Media Buzz | News/views about local media

Nick Miller's last KTSM newscast

Nick Miller is leaving Channel 9-KTSM (cable Channel 10), and your last chance to see him will be during the 5 p.m. newscast on Friday, July 31.

The move has been in the works for a long time, after Miller’s contract wasn’t renewed last year. I’m hoping to get an updated comment from him today, but Miller has said in the past that he was going to go into teaching. (Read an update to this blog post below.) Miller has been an anchor at KTSM since 1992.

On a personal note, I know Miller will be missed by the El Paso Times newsroom. The Times’ partnership with KTSM means that we often go on for live TV segments. Miller’s ease and professionalism always made it just a little bit more comfortable for us nervous newspaper folks to go live.

I’m sure not all our snarky blog commenters will agree, but for me, it’s hard not to miss this power duo from the past:

I talked to Miller this afternoon, and he told me that he is going to take some time off for a while, at least until January, and then look at getting back into teaching.

Miller has two master's degrees, in speech communication and geography, and taught "cutural geography" at UTEP for about 10 years.

I asked Miller if he could share some fond memories of his time at KTSM.

"Well, the fond memories ended a few years ago," Miller said. "I was very happy to come here. KTSM was not doing well in the ratings when I came here. Within five years we were #1, and we held onto #1 for some years."

Patricia Maese-Tidwell joins Canutillo schools

Hey, Media Buzz can't always be first to report everything. But it's a pleasure to get beat by Zahira Torres, who reports in Wednesday's El Paso Times that:

Patricia Maese-Tidwell, a former television reporter and anchor for Channel 14-KFOX, was hired Tuesday as the public information officer for the Canutillo Independent School District.

She will receive an annual salary of $74,374. Maese-Tidwell is expected to start this week, officials said.

Maese-Tidwell has held a few different jobs since leaving TV, but seems like she has about 74,000 reasons to stay at this job for a while.

... and baby makes ABC-7.

KVIA-TV Channel 7 (cable Channel 6) power couple Rachel Abell and Raul Martinez are expecting their first child. Rachel's profile photo on her Facebook is a sonogram of her baby, which is pretty much a confirmation of her preganancy.

Rachel told me that her due date is Dec. 24, so this could be the best Christmas present she and Raul will ever get. No indication yet on whether the baby is a boy or a girl.

KDBC is growing ...

Well, at least their online bio's section is. Like most TV stations in the country, KDBC has an area on their Web site dedicated to the bios of their anchors and reporters. You know the drill: the reporter will tell you where they grew up, where they went to school, how much they love being in El Paso (if they're from out of town) and their love of the great Mexican food here.

KDBC-TV Channel 4 (cable Channel 3) has had a small bio area given the departure of nearly all of their reporters and anchors in the last year. Up until last week, the site showed just four bios: Nichole Ayoub, Robert Bettes, Cristina Rodda and Armando Saldivar.

The site now added two more: that of reporters Nochole Gomez and Ramon Herrera. Check them out here.

Ramon has been reporting for the station for a while. He's a Montwood High grad and an alumn of Texas State University in San Marcos. Ramon has also become a board member of the El Paso Press club.

Nichole has worked at KDBC for a while, too. She used to work in the administrative side before she decided to join the reporting ranks. Her bio says she's an Andress High grad and that, yes, she loves Mexican food.

Roy is back writing about the media

El Paso Media Group, the publishers of Newspaper Tree and El Paso Magazine, announced today that Roy Ortega joined their team and will start writing columns about the state of the media. Roy will write a column for Newspaper Tree every Thursday.

You may remember Roy as the original author of this here blog. He was also an online editor and business reporter here at the El Paso Times. And of course, he spent decades working at different El Paso television stations as a reporter, anchor and news director.

Roy is the third Times staffer to end up at Newspaper Tree. Editor Sito Negron is a former Times reporter and assistant city editor, and reporter David Crowder spent more than 20 years working for the Times.

Times publisher, editor talk shop

EP TIMES LEADERS TO ADDRESS NEWSPAPER’S FUTURE

EL PASO – Experts have heralded the death of the newspaper for decades, and never has it looked more real than now. Three major newspapers serving large urban centers have shut down this year alone. Revenue for most of the papers still in operation is down and has lead to the loss of tens of thousands of journalism jobs in the United States.

