Jittery—a curly-haired gent who was sporting ill-fitting khaki shorts and a tucked-in maroon polo shirt—why the station was off the air. Mr. Jittery responded, interrupting sweet Anne, by saying, “Are you with the police force?”

“Huh?” was more or less my response.

Then, in what can best be described as a bit of a panic, Mr. Jittery told Anne: “Please close the door. Close the door. They’re not allowed in here. Close the door.”

So Anne gradually closed the door while Mr. Jittery paced in circles behind her.

Anne answered the phone when I made a follow-up inquiry and told me the station “was waiting for a part” before it could get back on the air.

In other KWFM news, operations manager Alan Michaels severed his ties with the station last week. Michaels joined KWFM in February.

This article appears in Sep 27 – Oct 3, 2012.

18 replies on “Media Watch”

  1. Operations is a good slot for someone like Teri Hayt…do keep her away from readers.

    Arizona Daily Star’s parent’s (bankruptcy dancer Lee Enterprises) stock price seems locked by the market at around $1.50 per share, give or take a penny or so. Smart Pulitzers to sell that thing…

    KWFM, regardless of lunacy, couldn’t get ad revenue. Much of its content can be obtained on internet, podcast, satellite. Technology change that hasn’t yet reached the hatebot rightwing stations.

  2. 1330 AM KWFM is back on the air . . . kinda.

    When I listened Sunday Sept 30th it seemed to be a loop of Michael Jackson singles. Do not recall any type of announcements of their call letters and other stuff the FCC requires. Strange.

  4. KWFM was not run by professional broadcasters in previous years. Examples of non-professionals have been listed in these threads several times. In recent times:

    Donald Wiggins – GM
    Jerry Misner – GM
    Kimberly Kelly Lopez – GM
    John C. Scott – GM

    You can define Professional Broadcaster as someone who has obtained the required educational background and experience in the business of radio and proceeded to practice it. None of the above qualify. As for the current GM Dawn Avalon, changes have been made and there is a hint she may have experience in broadcasting. It is clear she was faced with rebuilding a radio station drained by parasites. A close source told me Alan Michaels was let go after his own admission he was not able to learn new technology recently installed at the station. In other words, he was not able to “cut the mustard” so to speak. There were no major changes or any improvement attributed to Michaels for the duration he was there. He never went on the air! I’m sure that disappointed many listeners who follow him. I know I was disappointed. I grew up listening to him. Too bad. Clearly it is a new era for KWFM The Star and I for one welcome the change over what else is on the airwaves.

  5. “Clearly it is a new era for KWFM The Star and I for one welcome the change over what else is on the airwaves.” Really, you welcome 24 hours a day of Michael Jackson-after being off the air for a week? The metal theft PSA’s were, I thought, a bunch of BS. Something is very wrong at that station. I wouldn’t care but it carries some shows I like. It is all very bizarre.

  6. Listened early Tues Oct 2nd a.m. to 1330 AM and they’re now playing extended dance mixes of Michael Jackson and Jackson Five tunes. It’s like they’re tapping into a Sirius/XM feed, but there is absolutely no breaks nor human voice back announcing anything.

    Not sure how they are able to keep doing this as it has to be killing them from a cash flow perspective — no ad revenues, electricity bill to pay and significant royalty fees to a dead man’s estate.

    How about switching things up and playing some Patsy Cline, John Lennon, Roy Orbison, Buddy Holly, Waylon Jennings, Kurt Cobain, [insert your fave dead musician]?

  7. Let’s do a factual timeline

    *station goes into debt and has to close doors
    *Owner Aldona hired John C Scott to reboot station and bring it out from underwater
    *Station rights it’s wrongs done by previous management under JCS and begins to turn a small profit
    *Station hits milestone moment under JCS with National recognition on C-SPAN
    *Station has more local programming than any other Southern Arizona radio station by 2011
    —— Aldona (Owner dies)

    *Station continues to chug along building good credentials and relationships with the community

    —— Mystery woman appears who is Husbands new Girlfriend and claims SHE knows whats best for radio station and will be taking over the helm.
    *Staff and local show hosts revolt.
    *New girlfriend (Dawn Avalon) sees the storm coming and drums up reasons to release all former staff. Accusations of theft are Dawns new ammo in the fight to overturn station.
    ——- Owner husband detatches self from entire situation and allows girlfriend to run amok.
    *Staff of KJLL fired
    *New GM Dawn Avalon fails to deliver on any of her promises
    *All local programs that generated income for station bolt and goto other stations
    *Dawn Avalon flounders about trying to salvage the destruction she has caused. Begins campaign to blame former staff for her entire 2 years of failure. 2 Years!
    *Dawn Avalon scares off final show “On the menu…LIVE!” by raising fees by double. and generates a newspaper trail that begins an interest in the media. Now Dawn Avalons failures become public fodder and she can no longer hide. Yet she still refuses to speak to anyone.
    *All former KJLL shows go onto great/mild success on other stations like KVOI,104.1,KNST
    *Dawn Avalon tries to blanket over past failure by grabbing an availble set of call letters KWFM and remove KJLL “the jolt” from existance.
    *Owner boyfriend, Mr. Jittery continues to pay out of pocket all the bills,fees,paychecks out of pocket as Dawn has yet to generate a single cent in advertising as GM.
    —–Alan Michaels gets talked into coming on board to KWFM-AM1330
    *Dawn promises Alan a morning show, a music station and lots of control.
    *Alan Michaels is unable to achieve any short/long term goals due to oppressive and controlling GM Dawn Avalon.
    *Alan Michael blows out of KWFM-AM and no longer works for the company.
    *Dawn Avalon takes to the internet radio and media forums under assumed identities to once again discredit former staff, and now Alan Michaels to try to cover her failures.
    *Station crumbles
    *Dawn Avalon fades into shadows in disgrace.
    *Station shuts off due to lack of Owner,GM,staff, revenue.
    *Articles flood media of the now Dark KWFM-AM
    *Dawn cannot be reached for comment
    *Dawn continues assumed identities on internet and newspaper forums including TucsonWeekly claiming she’s a close friend of Dawn and knows that the former staff is to blame for everything.
    *After public humiliation, station pops back on out of nowhere playing 1 single CD. A michael Jackson mix.
    —— PRESENT: Station still on playing same songs over 50 times, station is in violation of every law in the FCC book including no ID Check (A major fine in FCC eyes)

