Washington Post buys magazine

The Washington Post is betting there’s a strong market for international news and has bought Foreign Policy magazine.

Founded in 1970 as a quarterly, the award-winning magazine, which was published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a think tank based in Washington, D.C., was relaunched as a bimonthly glossy in 2000. The publication has a circulation of 100,000.

Garza promoted, new hires at L.A. Daily News

Mariel Garza was promoted from editorial writer/columnist to editorial page editor at the Los Angeles Daily News. Mariel was previously a L.A. City Hall reporter for the DN.

Oscar Garza (no relation) was hired as senior editor/content. He was previously the editor-in-chief of the short-lived Tu Ciudad magazine, which folded in June. Prior to that gig, he was deputy editor of the Los Angeles Times magazine.

Julio Morales was hired as an online reporter. This is his first job. A recent Cal State Northridge grad, he interned at the DN during the summer.

Looks like Executive Editor Carolina García, who joined the paper in April of this year is effectively diversifying and adding to her staff, which was drastically reduced prior to her arrival.

New York Sun folds

A company spokesman confirmed the New York Sun will be publishing its last paper tomorrow.

The paper was launched 6 years ago as a conservative alternative to the NYT.

According to the New York Observer, staffers were given the grim news at a meeting an hour ago. They are now preparing the Sun's final edition.

Telemundo and Televisa strike soccer deal

Grupo Televisa has given Telemundo the rights to broadcast in the U.S. all of the soccer matches played at the home stadiums of six of Mexico's premiere teams. The deal also allows Telemundo to air playoff matches, semifinals and finals of the Mexican National Championship.

Both companies made the joint announcement. Looks like the Mexican broadcaster is developing closer ties to Univision's rival...

Latina immigrants documentary wins Emmy

"Made in L.A.," this week won the Emmy for outstanding continuing coverage of a news story - long form at the 29th annual news and documentary Emmy awards.

The 70 minute film, produced by Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar, follows the journey of 3 Latina immigrants working in L.A.'s garment sweatshops and their struggle in bringing a major clothing retailer to the negotiating table. The documentary had its national broadcast premiere on the PBS series P.O.V. in September of 2007.

It took the filmmakers 5 years to finish the the documentary, which was co-produced with Independent Television Service (ITVS) and P.O.V.’s Diverse Voices Project in conjunction with Latino Public Broadcasting. You can find more info about the film in the P.O.V. Web site.  Or, you can go directly to the filmmaker's Web site.  Almudena recommends it, as it includes updates on their 2 yr-outreach campaign to engage local communities around local issues and it also includes a listing of upcoming screenings of the movie around the country.

DTV converter box solution?

Where are the $40 DTV converter boxes? Apparently not available at most retail stores, so FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is asking that they stock up. The box would be "essentially free" with the government's $40 subsidy coupon, but Martin has pointed out the boxes are not yet widely available in stores.

In a letter to the executive director of the Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition, published on the FCC Web Site, Martin says the FCC found that "none" of the major retail outlets was carrying the box or planning to carry it.

Martin wants stores like Wal-Mart, Sears, Best Buy, Circuit City and RadioShack to at least have one make of $40 converter box on their shelves.

Meanwhile, acting National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) head Meredith Attwell Baker has a little more radical idea: broadcasters should consider stocking digital-TV-to-analog converter boxes themselves give them out free-of-charge to viewers who need them.

According to B&C, Baker suggests broadcasters could put their station logos on the boxes, allowing them to "build brand awareness while they were helping out."

Telemundo to air presidential debates in Spanish

Telemundo announced it will air the three presidential and the vice presidential debates, live and in Spanish, followed by an in-depth analysis focusing on the US Hispanic community.

The first debate between McCain and Obama is this Friday at 9pm ET/6pm PT, at the University of Mississippi. The first VP face off between Palin and Biden takes place at Washington University in St. Louis on Thursday, October 2, starting at 9pm ET/6pm PT.

Obama's camp launches Spanish ads

With only just a few weeks left until the election, Obama's camp is starting to pay a little more attention to Latino voters, particularly targetting those who speak Spanish. Starting today, Barack Obama ads about the economy will be airing in Spanish-language TV and radio in Colorado, Florida, Nevada and New Mexico.

Ed O'Keefe, from the Washington Post reports both the Obama and McCain campaigns have stepped up advertising efforts in those four competitive states, which have substantial Latino populations that could make the difference in November.

