Media Buzz | News/views about local media

New reporter at KINT

Zoltan Csanyi-Salcedo, the news director for KINT-TV Channel 26, announced on Tuesday that the Univision station has hired a new reporter.

David Stout replaces long-time Channel 26 reporter Pedro Villagrana, who left the station earlier this spring.

Stout comes to El Paso via the Telemundo station in Oklahoma City, although he previously also worked at the Univision station in Albuquerque.

El Paso in Denver

Several people with ties to El Paso media spent four days taking in the latest in multimedia training and engaging in hot topics during the National Association of Hispanic Journalists annual convention in Denver last week. About 800 journalists from throughout the United States, Mexico and Puerto Rico attended the conference, which started last Wednesday and ended Saturday night with the traditional Tejano Party.

Among those 800 journalists were several people who either work in El Paso right now or have worked here before. KVIA anchor/reporter Ken Molestina attended the conference for the first time, and he was joined by KTSM anchor Oralia Ortega. The El Paso Times was represented, too, with editor Chris Lopez and reporter Gustavo Reveles Acosta both in attendance. At least four students from the University of Texas at El Paso attended the conference, too, including two who were part of the student project which produces two newspapers and a telecast.

Former El Paso reporters at the conference included Christina Boomer who used to be at KVIA but now works in Phoenix; Christine Madella who used to be at KDBC and now works in Nashville; Elissa Rivas who used to work at KFOX but now works in Houston; and Mekahlo Medina who used to work at KTSM but now works in Los Angeles.     

Former El Paso print journalists in attendance included Dino Chiecchi who worked for the Times and now works for the San Antonio Express-News, and Alfredo Carbajal who worked at El Diario de Juárez and is now at Al Día in Dallas.

** UPDATE **

Other former El Paso media people at the NAHJ convention in Denver last week included ex-KVIAers Jaime Rubenstein (now doing PR in Boston) and Alexander Perez (now working for NBC Chicago) as well as former KDBC sports anchor Richard Saenz who is now in Phoenix.

Judge urges El Paso online writer to get legal help

Back in November, in a post titled, Lawsuit shakes up El Paso blog world, we wrote about ethics commission chairman Stuart Leeds suing online columnist David Karlsruher for David K's criticism of Leeds and how he might use the ethics commission. Here is the post that led to the lawsuit.

There was a hearing scheduled this morning, and though both David Karlsruher and Stuart Leeds were in the building, only Karlsruher showed up for the hearing. When the hearing began in County Court at Law #3, Judge Javier Alvarez told Karlsruher that this morning, Leed's attorney Doris Sipes had called to say she was sick and would not be able to make the hearing.

So it will be rescheduled.

Karlsruher was there representing himself, and Judge Alvarez implored Karlsruher to hire a attorney, saying the rules in civil court can be treacherous.

"You may step on a landmine is what I'm trying to tell you," Alvarez said.

Karlsruher, for his part, said he had so far had a difficult time getting an attorney to help him on the First Amendment case at a price he could afford. He assured the judge he was not representing himself as some kind of statement or stunt and he would continue to seek legal help.

Bagley gets a promotion

Beau Bagley has a new title over at KTSM-TV Channel 9 (cable Channel 10). The weekend sports anchor at the NBC station is now the assistant sports director. He is now second in command in the sports department after Fred Albers, the sports director and main sports anchor at the station. KTSM is the only local station with three sports reporters. 

KTSM also will introduce several new reporters in the coming weeks. Be on the lookout for the new faces there.

Alvarez is the REAL anchor at KDBC

I had reported in a previous post that the rumors around town were that Philip Mena had been picked as the anchor for KDBC-TV Channel 4. That's the spot left vacant by Nichole Ayoub earlier this year.

The rumors were wrong, though, and the people at the station have made it official. The new anchor at Channel 4 is Adrienne Alvarez. She's been sitting on the anchor chair for several days now.

Of course, that also means that she's the anchor for KVEO-TV, the NBC station in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. For months now, the KVEO newscast is filmed from El Paso and sent over to Brownsville for broadcasting.

If you want to congratulate Adrienne, you can become a fan of her Facebook page here.

KFOX, KINT and KVIA do well in EMMAs

The EMMY Lone Star Chapter announced the winners of their Excellence in My Market Award, or EMMAs, for the smaller TV markets in Texas. Here's a rundown of the winners from El Paso:

• Best General Assignment Report: "Pandillas en El Paso" by reporter Arturo Alba and photojournalist Oscar Almaraz from KINT-TV Channel 26.
• Best News Report: "Los ojos de Dios" by reporter Ariadna Lopez and photojournalist Hector Carrente from KINT.
• Best Sports Report: "Historic Sports Venue In Jeopardy of Closing: Ruidoso Downs" by reporter Paul Cicala from KVIA-TV Channel 7.
• Best Reporter: Daniel Novick from KFOX-TV Channel 14.

The EMMY's also awarded EMMA honorable mentions to the following local journalists:

• General Assignment Report: "Operacion Falcon" by reporter Karla Mariscal and photojournalist Danny Gallarzo from KINT.
• Editor: "It's All About the Nats" by photojournalist Rudy Reyes from KFOX.
• Best Sports Reporter: Paul Cicala from KVIA.
• Best Reporter: Dena Richardson, KFOX.
• Best Reporter: Derek Shore, KFOX.
• Best Photographer: Rudy Reyes, KFOX.