Ramos leaves AJC

Ronnie Ramos, former Sr Editor at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has been hired at the National Collegiate Athletic Association.  He will start his job as Managing Director of New Media Strategies and Content Development on May 4.

Based out of the national office, Ronnie will be the lead strategist for communicating NCAA policies and advocacy messaging. He will oversee the external communications of the NCAA Web site and the association’s official blog.

Ronnie worked as senior editor of sports and features at the AJC since 2004. He was previously Executive Editor of The Times in Shreveport, Louisiana, and managing editor of The News-Press in Fort Myers. Ronnie also spent 13 years at the Miami Herald.  He's a 2002-03 Nieman fellow.

Garza, Berrios out at Daily News

The latest round of cuts at the L.A. Daily News caught up with Oscar Garza and Geraldine "Jerry" Berrios last Friday. 

Oscar had been at the Daily News less than a year.  He was brought in as senior editor/content in late August of 2008. Before that, he was founding editor of Tu Ciudad magazine, which folded in June.  He previously worked 17 years at the L.A. Times in various editing positions, including his last 2 years at the paper as Deputy Editor of the L.A. Times Magazine.

L.A. Observed posted Oscar's final email to the staff, which included this line:  "It's been brief, but rewarding.  Sorry I won't be here to help you keep up the fight."

Jerry came on board as a reporter at the DN in 2007.  She previously worked as a municipal reporter at The Miami Herald.  Before that, she was a city government and cops reporter at The Kansas City Star.  She is currently the Region 8 director of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Garcia lands at KCAL-9

It didn't take long for Rick Garcia to be on the air again in L.A.  Barely three days after he said his on-air goodbyes last Monday on KTTV-11, Rick started anchoring the 8 and 10 p.m. weeknight newscasts at KCAL-9, alongside Pat Harvey.

KCAL wasted no time in getting Rick on-air time and publicity.  The station did a press release with the details of his new job, which he started Thursday night.

700 layoffs at Yahoo!

Yahoo announced it will eliminate another 5% of its staff - 700 people, in an effort to streamline existing operations.  According to Online Media Daily, the company's new CEO, Carol Bartz did not characterize the cuts as "across-the-board, cost-driven" like the ones in December, where 1,500 staffers were laid off.  The staff cuts are expected to happen in the next two weeks.

Garcia leaves KTTV-11

Sports Anchor Rick Garcia leaves KTTV-11, the Fox station in L.A. after a 22-year run.  He said his goodbyes on the air last night during the newscast.   

Rick started at KTTV as a weekend anchor and weekday reporter in 1987, moving up to weekday sports anchor a year later. A few years after KTTV 's merger with KCOP-13, the UPN station in Los Angeles, Rick also took on daily anchor duties for the My13 Newscast at 11 p.m., with Lauren Sanchez until the fall of 2008. 

Rick got his start in broadcasting career as sports director and play-by-play announcer at KAVL-AM radio in the Antelope Valley in 1979. Before joining KTTV, he was weekend sports anchor at KVBC-TV in Las Vegas, KOAT-TV in Albuquerque, and weekday sports anchor at KTSP-TV in Phoenix. 

From the RTNDA floor

Without a doubt, the downturn in the economy has really hurt this year's activities for many of the journalism organizations and RTNDA is definitely feeling it.  Barely 500 people were registered as of yesterday, with the hopes of some walk-ins today.  That's a far cry from the over 1,000 people that used to attend just a few years ago.  

Since RTNDA had to cancel its 2001 convention due to the terrorist attacks of 9/11 (they happened the day before the kick-off of the convention in Nashville) and started doing its show in conjunction with NAB in Las Vegas, attendance has gradually dwindled, with the biggest drop this year.  Also largely absent:  exhibitors.  Many of them have actually moved to the gigantic exhibit floor at the Las Vegas convention center itself, leaving the RTNDA exhibit floor largely deserted.

RTNDA leadership is trying to reinvent the organization, which is going through some serious financial challenges. Probably the biggest change which will take effect soon is the changing of the organization's name.  It will no longer be RTNDA - Radio and Television News Director's Association, but RTDNA - Radio Television Digital News Association.  This change is supposed to bring in more new members and accept the evolution of the news business itself.

For the many who were unable to attend, RNTDA is blogging live from the convention.

Paying for online content?

There has been lots of talk about how newspapers can survive... and if there's any way they can get readers to pay for online content. For too long, they've given it away for free, but can they change the business model in order to make a buck?

Well, maybe there's a solution: Journalism Online L.L.C. plans to supply publishers with ready-made tools to charge Internet fees. Richard Pérez Peña from the NYT reports the 3 media executives that founded the company are building an automated system to allow newspapers and magazines to charge for online access, including an “all you can read” subscription that would allow access to multiple publications.