Interesting to note: while Obama's English ads released last week used humor and mocked McCain's comment that the "fundamentals" of the economy are ok in the U.S., the Spanish-language ads focus on the importance of looking out for one's family in the midst of the current economic crisis.

Entravision launches "Agenda Washington"

Prepping up for election coverage, Entravision Communications announced the launch of a weekly public affairs program. "Agenda Washington" debuted yesterday on Entravision's Univisión affiliates as well as 36 radio stations.

The half-hour show is hosted by Daniel Garza, a former White House Public Liason officer, who until recently was the president of Hispanic and Poder magazines. The show is broadcast from Washington, D.C.

Liberman to buy Phoenix FM station for $15 million

Looks like Liberman is expanding its Phoenix roots. ROL is reporting that Sun City Communications will be selling its bilingual radio station KVIB-FM (95.1 Latino Vibe) in Phoenix to Liberman Broadcasting for $15 million.

Spanish-language broadcaster Liberman, based in Los Angeles, owns radio & TV outlets in California, Texas and Arizona. Just last month, it bought KVPA, a low-powered TV station in Phoenix for a lot less - just over $1.2 million.

Curiel leaves NYT

Carolyn Curiel, an editorial board member of the New York Times for the past six years, has left the paper. Her last day was Friday. She accepted a job at her alma mater, Purdue University, which back in May gave her an honorary doctorate. Details of her new role are still being ironed out, but she will be working closely with the university's president France A. Córdova.

Carolyn says a press release with all the details will be released soon.

Univision sports anchor arrested in Laredo

I have to start by saying... ¡que vergüenza! Roberto Galvez, a local sports anchor for KLDO, the Entravision-owned Univision affiliate in Laredo, was arrested for criminal tresspassing and the NBC affiliate got the video. Not only that, they made it the top story in their newscast.

Apparently heavily intoxicated, this past Saturday the sports anchor waltzed into a home, exposed himself, fell asleep on the family's sofa and even urinated on himself. As he was being arrested, he was claiming to have been kidnapped...

Another delay in Univision-Televisa court trial

The Televisa vs. Univision trial date has been moved again, to December 2. It was most recently postponed from July 1 to October 14, one of several times over the past year.

According to Variety, the latest change was made to accommodate the overbooked trial schedule of Univision's attorneys.

The lawsuit, filed by Televisa in 2005, claims Univision owes the Mexican media company more than $100 million in royalties. Televisa is also looking to break the programming license deal it has with Univision, which expires in 2017, accusing Univision of material breach of contract.

Entravision to buy Pappas stations in Reno

Entravision Communications has signed a deal to buy KREN in Reno for $4 million. The deal also includes Spanish-language KAZR, currently a TuVisión affiliate, and six other low-power stations.

Pappas Telecasting built a high tech facility - fully HD, with Sony HD field gear - behind picture windows in a Reno mall so that people could watch the staff produce newscasts in two languages. But with the station group facing major financial difficulties, they shut down the Reno news operation in March. In May, Pappas filed for bankruptcy, facing more than $300 million in debt.

According to TVNewsday, Pappas's assets will be auctioned in late October and should another entity outbid Entravision, it could choose to up the price it's currently offering. But if another seller outbids Entravision or if the station is sold to another buyer, Entravision gets a $125,000 break-up fee plus expenses up to $75,000.

As part of the deal, Entravision would a maximum of $700,000 for equipment to convert the station to digital by the Feb. 18, 2009, deadline.

Telemundo CFO moves to Journal Communications

André Fernandez leaves his job as Sr VP and CFO of Telemundo to join Journal Communications as Executive Vice President, Finance and Strategy. He also takes over the CFO responsibilities from Paul M. Bonaiuto, who in May announced his retirement. Andre's appointment is effective October 20.

Journal Communications is the owner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, as well as 35 radio and 12 TV stations in 12 states.

André was named Telemundo Network CFO in September, 2004. He has been with GE in several capacities throughout Latin America since 1997. Before that, he was Treasury & Financial Planning and Analysis Manager for United Technologies Corporation in both Hartford, Connecticut and Sao Paulo, Brazil. He began his finance career on Wall Street, at Merrill Lynch & Co., based in both New York and London. Andre has a BA in Economics from Harvard University.

