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July 23, 2009
Texas Tribune hires Ross Ramsey as managing editor
The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit online publication about state government and politics that launches later this year, has hired Ross Ramsey as managing editor.
Ramsey also is selling his Texas Weekly government and politics newsletter to the Tribune, said Evan Smith, the incoming CEO of the Texas Tribune.
Ramsey is a former newspaper reporter and former associate deputy comptroller for policy and director of communications in the state comptroller’s office. He has run Texas Weekly since 1998.
Smith, who is leaving his job as president and editor in chief of Texas Monthly next month, also said he had hired five reporters:
Brandi Grissom of the El Paso Times; Elise Hu of KVUE-TV in Austin; Emily Ramshaw of the Dallas Morning News; Abby Rapoport, a former intern for Texas Monthly, and Matt Stiles, formerly of the Houston Chronicle.
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July 17, 2009
Texas Monthly editor Evan Smith leaving
Evan Smith, editor and president of Texas Monthly magazine, is leaving next month to become chief executive of a new Austin-based online public media venture.
In a letter to employees, Smith said he will become CEO of the Texas Tribune, a venture he’s been working on with John Thornton, a general partner of the Austin Ventures venture capital firm.
The Texas Tribune will be a nonprofit organization that will publish original stories and organize conferences and other events.
Smith said he will start his new job in late August.
In an interview with the American-Statesman, Smith waxed nostalgic about his nearly 18-year tenure with Texas Monthly (he said he met his wife in the hallway of the editorial offices). This morning, Smith said he had a very emotional meeting with the staff.
“I feel very emotional about the decison to leave, because my entire self-identity, as I imagine it, is caught up in the great fortune I’ve had as being editor of Texas Monthly,” he said.
As for the new venture, Smith stressed that he wants the Texas Tribune to complement — not compete with — the existing state media outlets.
He’s expecting to launch the Texas Tribune with at least eight staffers on the content side. It will not have a partisan bent, he said.
“We’re going to keep the focus not on ideology but on facts and perspective and context and the big things that matter.”
Smith wouldn’t discuss specific staff hires, but the Statesman has learned that former Houston Chronicle reporter Matt Stiles will join the organization. Stiles worked at the Chronicle for four years and also was a reporter for the Dallas Morning News.
There will be two coverage areas: politics and public policy, Smith said. He envisions the Texas Tribune pursuing “deep-dive reporting on the big issues that are affecting Texas.”
He mentioned several: low voter turnout, border issues, education, energy and the environment.
He also talked of putting on a series of on-the-record public events, such as an alternative energy conference in Houston, another on immigration policy on the border, or a transportation conference in Dallas.
While the venture will be a nonprofit with the goal of being supported mostly by philanthropy, Smith said the model will be Politico, the political journalism publication.
As for another potential revenue stream, Smith said they intend to syndicate content, with the hope of selling it to state newspapers.
“I feel so fortunate that the opportunity to create something new follows on the heels of having inherited something so extraordinary,” he said.
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July 7, 2009
Former Statesman editor joins Public Strategies
Former Austin American-Statesman editor Rich Oppel has joined corporate public affairs firm Public Strategies Inc., the firm said Tuesday.
Oppel’s new role as senior advisor at the firm will involve working across multiple accounts and providing general strategic advice, said Dan Bartlett, president and chief executive of Public Strategies.
Oppel, 66, retired from the American-Statesman last year after a 46-year career in the newspaper business. He wasn’t immediately available for comment.
Tuesday was his first day on the job, Bartlett said.
Bartlett said Oppel will be one of six senior advisors at the firm, which consults with Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, associations and other clients. The other senior advisors include David Bates, a former assistant to President George H. W. Bush, and Richard Wolffe, a former journalist at Newsweek and the Financial Times.
Public Strategies has offices in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, New York, Washington and Mexico City.
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August 15, 2008
Cuts at Texas Monthly
Indianapolis-based Emmis Publishing, which owns Austin-based Texas Monthly, announced cutbacks this week, and 13 positions were eliminated at the local magazine. Emmis issued the following statement Friday, in response to a Statesman inquiry:
“Earlier this week Emmis Publishing instituted a series of steps to better position its magazines for success. Those steps included a 4.5 percent workforce reduction, as well as a salary reduction for current employees, generally equaling two percent. Notified employees received generous severance packages and other support.
The publishing industry has seen a steady stream of staff reductions and expense cutting in recent months. We believe that the expense reductions we are implementing for the coming year are considerably more thoughtful and measured than what we’ve seen from many of our peers. Emmis Publishing employs some of the most talented people in our industry and is continually honored for excellence. We are very confident in the future of the city and regional magazine business.”
Regarding Texas Monthly; 13 positions were eliminated—about an even mix of employees who were notified Tuesday and open positions that will remain unfilled. Michael R. Levy, who announced earlier this year that he is stepping down as publisher at the end of August, is included in this number. Mr. Levy will remain through the end of the month as planned. The pay cut applies to current employees throughout the entire division.
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July 16, 2008
CORRECTED: Evan Smith becomes president, editor-in-chief of Texas Monthly
Evan Smith, editor of Texas Monthly, has been named president and editor-in-chief by owner Emmis Communications.
He succeeds founder and publisher Mike Levy, who announced in May that he would retire on Aug. 31.
Smith said his new responsibilities do not include advertising sales. He said more announcements will be coming from Emmis.
“There’s no replacing Mike, but I’ll do everything I can to preserve his legacy and take the magazine he loved so much to new and loftier heights.”
Read the press release here.
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February 22, 2008
Pandora coming to town
Tim Westergren, founder of the personalized online radio service Pandora, will be hosting a discussion forum for Pandora listeners Monday at the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar Boulevard.