Journalism Online could be ready to operate by the fall. The company says the advantages are that publishers would not have to develop their own systems and readers could access many different publications using only one system.

The founders and investors are Steven Brill, creator of Court TV; L. Gordon Crovitz, a former publisher of The Wall Street Journal; and Leo Hindery Jr., who has headed communications company Global Crossing, the YES Network, and now runs InterMedia Partners, a private equity firm that specializes in media.

Serrano documentary debuts in film festival

Vicente Serrano, anchor at Telemundo's Chicago station, recently finished a documentary about the deportation of legal immigrants during the Great Depression.

"A Forgotten Injustice" debuts tomorrow, Saturday, as an official selection of the 2009 Chicago Latino Film Festival. The film, more than 5 years int he making, includes personal accounts of survivors, historians and politicians like Hilda Solis, U.S. Secretary of Labor.

What prompted him to do this film? Doña Concha, his grandmother. Vicente tells me that although his grandmother was born and raised in Los Angeles, she was one of many Mexicans deported from the U.S. in the late 1920's. Initially, he was going to write a book about her story.

"When I started doing my research to write the non-fiction book I realized this was not the exclusive story of "La Gringa" I knew, as I wanted to title the book, but rather the story of many gringos of Mexican descent that were illegally deported from the U.S during the Great Depression. The research took me, by itself, like three to four years because I did it on my own during my days off, my vacation time or early in the morning or late at night after my shift at the TV station," Vicente says.

Vicente pitched the story to a few of his colleagues. Photographer Casey Mitchell, editor Maria Morales-Salazar and reporter Sandra Torres who came on board to help him produce the documentary.

"A Forgotten Injustice is the first documentary ever about the unconstitutional deportation of almost 2 million U.S citizens and legal residents during the 1930s when many government officials and local organizations considered that Mexicans, regardless of their legal status, were taking jobs and public help from "real Americans".

My grandma and her family were corced to leave during that campaign that lasted more than 10 years to get rid of Mexicans. Now that the immigration debate is dividing our country and we are told that the economic crisis we are suffering is the worst since the Great Depression, I felt the responsibility to tell the story of my grandmother and the other more than one million men and women that were kicked our of this country for a very single reason: They were of Mexican descent."

You can check out the trailer here.

On a related note, State Sen. Gil Cedillo authored and tried to pass a bill last year that would require public junior high and high schools to teach students about the deportation of about 2 million Latinos, including 400,000 Californians, to Mexico during the Great Depression. Many of them were believed to be U.S. citizens or legal immigrants.

Former Seattle P-I employees start online venture

The concept started with laid-off Denver Rocky Mountain News employees, after that newspaper was shut down. They created InDenverTimes.com. Now, former Seattle Post-Intelligencer staffers are planning on launching the Seattle Post Globe... online.

I have to say... their logo is cute, although I don't know if that's the sentiment they were trying to inspire. I get it... a new beginning, a play on the old logo. And just like the Denver folks, they're counting on financial support from the reading community.

A welcome letter states why the laid-off workers have embarked on this journey: "we're forging on because we believe newspaper-quality journalism needs to continue even as newspapers close."

The Seattle Post Globe is teaming up with KCTS public television and the Seattle Weekly: "Ultimately, we're exploring creating a combined news organization based on the idea that distributing information should be not just for profit," writes Kery Murakami, one of the project leaders.

Gilbert Arias, a photographer from the now defunct print edition of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, is part of the staff of this new online venture.

Marenco named president of ZGS Station Group

Julissa Marenco returns to ZGS after serving as a 2007-08 White House Fellow. She will be the new President of the ZGS Station Group. She replaces Wendy Thompson, who resigned earlier this month.

Before her fellowship, Julissa was general manager of the Telemundo affiliate in Washington, DC, owned and operated by ZGS. She started her broadcasting career with Blair Television in New York and joined Telemundo Network in 1998. She started working for ZGS in 2001 as the national sales manager in New York. A year later, she was promoted to general sales manager in D.C., before taking on the GM position.

Univision news #1 in L.A., NY

Once again, Univision’s 6 pm newscasts in Los Angeles and New York ranked #1 among adults 18-49. That's according to the Nielsen Station Index results during the first quarter of this year.

TVWeek reports KMEX-34 in L.A., which ranked first, got 166,000 adults 18-49 for its 6 p.m. local news, beating KABC-TV by 68,000 viewers.

WXTV-41 in N.Y. attracted 140,000 adults 18-49, beating the ABC affiliate.