Ex-employees sue Zell

Several former and current Los Angeles Times employees filed a lawsuit yesterday against Tribune Co., and its chief executive, Sam Zell. According to an article in the Times, the lawsuit claims the reckless management is destroying the value of the company and that Zell and former Tribune CEO Dennis J. FitzSimons "devised a plan to take the company private to enrich themselves to the detriment of employees." A WSJ article points out the lawsuit also claims Zell and other Tribune officials0 "have improperly raided worker pension funds."

Here's the PDF copy of the complaint, obtained by ERSNews.

The plaintiffs seek to recover losses to the employee stock-option plan (ESOP), replace the Tribune board of directors and the ESOP trustee, and a full accounting of pension plan assets.

El Cucuy leaves SBS

Renán Almendarez Coello, known as on-air personality "El Cucuy de la mañana," signed off from KLAX, 97.9 "La Raza," on Monday. He had been working at the SBS radio station in L.A. for the past 5 years.

Renán told La Opinión it was a personal decision, dispelling any rumors that he was fired. He said he plans to build his own radio network. He currently owns a radio station in New Mexico. He will continue to host and produce Azte Pa' Ca, a TV show which went on the air in February on Azteca América. According to a press release, he also plans to develop talent for his record label, Michel Productions.

After holding the number one spot in radio for many years (at one point even beating Howard Stern in ratings) El Cucuy's popularity diminished. His morning show was in 3rd place, with Piolín (Eddie Sotelo) currently holding the number one slot.

Chicago morning show "El Chulo de la Mañana," hosted by Joaquín Garza, takes over the 5-10 am slot.

More job cuts at McClatchy

1,150 more jobs will be cut at McClatchy, reducing its work force by 10% nation-wide. About half the cuts will come from buyouts and attrition. Reuters reports the newspaper company expects the cuts, announced today in a board meeting, will save it $100 million over the next four quarters. McClatchy also announced that it cut its quarterly dividend in half.

This is the second round of massive cuts at McClatchy, which slashed 1400 back in June.

Star-Telegram puts building for sale

The Star-Telegram's downtown office building will be put on sale as the newspaper looks for more ways to cut costs. The decision was made after the S-T sold its four-story annex building, an adjacent parking lot and two other downtown parking lots on Friday to the Fort Worth Club. Apparently, they will be using the property for parking.

Gary Wortel, the newspaper's publisher, said that when the annex building was put up for sale, he got inquiries about the main building. So now, that too will be put on the market. He says the historic building, built in 1920, is "bigger than we need" and may be too old to keep up with changing industry technologies. If the property is sold, the newspaper would keep a downtown office for reporters and sales representatives and most employees would move to a new location.

Valles out at KXAN

Michelle Valles is no longer KXAN's news anchor. The Austin American Statesman reports she turned down a contract offer last Thursday and left the station where she's worked for the past 5 years.

According to the story, Michelle complained the contract renewal offered was unacceptable:"We were under contract negotiations for a while, but they presented me an offer yesterday afternoon that wasn't in my best interest," she said on Friday. At the time, the station's general manager, Eric Lassberg said the negotiations were ongoing, but today, he told the Statesman she "is no longer employed at KXAN.” Her bio has been pulled from the station's Web site. The NBC affiliate will begin searching for a new co-anchor to work with Robert Hadlock.

Michelle, who had been KXAN's 5, 6 and 10 p.m. anchor was busted in November of last year for driving under the influence. Last month, she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor reckless driving charge and was sentenced to two years probation. The drunken driving charge against her was dropped.

Arias switches stations, gets prime anchor job

Erika Arias today begins a new job, anchoring the new 11pm news on Tribune's WTIC-Fox 61 in Hartford, CT. And that's just what she was looking for when she left WFSB in August. She had been weekend anchor and reporter at the CBS affiliate in the same city since 2006.

In early September, she told the Hartford Courant why she left the station: "I report during the week and anchor on the weekends and wanted a schedule where I would not have to work weekends." At that time, she said she wanted to stay in Connecticut as an anchor and was looking into some options. Well, it looks like the mother of two got her wish.

Erika has previously anchored and reported in Providence, Las Vegas and for Fox News in L.A.

Latino Film Fest Kicks Off in L.A.

The Los Angeles International Latino Film Festival (LALIFF) premiered in Los Angeles last Friday with the opening night film "Café de los Maestros," a documentary about the remaining surviving tango legends. The film's producer, Emmy and Oscar-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla received a lifetime achievement award that evening, presented to him by Antonio Banderas.