The forum will provide Austinites with the opportunity to offer feedback about the free radio service, which customizes playlists based on each user’s favorite musicians or songs, and to learn about Pandora’s history as a part of the Music Genome Project, Westergren said.
The Music Genome Project is a collection of more than .5 million songs, which a group of 50 musicians have analyzed and classified based on 400 musical classifications.
The musical taxonomy, which is still growing, is used to create playlists for users on Pandora, Westergren said. User forums provide valuable insight as the project continues looking for ways to add new music to its collection and improve its services, he said.
WHAT: Pandora Austin Get-Together
WHEN: Monday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m.
WHERE: Alamo Drafthouse at 1120 S. Lamar Blvd.
HOW: To attend, RSVP by sending an e-mail with “Austin” in the subject line to tour@pandora.com
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February 7, 2007
CBS sells Austin's KEYE to private equity firm
A news release from CBS Corp.:
CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS, CBS.A) announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell seven of its owned television stations to Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. for $185 million. The sale includes stations in Austin, Salt Lake City, Providence and West Palm Beach, and is subject to FCC approval and other customary closing conditions. Cerberus worked with TV veteran Dick Reingold on the transaction, and Cerberus was advised by CobbCorp, LLC and Wachovia Capital Markets, LLC.
Stations included in the agreement (and their network affiliations) are:
KEYE-TV, Austin, Texas (CBS); KUTV (TV), Salt Lake City, Utah (CBS) and its satellite station KUSG(TV), St. George, Utah; WLWC (TV), Providence, Rhode Island (The CW); WTVX(TV), West Palm Beach, Florida (The CW); and two Low Power Stations in the West Palm Beach DMA, WTCN-CA (MyNetwork TV) and WWHB-CA (TV Azteca).
The CBS Television Stations group currently consists of 39 stations, including 21 CBS, 11 The CW, three MyNetworkTV and four stations not affiliated with major networks.
About CBS Corporation CBS Corporation is a mass media company with constituent parts that reach back to the beginnings of the broadcast industry, as well as newer businesses that operate on the leading edge of the media industry. The Company, through its many and varied operations, combines broad reach with well-positioned local businesses, all of which provide it with an extensive distribution network by which it serves audiences and advertisers in all 50 states and key international markets. It has operations in virtually every field of media and entertainment, including broadcast television (CBS and The CW — a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment), cable television (Showtime and CSTV Networks), local television (CBS Television Stations), television production and syndication (CBS Paramount Network Television and CBS Television Distribution), radio (CBS Radio), advertising on out-of-home media (CBS Outdoor), publishing (Simon & Schuster), interactive media (CBS Interactive), music (CBS Records), licensing and merchandising (CBS Consumer Products) and video/ DVD (CBS Home Entertainment). For more information, log on to www.cbscorporation.com.
About Cerberus Capital Management Established in 1992, Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is one of the world’s leading private investment firms with approximately $22 billion under management in funds and accounts. Through its team of more than 275 investment and operations professionals, Cerberus specializes in providing both financial resources and operational expertise to help transform undervalued companies into industry leaders for long-term success and value creation. Cerberus is headquartered in New York City, with affiliate and/or advisory offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, London, Baarn, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Osaka and Taipei. More information on Cerberus can be found at www.cerberuscapital.com.
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October 16, 2006
Austin's KEYE-TV news broadcasts part of Yahoo deal
A news release from Yahoo
CBS Television Stations, a division of CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS) (NYSE:CBS.A), and Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO) today announced an exclusive video syndication agreement in which local news video from 16 of CBS’s owned stations, including KEYE in Austin, will be made available on Yahoo! to the Internet’s largest news audience.
The relationship, which begins tomorrow, marks the first video agreement between a network-owned television station group and an Internet news provider. CBS and Yahoo will share revenue from advertising sold adjacent to CBS Stations’ content on the site.
“Local news has become one of the most important pieces of a user’s online news experience, and this agreement brings some of the best local TV journalism to the millions of Yahoo! News users,� said Scott Moore, head of news and information, Yahoo! Media Group. “One of our key priorities is to offer our users relevant and high-quality local news in each market, and with CBS we’ve found a partner that deeply understands the issues most important to the communities they cover.�
Yahoo! News users will have access to 10 to 20 local news video stories per day, from each of the 16 markets. The video includes breaking news stories, as well as other locally-focused features and reports.
“This is the first of its kind for a local TV station group — our local TV station video will now be available to millions of Yahoo! News’ users everyday, providing them with our CBS Station’s extraordinary local news coverage from every one of our markets,” said Jonathan Leess, President, CBS Television Stations Digital Media Group. “Finding new platforms to distribute and monetize our industry-leading content has always been a core strategic initiative of our company, and this deal accomplishes both.”
Yahoo! will highlight the local video to users who select a city or zip code within a CBS owned station market. The video will be station-branded and can be found on the Yahoo! homepage (http://yahoo.com) and throughout Yahoo! News. On Yahoo!’s local news pages, video will also include links to the station’s website where users can view additional local video and stories.
Yahoo! News has exclusivity among major news website aggregators to the CBS Television Stations video content, and CBS will be the exclusive provider of local news video from their markets to Yahoo! News. The agreement covers 16 of CBS’s owned stations that are part of the CBS Television Network and have local news operations, including:
New York (WCBS) Los Angeles (KCBS) Chicago (WBBM) Philadelphia (KYW) San Francisco (KPIX) Boston (WBZ) Baltimore (WJZ) Salt Lake City (KUTV) Dallas (KTVT) Minneapolis (WCCO) Miami (WFOR) Denver (KCNC) Sacramento (KOVR) Pittsburgh (KDKA) Austin (KEYE) Green Bay (WFRV)
