Results tagged “media”

While it was initially rumored that NBC might kill the ratings-challenged Trauma, word is NBC decided to pick up the medical/explosions show.

What's being described as a "major bloodbath," both the Los Angeles and San Francisco Current offices plan on snipping 80 employees, which will bring their entire staff to somewhere around 300. This comes on the heels of news that Al Gore's media company will become more YoutTube-ish. That is to say, shorter videos produced my non-employees.

Under the impression that online internet world wide webloggers are swiping their golden nuggets of wisdom without linkage, SFGate recently infused their site with inane cross-scripting nonsense that automatically adds a url link when you copy/paste any of the Gate's content. Basically, it's like a teddy bear cam for writers who use their site. It is, for lack of a better word, retarded.

This sticker was spotted on a bus stop at Union and Van Ness this morning on a 2012, advertising what seems like a site with a serious discussion of Mayan mysticism, Maya-Portal.net.

SF Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll had this to say this morning regarding Gavin Newsom and the discreet charm of underage men.

Still in its embryonic stage, please join SF Appeal's Eve Batey and your SFist editor at 4 p.m. today for SF Views, live from the stained heart of SOMA! It's an interwebs show about -- you guessed it -- San Francisco. And other stuff.

A "polarizing" figure in the SF food community, Meredith Brody was a memorable one during her tenure at SF Weekly. Yesterday, Eater tell us, Brody parted ways with SF Weekly.

Although we find this season particularly listless -- for reasons we can't put our finger on, exactly -- Top Chef will return for another cycle of fast-paced cooking and egregious under-salting. And with that, Bravo will hold open casting calls for folks interested in competing in the foodie competition. Chefs in the Bay Area interested in trying out, listen up: season Top Chef auditions will happen on Sunday, October 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Parlor at 2801 Leavenworth.

After 70 years in print, Gourmet magazine will call its November issue its final one. While rags like Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country (oh, come on, the latter is nothing short of genius; in fact, the bizarre cakes featured on the inside back covers are getting framed and tastefully displayed in our kitchen this week!) have turned our attention away from the Conde Naste magazine devoted to gastronomical delights and travel writing, it is/was an institution. Alas. Eater has more on the publication's depressing demise.

Yesterday, rumors were swirling like a tweaker with glo-sticks that Energy 92.7, the city's preferred dance station with a gay bent, will come to an end. Turns out said rumors are, sadly, true. While calls to 92.7 have gone unanswered, word is that the station's new owner is a homophoobic meanie who stomps on puppies and rainbows. Or something like that.

New York publication of note Vice -- that glossy, in-your-face magazine that features stinky Brooklynites wearing too-tight clothing and interviews with depressed music bands -- has come out with a very special San Francisco issue. In addition to featuring an interview with (former?) San Francisco resident Chis Daly ("If San Francisco were a giant, sprawling asshole, Chris Daly would be the inflamed hemorrhoid that just won’t go away"), they have an adorable neighborhood section (which balls out blows away 7x7 Magazine's bizarre and questionable neighborhood issue), a brilliant slam of Baghdad by the Bay that reads us to filth ("Would you like to be part of an entire social movement to extinguish and gentrify a once cosmically diverse metropolis?"), and of course, a section on our city's sourdough bead-like famous gay population. Be sure to pick up a copy at your nearest dive bar/compact disc resale store. Or, better yet, check it out online.

Here's some days-old news for you to chew on, folks. In a move that has some editors at The Chronicle defecating in their hermetically-sealed bubble, both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times plan on printing special San Francisco editions. (Brittle wit and over-labored angles, anyone?) In a strategy to win over fresh readers and advertisers, both publications are looking "to capitalize on the contraction of regional papers." And where better to start than in San Francisco, home to alleged progressiveness and people who don't own televisions. “'It's a highly educated, internationally minded audience, and our research out there shows there’s a market need for a quality news product,'” said Paul Bascobert, chief marketing officer of Dow Jones Consumer Media Group, the unit of the News Corporation that includes The Wall Street Journal, who plan on released SF editions in November or December of this year. Rick Edmonds, a media business analyst at the Poynter Institute, said, “I think the San Francisco area is the most obvious market to try this in, because it’s big, it’s sophisticated and it’s getting progressively more poorly served by its papers.” Oh snap. NYT, however, would not comment on plans for a scheduled SF release.

Next to La King, Ross McGowan is one of our favorite local on-air personalities. Why? Because he smolders. Also, that low, appropriately condescending voice of his makes "Mornings On Two" that more special. And just look at those arms and broad shoulders! He's the kind of guy you would've wanted to split a baggie and open a bottle of poppers with back in the day. Smart dashing.