There are 132 films in this year's festival. A large number of them are documentaries. Colombian film takes center stage during the week-long event, which on Saturday saw the world premiere of "La Milagrosa," a film about the guerrilla conflict.

If you're in the L.A. area and are interested in seeing some of the films, here's the schedule. The festival, in its 12th year, was founded by Marelene Dermer and Edward James Olmos.

Carlos Slim buys 6.4% stake in NYT

Considered to be the wealthiest man in the world, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has disclosed he and his family have bought 9.1 million shares of the New York Times Company - an equivalent of 6.4% of the company, worth $127 million.

According to the NYT, Carlos Slim has a history of buying "depressed assets he can later sell at a profit." Analysts familiar with his investments say they see that same goal in the purchase of the Times Company stock. Could this be a good sign for the NYT, which has seen its stock drop from more than $40 a share in 2005 to less than $14 this week?

More cuts at Sac Bee

3 months after a round of layoffs that shrank the staff by 8%, the Sacramento Bee yesterday announced more cuts. This time though, through voluntary buyouts. 87 full and part-time employees accepted the offer, which included 23 newsroom employees.

A story in the Bee indicates that Publisher Cheryl Dell said they won't know for a couple of weeks if the buyouts did the trick. She said tomorrow will be the last day for many taking the buyouts, but some will work into November. No word yet on how much money the buyouts will save.

Morales officially on maternity leave

NBC Today anchor Natalie Morales will be off the air for a while... she just gave birth to her second baby. Little Luke was born on Tuesday. Natalie has another 4 yr-old boy.

The 36 yr-old Natalie made the announcement of her pregnancy on the air back in early March and Meredith Vieira announced the birth on the Today show yesterday. If you want to see the video with all the oohs and aahs, you can go to the MSNBC Web site.

Guerra promoted to Telemundo's Sr VP of News

Telemundo has promoted Johanna Guerra from Vice President, Network News to Sr VP, Network News. According to a company press release, she will be in charge of developing strategic plans for all of the network's news properties and supervise all news programming for Telemundo. Her duties will also include oversight of all the network's domestic and international news bureaus.

Johanna was previously the executive producer of "Al Rojo Vivo con María Celeste." She started her career at Telemundo as an assignment editor at WNJU, networks's local New York station. There Guerra moved up the news ranks becoming an associate producer, line producer and executive producer at the station.

NBC teams up with Google to sell TV ads

Once feared, yet revered by many media outlets, Google's revenue success has attracted NBC Universal into a joint venture. Both companies announced they're teaming up, with Google lined up to sell ads on some of NBC's cable channels such as MSNBC, Oxygen and the Sci-Fi network.

AP reports the partnership signals Google's desire to sell ads in different places other than its search engine, and it gives NBC's access to advertisers who place online ads through Google but not on TV.

But there's more than meets the eye. Both companies also hope to get better insight as to which TV ads are most popular among viewers, and how to find those people. That will be made possible thanks to Google's partnership with Dish Network Corp., which allows viewer monitoring through data received from Dish's set-top boxes.

NBC will also allow Google to advertise in some of its channels. Both companies will share all ad revenues from the partnership.

Martinez leaves Politico.com

Barbara E. Martinez leaves Politico.com, where she was Deputy Managing Editor. She joins start-up Global News Enterprises, the first Web-based news organization focused on bringing daily international news coverage by its own team of correspondents around the world.

Barbara will be GNE’s Managing Editor, in charge of the editorial and technical aspects of the Web site, scheduled to launch in January 2009. She will also manage three deputy editors.

Before working at Politico, Barbara was a staff writer for the Washington Post. She is a Harvard grad and a former Executive Editor of the Harvard Crimson.

On a bit of good news... they're hiring!

Gannett eliminates 100 management positions

"Today, we are revising our overall organizational structure by eliminating approximately 100 department head positions. This new structure flattens our executive management ranks, enhances the role of our group sites and aligns corporate resources with the field as we aggressively pursue our print and digital strategies to deliver what readers and advertisers want."

That's what Community Publishing president Robert Dickey today told employees via memo about the latest job cuts at Gannett. He admitted that efforts to manage costs were not successful in light of the decline in revenues. Just last month, Gannett announced it was eliminating 1,000 newspaper jobs.