Zell: "I made a mistake"

Saying he had not anticipated such a steep decline in the newspaper business, Sam Zell told Bloomberg Television today that he made a mistake when he bought Tribune.

"I was too optimistic in terms of the newspaper's ability to preserve its position," he said.

Zell took Tribune Co. private in a leveraged $8.2 billion deal. Things didn't work out like he planned. After lots of layoffs in a bid to reduce costs, he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December of 2008. In today's inteview, the billionaire said the company is looking at "all options," as "the newspaper model in its current form does not work."

L.A. radio station switches to Spanish

As of 12:01 today, 93.9 FM in Los Angeles has switched to a Spanish format. The announcement of the switch was made last week, but there was no information with regards to the new programming.

I spoke to the station's new general manager, Barret Alley, who tells me the station will air Spanish pop and ballads. The first 2 weeks will be all music, with few commercials. Local DJs have been hired, but will hit the airwaves gradually. He did not want to release any names at this point, but assures me the on-air talent is "new," so don't expect any big or well-known names.

Mexico's Grupo Radio Centro is taking over operations from Emmis Communications. However, the GM assures me all the programming will be done in the United States. GRC previously owned Cadena Radio Centro, a Spanish-language network serving 74 affiliates in the U.S. with 24-hour news and music programing. Heftel Broadcasting bought the network in 1995. KMVN GM Barret Alley is the former president of Cadena Radio Centro.

Zavala and Housman to share ZGS presidency

Eduardo Zavala, one of the founders of ZGS, will be sharing the Office of the President of ZGS Communications with Peter Housman, who has been the company's EVP of Business and Corporate Affairs for over 5 years.

Eduardo, who has been the company's VP for 25 years, will oversee all areas of digital and broadcast operations, as well as news production. Peter will direct business and corporate affairs.

ZGS Communications is reorganizing after it was announced that its co-founder and President, Ronald Gordon, is leaving the company to become the President of Telemundo Station Group. Ron will stay on the ZGS Board of Directors.

Ortega, Vega among AJC buyouts

74 people are leaving the Atlanta Journal Constitution, in the latest round of buyouts. Among them, Evelyn Ortega, the paper's print design manager for slightly more than 9 years. Before that, Evelyn worked a little over 3 years at the Augusta Chronicle and another 3 at the Miami Herald.

Art director Omar Vega is also leaving the paper - for a second time. He has been at the AJC almost 6 years. He previously worked as art director at the Asian Wall Street Journal and before that worked almost 6 years as a designer at the Atlanta Journal Constitution. He started out as a designer at the Hartford Courant.

The full list of names appeared in the news blog Creative Loafing, which also reports the paper eliminated its news art department, laying off the 4 remaining employees, and pink-slipped the entire news research staff, about 4 or 5 people.

Telemundo news briefs in Atlanta

Atlanta's Telemundo affiliate will now offer daily local news briefs. Three one and a half minute segments will air during the 6, 7 and 8 o’clock hours.

Jorge Buzo anchors Telemundo 47's locally produced segments, which began airing last week. Jorge is a 22-yr news and sports vet, having started his career in Mexico. Luis Arias is the news producer.

The station also broadcasts Objectivo Atlanta, a 30-minute community affairs show, Saturdays at 10am.

More cuts at Chicago Tribune

20% more cuts in newsroom staff - that's the figure circulating as the Chicago Tribune tries to reduce its expenses in light of a continuing drop in ad revenue.

Chicagobusiness.com reports staffers were told of the impending layoffs last week and the cuts will happen over the next several weeks. Despite previous cuts, the paper has been adding workers in areas of “emerging growth opportunities.”

García leaves Mercury News

After 17 years at the San Jose Mercury News, reporter Edwin García is leaving the paper for a media relations job at Kaiser Permanente.

"I'm sad to be leaving journalism after nearly 20 years - and it pains me to see all the talented colleagues that continue to flee from this sick industry," Edwin tells me. "I'm also excited to use my skills in a new career, where I can fulfill my thirst for learning and hopefully feed my family with a more secure paycheck and stable job."

Edwin resigned last week from the paper but will stay on until May 1. He starts the new gig as a media relations specialist for Kaiser Permanente on May 4. He says he wasn't looking for a job, but when a former Merc colleague called him up and asked if he would be interested in exploring the position, he sent his résumé. Shortly after, the newspaper announced furloughs, a proposed 15% pay cut and Edwin's second baby was born. So, when he got the offer, he accepted.

