'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.