Nationally syndicated columnist dies

Roger Emilio Hernández passed away Saturday morning, September 6. He was 53. He was a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist with King Features Inc, and wrote for several newspapers including the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Enquirer, and the Jersey Journal. He is also the author of the book “Cubans in America," which he described as "an illustrated history of the Cuban presence in the United States."

Roger was born in Havannah, Cuba. His family immigrated to the United States in 1964, settling in New York. A graduate of Rutgers University, he had been teaching journalism at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark for the last ten years. He also had a blog, which focused "on Hispanic issues and on what's next in Cuba." His last entry was August 22.

He is survived by his wife, WNYW-TV news director Dianne Doctor, and two children.

Hernández quits Dallas Morning News

In the midst of buyouts and layoffs at Belo, Macarena Hernández has left the Dallas Morning News. She told Richard Prince's journal-isms that she felt the priorities of the newspaper business are elsewhere.

The 34 yr-old Macarena said she resigned in June, before the buyout offer. She left the paper on August 27 to become an International Reporting Project fellow at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.

Macarena is the journalist whose work was plagiarzied by the NYT's Jayson Blair in 2003.

Layoffs after buy-outs at Belo

It seems to be the never ending story in the news industry... more layoffs. This time, it's Belo. 413 employees at 3 of the company's papers are taking buyouts. But it's not enough. Belo is now moving into "involuntary reductions."

According to The Providence Journal, 22 of their employees took buyouts with no word yet on the exact number of layoffs. The Dallas Morning News reports 270 buyouts and 50 "involuntary job losses." The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California got 120 buyout takers, while another 30 positions will be eliminated.

Bedoya starts new magazine

Tatiana Bedoya, a former Univision reporter, this week launched Vixta, a new Spanish-language magazine for the Latino community in Sacramento.

"We wanted to do an up- scale, quality publication … for professional, bilingual individuals who want to go back to their roots," Tatiana told the Sacramento Bee's Edgar Sánchez.

Tatiana is the editor of the magazine, with a startup circulation of 10,500. Vixta will be published six times a year with a cover price of $4.50 per issue. Also on board her dream project is former colleague Xochitl Arellano, who's currently a spokeswoman for the Latino Caucus in the state Legislature.

Both Tatiana and Xochitl quit their jobs at KUVS-19, the Univision O&O in Sacramento in February of 2007. Tatiana had been at the station for 6 years, Xochitl had been there for almost 20.

According to the Bee, the magazine will depend mostly on freelance writers and photographers. The only two full-time staffers will be Tatiana and Ernesto Delgado, the creative director. Xochitl will be in charge of a regular feature dealing with global warming, energy and ecology.

Garza lands lead anchor gig in Sacramento

Jaime Garza, who was laid off from KCAL/KCBS five months ago, is the new 10 pm anchor at KTXL, Fox-40 in Sacramento. His first day on the job is next Monday.

"I couldn't ask for a better job," Jaime told me. "I'm excited to be part of an innovative news team that understands news and wants to do good TV."

His arrival marks a new beginning for the 10 pm Fox newscast, which will have a new set, music and graphics starting Monday.

Jaime is an Emmy-award winning reporter who has been on the air in L.A. for the past 13 years. Before joining the KCAL team, he worked at KXTV-10, the ABC affiliate in Sacramento for 3 and 1/2 years. In a way, he says: "it's a home-coming," since he's already worked in the state capital.

Avila moves to Tucson

Sergio Avila, who back in July proposed to his girlfriend on live television, has joined the KGUN-9 news team as a general assignment reporter.

"My move to Tucson is the beginning of a whole new life for me," Sergio told me. "Not only am I looking forward to getting to know and serve this community but I'm also looking forward to my new life with my soon to be wife."

Sergio leaves KYMA-TV, the NBC affiliate in Yuma, Arizona, where he has worked since November of 2005, the year he graduated from USC. He started out as an assignment editor, moving on to producing/reporting. He has been a full-time reporter for the past two years.

Morales back on the air in Miami

Hurricanes have blown Sal Morales back on the air. Sal, who worked as morning weather anchor at KVEA-52 from 2001 to2004 is now working for MegaTV, producing special reports for the TV station and for WRMA-Romance 106.7, during the hurricane season.

MegaTV and WRMA teamed up with WFOR/CBS4 to ensure the Miami community is prepared for any upcoming storms.