Edwin has been at the Mercury news for the past 17 years, where he has won a series of awards for reporting. For the last three years he has been covering state government and politics in Sacramento. Before that, he spent 8 years on the paper's race and demographics team, writing stories about the changing cultural landscape of Silicon Valley. He also was a columnist for the Merc's Spanish-language weekly Nuevo Mundo, before it ceased publication. He previously worked as a reporter at the San Mateo Times and the Stockton Record, and spent a year as a private investigator.

"I'm not sure what this next career is going to be like," says Edwin. "But already it seems more stable than where this last one's going. Qué tristeza."

New Spanish-language daily launches in NYC

Former employees of Hoy newspaper in NY, which was shut down by owner ImpreMedia in December, have regrouped and are launching NY Al Día. The new Spanish-language daily has a start date of April 20. It is scheduled to be a 28-page tabloid, with a circulation of 20,000 and a newsstand cost of 40 cents.

According to Portada, the newspaper is currently headquartered in Long Island, but will soon move its offices to Midtown Manhattan. The initial staff of 13 former Hoy NY employees includes General Manager Juan Carlos Sánchez, Editor Vicglamar Torres, Senior Account Executive Francisca Rivas and Production Manager Ivette Chestaro. All employees will share ownership of the publication.

Zavala stays on at Star-Telegram

After days of hand-wringing over who was going to be laid off at the Fort Worth Star Telegram, Elizabeth Zavala will be able to keep a job...although it won't be the same one.

"They eliminated three editing positions, including mine," Liz tells me. "They lost too many reporters between lay offs and buyouts, so they offered me a reporting job on the day that would have been my last. I took it, of course. It was scary, that week I thought I was going to lose my job.... in the end, I'm grateful I could stay in this capacity. I still love journalism, and reporting is how it all began, so I'll more than make the best of it. I'll enjoy it, too."

Liz rejoined the Star-Telegram in 2007 after a 7-yr run at the Dallas Morning News, where she held various bureau editing positions. Before that, she was assistant business editor at the S-T, where she spent 10 years in various editing positions. She helped launch the Spanish-language newspaper La Estrella in 1994, and served as its editor for three years before moving to business news.

Liz is currently VP of Print of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Machete at Dallas Morning News

The Dallas Morning News yesterday eliminated 200 jobs. The DMN reports the cuts were part of an overall reduction of 500 positions at the paper's parent company, A.H. Belo Corp. and it affected every department, including Spanish-language publication Al Día.

According to Richard Prince, Frank Trejo, Blanca Cantú and Stella Chavez were among the layoffs.

Frank Trejo worked at the Dallas Morning News for 21 years. First, as an assistant editor on the international desk and then as an assistant editor on the national desk. He has been a general-assignment reporter for the past 16 years. Frank previously worked for The Dallas-Times Herald, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and the El Paso Times.

Frank posted a farewell note on the DMNcuts blog, thanking colleagues for their support. He says: "I'm still a little numb, knowing that for the first time in nearly 32 years I do not have a newspaper job."

Blanca Cantú had been with the paper since 2007.

Stella M. Chávez worked as a staff writer at the Dallas Morning News, covering education with an emphasis on immigrant students. She began her career at The (Lakeland) Ledger before joining the staff of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, where she covered local government as well as immigrant communities.

Estrella TV enters Miami market

Estrella TV continues its expansion. Liberman Broadcasting's new Spanish-language TV network has signed an affiliate agreement with Sunbeam Television, which owns WSVN, the Fox affiliate in Miami. Estrella TV will be seen in WSVN's multicast channel, 7.2, when the network launches later this year.

Mediaweek reports that with this deal, the new network will reach 48% of Hispanic TV households. Estrella TV recently purchased WASA-TV to gain access to the New York market. It also signed an affiliation agreement with Communications Corp. of America, to clear Estrella TV on its digital signals in four Texas markets.

Spanish-language news returns to Indianapolis

The Indianapolis area will once again have Spanish-language newscasts, courtesy of Comcast. Starting next Monday, the cable company will launch IndyVisionTV to digital cable subscribers at no extra cost.

Tania Lopez reports in the Indianapolis Star that the newscasts and other Spanish-language programming will also be available through Comcast's video-on-demand service.

IndyVisionTV will fill the void left when Univision's signal was yanked off WIIH-17 air in December after LIN TV, the owner of the station, decided not to renew the contract with the Spanish-language network.

IndyVisionTV was created by former local Univision news anchor Marco Dominguez, who sought partners and capital to get the project going. Marco will serve as president, co-anchor and general manager. His former Univision co-anchor, Veronica Millán will join him once again at the anchor desk.

Mexico's Radio Centro set to buy L.A. station

Grupo Radio Centro will take over KMVN-FM, "movin' 93" from Emmis Communications on April 15 and switch from English to a Spanish-language format.