Are revenue losses and shifts in circulation affecting the El Paso Times, the city’s oldest daily newspaper? What is the new leadership at the paper doing to improve its product and attract more readers?

Join the El Paso Press Club for a frank conversation about the future of the Times and its role as one of the city’s watchdog. Our guests will be Times Publisher Ray Stafford and Editor Chris V. Lopez.

The event starts at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Kinley’s House Coffee & Tea, 2231 N. Mesa.

Stafford and Lopez will address the future of the Times and the state of the newspaper industry. Both will be available to answer questions about the paper’s practices, its projects and other journalism-related topics.

Members of the media and the general public are invited to attend the event and encouraged to ask questions of the panelists

For more information contact David Crowder at 630-6622 or Gustavo Reveles Acosta at 256-3273

El Paso Times reporter Brandi Grissom to join Internet startup

Brandi Grissom, the Austin-based Capitol reporter for the El Paso Times, has announced she will be leaving the newspaper in mid-August to take a job at an Internet startup.

Grissom will be focused on covering the border and border-related issues for the Texas Tribune.

The Texas Tribune hasn't started publishing yet, but you can read some more about their plans in a New York Times article, Web News Start-Up Has Its Eye on Texas, and an Austin American-Statesman article, Texas Monthly editor Evan Smith leaving to run online publication.

Grissom said she is excited to be taking on a new challenge and a new opportunity, though the will miss the staff at the El Paso Times, which she has worked for since July 2005.

"I have had an awesome experience at the Times, and I'm so incredibly grateful for my time here," Grissom said. "This was not an easy decision; I think the Times is heading in a good direction."

The Times is beginning to look for a replacement, but Editor Chris Lopez said filling Grissom's shoes will be a difficult task.

"Brandi has been an instrumental part of the Times over the past 4 years, and we’ll miss her excellent reporting from Austin," Lopez said. "Our goal now will be to find someone who will be as strong for us in reporting on the Texas Legislature and the El Paso delegation."

Liz Kern makes news

Former KDBC-TV Channel 4 (cable Channel 3) anchor Liz Kern moved to Fresno, Calif., some months ago after a stint as a spokeswoman for the El Paso Zoo. She hit the airwaves in her new city already, although this time around she was the subject of a story and not the reporter.

ABC 30 in Fresno reports that Kern became an almost billionaire for a day when an error from her bank credited $850 million to her checking account. In reality, Kern had deposited $1,000. You can read/watch the story by clicking here.

Of course, the money was not Kern's to keep. She was a good sport about it, though, and comes off in the story as a fun-loving person willing to laugh at a strange situation.

Barrios now doing PR for UTEP

We got this e-mail today:

The University of Texas at El Paso has named Arleene Barrios as its Public Information Officer.

Barrios is an award-winning journalist who is well-known in the El Paso community. During her 3 ∏ years as a reporter for KFOX-TV, Barrios’ work was recognized several times by the Texas and New Mexico Associated Press, and was nominated twice for the prestigious Lonestar Emmy Award.

Having worked in the media for the past five years, Barrios understands the importance of keeping the community informed.

“It’s an exciting time to be at UTEP.  There are infinite stories to be told.  From academic achievement to research to athletics, there’s always something going on at the University.  I look forward to working closely with the local and national media to bring more recognition to UTEP and this wonderful city,” said Barrios.

Barrios, a Cuban-American from Miami, Florida, earned a bachelor’s degree in telecommunications news from the University of Florida in 2004.

She can be reached at 915-747-7503 or news@utep.edu.

Extras needed for EPTV, episode three

We wrote previously about a new TV venture involving Jamie Abeytia, Luis Ruiz and others.

Once again, the EPTV crew is looking for a live audience for the taping of their next episode. They are hoping at least 200 extras will show up.

If you want to be involved, the taping will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 8 at Club 101, 1348 Airway. Jayden's Playground will be the musical guest for this episode, with El Paso city rep. Beto O'Rourke also confirmed for the show. For more information call Luis Ruiz at 226-3482.

The EPTV show can be seen on Time Warner cable channel 15 each Sunday at 11 a.m.

You can find videos of Jayden's Playground on their YouTube page.