Media Frenzy

By Rob Holbert Managing Editor

They say spring is a time for change, and if all the moving and shaking going on in the local media scene is any indication, the adage is still quite apt. It seems like almost everyone is either bidding someone farewell or good riddance and welcoming new blood. To whit:

WABB’s new guy

WABB 97.5 FM found a new morning show host to help fill the hole created when longtime morning airwave staples Jay Hasting and Matt McCoy left the station in March.

John Marty started with the station April 9 and joins co-hosts Q-Tip and Mena during the morning show. Marty was most recently with WCPR 97.9 FM in Biloxi and also did mornings at WXYK 107.1 FM in that market. He also worked at New Orleans’ B-97 FM.

Marty attended Auburn University and has strong Mobile roots, as his father and grandparents are both from this area.

New WPMI anchor

A former beauty pageant winner and anchor at a Dallas CBS station is the second shoe to drop in WPMI’s total replacement of its evening and nighttime anchors. Raquel Eatmon starts as co-anchor April 16, joining Greg Peterson. The two replace Drexel Gilbert, Peter Albrecht and Kim McCrea who were fired abruptly last month.

Peterson and Eatmon will anchor the 5, 6 and 10 p.m. news broadcasts together.

Frye joins WKRG

Chris Frye will join WKRG-TV effective April 16th, as a weekend sports anchor/reporter. Frye comes to the Port City from Rockford, Ill., where he worked as a sports reporter and anchor at WREX.

Frye also has worked at KARK in Little Rock, Ark. He is a native of Rison, Ark., and earned a B.S. in Mass Communications from The University of Central Arkansas.

New at FOX 10

Two new reporters have joined WALA-TV 10. Joe Emer and Christina Leavenworth were hired by the FOX affiliate and scheduled to start by the second week of April.

Emer last worked at WAOW-TV in Wausau, Wis., as a co-anchor on that station’s morning show, and as a general assignment reporter. He won an Emmy Award in 2006 for a report called “Political Gridlock.” He has also worked in Scottsbluff, Neb., at KDUH-TV.

Leavenworth comes from Blue Ridge Communications-TV 13 News in Pennsylvania where she’s been reporting and anchoring. She also spent some time in Accra, Ghana working as a reporter/producer/videographer. She is originally from Destin.

Anissa rules

Even with all the movement, some things don’t change. One of those is that WALA anchor Anissa Centers continues to bring home awards year after year.

She recently nabbed two impressive awards, adding to her growing list of accolades over the years. Centers won the Alabama Broadcasters Association’s Anchor of the Year Award. It was the first year the ABA has done a statewide competition.

If that wasn’t enough, Centers also won the Best Anchor Award for Region III in the National Association of Black Journalists competition. It is her second time to win the award. Region III includes Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, South and North Carolina and Tennessee.

No wonder Mobile Bay Monthly put her on its cover this month. (Maybe we need to get with the program here at Lagniappe! After all, we’ve had Bob Grip on the cover.)

Walser and Barraza Emmy

WALA reporter Adam Walser and photojournalist Franz Barraza recently won a regional Murrow Award for excellence in Investigative Reporting for a series on local physicians, the station announced last week.

The series, entitled “Disciplined Doctors,” received a regional Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA). The winner was selected from entries from Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

The report dealt with physicians who had been disciplined for outrageous and unethical behavior, some of whom still practice.

Hough and Nodar upgraded

WKRG’s Jere Hough and John Nodar have both earned the American Meteorological Society’s Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM) designation.

According to a press release from WKRG, the AMS grants the CBM designation to broadcast meteorologists who meet established criteria for scientific competence and effective communication skills in their weather presentations. The CBM is a new program, launched in January 2005 as an upgrade to the Society’s Seal of Approval program.

CBM broadcasters must hold a degree in meteorology or an equivalent and pass a written exam. They also must have their on-air work reviewed to assess technical skill, informational and explanatory value and communications skills.

Hough and Nodar join WKRG’s chief meteorologist Alan Sealls in holding the CMS designation.

Pulitzer finalist?

Former Mobile Press-Register and current Birmingham News reporter Brett Blackledge is rumored to be a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the scandals in the state’s two-year college system. Editor & Publisher magazine recently published an article listing several finalists, but the list came from unnamed sources, so nothing is etched in ink.

The list of finalists and winners is set to be released April 16, so here’s keeping our fingers crossed for the local guy.

Rob Holbert is Lagniappe managing editor. Contact him at rholbert@lagniappemobile.com.

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