Hollywood producer and Vanity Fair scribe Dominick Dunne died today at 83. Self-described as a "a high-class Zelig," Dunne is best known for writing about the "courtroom travails of the rich and famous." He is also also known as the father of the Dominique Dunne, the actress who played the older daughter in Poltergeist, who was murdered by her boyfriend. Dunne "vented his anger at the legal system in Justice: A Father's Account of the Trial of his Daughter's Killer, following the murder trial of John Sweeney, the estranged boyfriend who strangled 22-year-old Dominique Dunne, in 1982. Sweeney spent fewer than three years in prison." Dunne died after battling cancer.

While news of another batch of layoffs at the Chronicle isn't particularly newsworthy in this economy, the California Media Workers Guild posted the following missive yesterday.

On Sunday, if you recall, there was no BART strike, a surprise twist that all but crippled Bay Area media. The unanimous (and somewhat iffy) angle on the strike aversion was that you, the public, thwarted the strike with looming fears of violent strike outrage.

In an effort to become "more of a true Web publication," the AP English class of the interwebs, Salon.com, laid off six editorial staff members. CEO Richard Gingras confirmed to Gawker that the online publication chipped away three editors, one writer, one photo editor, and one producer. The only name identified of the fallen six is culture editor Joy Press. Heather Havrilesky, we can only pray to God, will still remain with Salon after its facelift. Forever. She is, after all, a national treasure, one of the few literate folks who can write about TV without making you want to rip off your eyelids. She's that good. (And, of course, there's this.) Anyway, good luck out there, ex-Saloners.

SFGate 'City Bright' Rich Lieberman has word that, behind the joy that is Darya Folsom and Gary Radnich in the morning, turmoil is brewing behind the scenes at KRON 4. (Which would make sense since they've got creditors on their tail, filed for bankruptcy, can't find a decent buyer, and have an estimated worth between "$150M and $200M.") According to Lieberman, "Three independent sources said the relationship between staff personnel and news management; notably news director, Aaron Pero and assistant news director, Stacey Baier, couldn't be more 'toxic.' The sources, who have been at the struggling SF TV station for several years, requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the story." (Gulp.)

       

NBC's gripping drama Trauma did a little bit of filming at One Bush this morning. While there were no choice star-sighting on the wattage level of SF First Lady Jennifer Siebel -- remember: let Jennifer be Jennifer, you Hollywood bastards -- it was still quite the scene for little ol' downtown San Francisco.

by Chris Jones

Our favorite society photog, Drew Altizer, has dipped his toes in iIl linguaggio del cinema (which, for those of you not in the know, è universale), and his latest effort is this surf punk-infused montage of 's Best of the Bay Party.

SFist Jonathan sent us this image of some sort of movie shoot happening in the Mission today. He explains, "There's a huge film shoot setting up on Valencia between 20th and 21st -- like 6 trucks, 2 motor homes, huge generators, scads of crews running around." Glamorous!

Yes, it's an inflated news story, if you can call it that. Just like San Francisco politics, it's a story that interests and affects journalists and their wonk pals more than the average citizen. But Supervisor Chris Daly's move to Fairfield has set real journalists hearts and keyboards aflutter.

Two-time Olympic figure skating gold medalist Brian Boitano makes his Food Network debut next month. Taking a cue off of that South Park song that made him a household name, it's called What Would Brian Boitano Make? (Our guess? Probably protein shakes and lots of meat, or whatever else it is that sports types eat.) The Food Network describes the new show like this: "Brian hosts unpredictable get-togethers at his San Francisco home and creates amazing menus focusing on innovative but accessible dishes. He feeds an all-girl roller derby squad, plays matchmaker for a friend, wins over his handyman’s supper club, and plans a surprise party celebrating new motherhood." Needless to say, we're very excited to see this. Not only will it mark the return of our favorite figure skater, but it also means the Food Network stopped hiring hosts with -- how should we put this? -- unique physical attributes.

In an effort to get Californians safe access to affordable mary jane, the above pro-marijuana commercial will air on "several cable news channels and network broadcast affiliates" in LA, Sacramento, and the Bay Area.

Sad news, handful of you. The Printed Blog, the newspaper (leaflet?) that plucked items from the world wide web and printed said posts on paper, is now dead. Founded by Josh Karp six months ago, the idea of this interesting yet bizarre publication, as TechCrunch's John Biggs put it, was "akin to pressing MP3 podcasts onto vinyl for those who still used a Technics turntable." But, due to lack of investor and reader interest, the blog that you could find at a newsstand is no more. If you'd like to check out the Printed Blog on your personal computer device, you can "download" issues of it here.

      

For those of you who still read print editions of newspapers, did you happen to see 's latest makeover? To be blunt, it looks downright lovely. The font, the sharper images, the cozier size -- all of it works. Much better than the previous format, we think. You know, if print issues are your thing.

Is Bravo's new show, School Livid About Bravo Reality Show").

Last night. before a vigil for Current TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who are currently serving a 12-year jail sentence in North Korea for illegally crossing the border, the inmates' husbands spoke out about their conditions. The news was disheartening.