    I’m sure there will be a certain someone who will come onto these comments and deny it all. Under 6-10 different names. But there is no denying the truth. Just go back and read every article publish in every local newspaper from 2009 – present.

    The end.

    “ Karma moves in two directions. If we act virtuously, the seed we plant will result in happiness. If we act non-virtuously, suffering results. ”

  8. Wow. Truth hurts bad, doesn’t it. Someone really hates Dawn Avalon for exposing their theft and embezzlement… I wonder who that could be???? The same people who screwed over Aldona Sprei and stole from her when she was dying. The same people who fled like RATS when their embezzlement was uncovered. Radio professionals???? I sincerely hope one day soon you are all brought to account for what you have done. It may be sooner than you think. Remember, the thieves ALWAYS get caught… usually when they least expect it. Thats why Nicole Cox and coward husband Par Hendrickson bolted out of town as soon as they came looking for her. Yes, one day soon, the thieves will have to answer for what they have done.

  9. Newsrat ( assumed identitiy #14)

    I find it funny how you and your other personas seem to think that people should be held accountable for libel on these boards that “hurt” your reputation in the broadcast industry. YET you continue to call past staff members crooks, cowards and embezzlers.

    You need to buy a dictionary and look up “hypocrisy”

  10. “Let’s do a factual timeline” WHAT A LAUGH I HAD OVER THIS COMMENT!!!!!

    The only fact need be known is Nicole Cox and the others are criminals and failures. Nicole Cox is such a failure she couldn’t even succeed at her lawsuit against Avalon WITH an attorney!!!!! Of course it’s known Nicole Cox is not the brightest bulb in the pack. Imagine someone trusted by the owner to manage a business bank account and they slowly siphon money away believing they would NEVER EVER be uncovered.

    E M B E Z Z L E M E N T.

    Theft, fraud and embezzlement by the former staff at KJLL The JOLT AM 1330 is what led to Dawn Avalon being brought in. Only the individuals with a crime to hide are afraid of Avalon. PERIOD.

    I was at the office of KWFM last week to get a copy of a program. I met Anne. She was polite and I did not see one thing out of the ordinary. No lunacy or the jittery man. There are stairs in the front of the building as well as the back. The office is on the second floor and clearly marked with a sign. No problem. What the hell John Schuster has against KWFM is yet to be explained. Maybe it’s because Dawn Avalon refused to talk with him???? That’s common in the business of entertainment and media. If you don’t succeed the first time, try again John. When you give up, we as readers lose one side of the story and who knows, it may be the important one.

    Wait, there is another fact. KWFM 1330 The Star sounds better than it ever did with any past management. Whether it’s related to management or simply poor engineering of the elderly man who worked for the JOLT, the real FACT is KWFM sounds excellent.

    It’s only the beginning. Not the end. Read the past print all you want. Believe what you want. The proof is in what is there now. Sound like more success to me. Something the losers from the past can never do. Now we shall hear from one of them … another last gasp of hope they can dis-credit KWFM, KJLL, Dawn Avalon etc..

    Getting old, isn’t it? TWO years of BS from a bunch of losers. Threats, intimidation, harassment, slander… etc…. I wouldn’t take it. These are sick people. I hope Dawn Avalon and Hudson Communications takes them to court and they get what they deserve.

  11. Lawyer up all you want, newsrat-they’ll just tell you for the umpteenth time you don’t have anything resembling a case. But what do you care as long as your boyfriend keeps footing the bill, right?

  14. Yeah, I’m Dawn Avalon. You really are a loser. Why don’t you meet me somewhere and find out, coward.

  17. It is so wrong that there is not one comment above about the loss to Tucson of the only WORTHWHILe commercial radio programming of the former KJLL, no more: Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz and Thom Hartmann. Fact-checkable information and intelligent opinions. However, oldest postings at the top of a long column of comments pretty much guarantees that no one who even cares will see this one.

  18. Another year gone by and Dawn Avalon still running KWFM. All the negative comments don’t have any amount of truth to them.

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