Radio Centro, a Mexican company that owns 14 radio stations, signed a long-term local marketing agreement with Emmis to provide programming for and eventually buy the L.A. station. According to the L.A. Times, the Mexican broadcaster will pay $7 million a year for up to 7 years. After that time, the company is obligated to buy the station for $110 million or find another buyer for it.

Pay cuts at Entravision

Entravision is reducing the annual base salaries of all employees, including that of CEO Walter Ulloa, who will see a 15% drop in his income. According to Radio Ink, the cuts for other employees will be done on a sliding scale, depending on their current pay levels. In a filing with the he Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said the pay cuts were effective March 27.

Staffers at Entravision stations say the company has told them they will soon be undergoing other changes besides the pay cuts.

Cerball named anchor at KGTV

Alejandra Cerball jumps 136 markets to land in San Diego. She has just been hired as a morning and midday anchor at KGTV-10, an ABC affiliate. Her first day on the air is April 23.

Alejandra comes from KYMA-11 in Yuma, Arizona, where she worked as a reporter and anchor since March of 2007. She previously worked as a news assistant at Fox 11 in Los Angeles. Al Corral is her agent.

Castañer out at Telemundo

Berta Castañer, who has been VP of News of the Telemundo Station Group since October of 2005, is no longer with the network. Sources tell me she was laid off yesterday.

Before her most current post, Berta was executive producer for hard news and specials. She has also been a news director for Telemundo.

Del Rincón lands in Mega TV

He lost his job at Univision back in December after a huge scandal involving his ex-wife and allegations of domestic abuse. But now, Fernando del Rincón will become one of the hosts of Mega TV's popular chisme show, "Paparazzi TV."

The show will be slightly retooled and will have a slightly different name - “Paparazzi TV Sensacional” and cast. Fernando joins co-hosts Lourdes Ruiz Toledo, Daisy Ballmajó and Allan Villafaña.

But hosts Frank Cairo (pictured center right) and Alan Jacott (pictured far left, with the original team) were taken off Paparazzi to make room for Fernando.

The show premieres on Monday, April 13, and will air Monday through Friday from 7 to 8 pm ET. According to an SBS press release, the show "promises to deliver the most shocking and unbelievable news events of the day."

The allegations of domestic abuse against Fernando by his ex-wife, former Primer Impacto anchor Carmen Dominicci, were extensively covered by Paparazzi TV. Staffers at the station tell me they're very upset with Mega TV's decision to hire Fernando. As one employee put it: "it's a lack of respect towards the viewers."

Gordon named Telemundo stations president

Ronald J. Gordon has been named President of the Telemundo Television Station Group. He starts the new job in mid-April.

Ron is a founder and majority shareholder of ZGS Communications, Inc., which owns the largest independent group of television stations affiliated with the Telemundo network. He is a native of Peru, with over 25 years experience in television.

He founded ZGS in 1984, along with Eduardo Zabala and José Sanz. The initials of the three founders make up the company name - ZGS.

Telemundo memo on restructuring

Employees of the affected stations were told yesterday afternoon of Telemundo's restructuring plans. But it wasn't until just a moment ago that Telemundo network president Don Browne sent all staff an email detailing the changes.

Some highlights:

1. Confirmation of consolidation of "creative services, traffic and other support functions of its Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, San Jose and Denver stations under one organizational structure based in Dallas/Fort Worth." According to Browne: "This new model will unify strategy and brand across all these critical markets, as well as maximize synergies and eliminate duplications."

2. ZGS Communicatons will manage Telemundo's Fresno and San Antonio stations starting in May.

3. Named Ronald Gordon President of the Telemundo Television Station Group. He will start in mid-April.

Here's a portion of the email:

"Although these changes in the stations’ business model will impact employees in all of these stations, they will also create business and employment opportunities and further secure our long term viability. Through these times of change and economic challenges, we are committed to supporting our employees through these difficult transitions."

Cárdenas exits Univision

Rodolfo José Cárdenas will no longer anchor Univision Denver's 5 and 10 pm newscasts. He said goodbye to his viewers yesterday on the air.

Entravision, which owns the station, told staff he is retiring. However, if you listen to the farewell story that aired during last night's newscast, Rodolfo himself says he wasn't ready to end his career at the station.

Rodolfo, who's originally from Venezuela, started his career in journalism in Denver in 1984. He joined Univision in 1995. He created the station's news department and has been the main anchor for 14 years. In 2003, he became the first Hispanic journalist in Colorado to receive the Broadcaster of the Year award from the Colorado Broadcasters Association.