Media Frenzy

May 06 2008 – Petite leaving WPMI Leon Petite, who has covered Baldwin County for WPMI-TV for the past several years, has decided to leave his nearly 20-year journalism career for a job outside the news business.

Apr 22 2008 – A local family with members suffering from Cerebral Palsy will get a housing renovation courtesy of WALA/WBPG as part of the station’s "Operation Renovation." Brenda Killian, of Mobile, was selected for the renovation.

Apr 08 2008 – WALA FOX 10 officials say the recent February "sweeps" period brought good news – the Mobile/Pensacola market’s top ratings.

Mar 25 2008 – Sean Sullivan fans, your long nightmare is nearly over.

Mar 11 2008 – Glenn Austin’s struggle to clear his name has ended after he agreed to settle his lawsuit with WKRG-TV for accusing him of plagiarism.

Feb 25 2008 – The search for Anissa Centers’ replacement is over, as WALA-TV 10 announced Lenise Ligon Feb.

Feb 12 2008 – The search to replace Anissa Centers at WALA has ended. Lenise Ligon is the new face who will be sitting next to Bob Grip at FOX10.

Jan 28 2008 – While the four children tragically thrown from the Dauphin Island Bridge were recently laid to rest last week, a bit of fallout from the coverage of the story lingers on.

Jan 15 2008 – This past week was one of the times I’m glad Lagniappe doesn’t have the responsibility for providing the daily blow-by-blow on local events.

Jan 01 2008 – According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the Mobile Press- Register continues to see a slight erosion of its circulation figures, although nowhere near what other dailies are seeing.

Dec 18 2007 – It was a particularly busy year in local media news, with at least a couple of events that qualify as being unprecedented.

Dec 04 2007 – More changes are afoot at WNSP as Wayne Gardner reportedly will sign aboard The Pirate.

Nov 20 2007 – The fallout from the firing of Neal McCready from WNSP last week continues, and it looks like at least one other longtime local radio name may land at the sports station.

Nov 12 2007 – Two longtime voices on Mobile radio were removed from the airwaves last week as Scott O’Brien and Michael Sloan lost their spots on local Clear Channel stations.

Nov 06 2007 – Even more changes are coming to the local airwaves as reporters continue to come and go.

Oct 23 2007 – Some of Mobile’s most recognizable television names are flying the coop. In this Media Frenzy, we say goodbye to a number of telejournos.

Oct 19 2007 – After 11 years in the Port City, WALA’s Anissa Centers is leaving the FOX affiliate and heading with her family to Atlanta.

Oct 12 2007 – WPMI’s senior reporter Bruce Mildwurf becomes the latest long-time employee to leave the NBC affiliate.

Oct 09 2007 – Sean Sullivan’s new venture with "The Pirate," Glen Austin sues WKRG and Current ain’t so current anymore.

Oct 02 2007 – Longtime morning radio fixture Sean Sullivan has made his final broadcast for WZEW-FM and will be heading to "The Pirate."

Sep 25 2007 – I was reading an article the other night about the coming changes in the newspaper and magazine businesses and how sooner or later newspapers like the one you’re holding in your sweaty little hand will have all gone completely online.

Sep 11 2007 – To borrow the type of pun reporter Varion Walton might choose, WPMI’s weekly "Restaurant Scorecard" has some local restaurateurs feeling indigestion lately.

Aug 28 2007 – After a nationwide search, it seems WPMI found its new morning anchor standing behind it’s sports desk, as Pat Greenwood takes over mornings.

Aug 14 2007 – After just three-and-a-half months, WPMI-TV anchor Raquel Eatmon has left the station, saying she is returning to the Midwest.

Aug 03 2007 – After just three-and-a-half months, anchor Raquel Eatmon is leaving WPMI-TV, the latest in a mass exodus from the NBC affiliate.

Jul 31 2007 – It seems the old is now new again. WPMI radio, 710 AM officially switches its call letters back to WNTM as of Aug.

Jul 17 2007 – As this column is generally dedicated to covering the constant hirings, firings, comings and goings at WPMI and other local media organizations, the probing eye of "Media Frenzy" is seldom turned back upon this little rag.

Jul 03 2007 – Allyn out Sources inside WPMI-TV say reporter Richard Allyn is no longer with the station, following the arrest of his roommate Daniel Leonard two weeks ago on charges of sending "terrorist threats" to the station.

Jun 19 2007 – Authorities arrested Daniel R. Leonard Friday for sending a rash of threatening e-mails to the employees of WPMI. Leonard is the roommate of WPMI reporter, Richard Allyn.

May 30 2007 – A rather racy edition of the new Press-Register publication Current caused a reprint last week and left the daily trying to distance itself from its "niche" publication.

May 22 2007 – It looks like WALA is back on the market, and WPMI has its new news editor.

May 04 2007 – WPMI News Director Joe Raia has resigned, the latest in a string of changes at the local NBC affiliate.

Apr 25 2007 – WPMI Sold The shifting sands that make up the Mobile media scene continue to, well, shift.

Apr 10 2007 – 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.

Mar 28 2007 – It seems Paul Finebaum’s show has been "snaked" out of the Mobile market – at least for a little while as Ken Stabler’s new program debuts in the Port City.

Mar 23 2007 – Finebaum "snaked" out of his spot in the local market as Stabler’s new show takes his place at WPMI 710 AM.

Mar 13 2007 – Omaha’s alternative newspaper is reporting Greg Peterson will replace Peter Albrecht, one of the three anchors fired March 9 by WPMI-TV.

Mar 11 2007 – There was a bloodbath at WPMI Friday March 9 as three of the station’s main anchors were abruptly fired after the evening broadcasts.

Mar 06 2007 – After six years together running WABB-FM’s morning show, Matt McCoy and Jay Hasting abruptly resigned together March 2, citing "irreconcilable differences" with the station’s new management.

Feb 27 2007 – The local advertising community recently had its annual awards ceremony honoring the best of the past year’s campaigns.

Feb 13 2007 – Just months after winning an Emmy Award, longtime WKRG reporter Glenn Austin is out of a job after being accused of plagiarizing a news story that ran on the station’s Web site.

Jan 30 2007 – While it didn’t have the citywide reverberations of Inetta Da Moodsetta’s on-air quitting, WZEW’s morning show comedian Jolene Roxbury took leave of Mobile’s independent rock station Jan.

Jan 16 2007 – Mobile has received a couple of different mentions in the national media recently; one positive and the other just positively strange.

Jan 02 2007 – Many may have noticed some advertisements in the local daily newspaper concerning the transfer of Clear Channel stock to something called BT Triple Crown Merger Co.

Dec 19 2006 – I have to admit when I first heard about "Lockdown Shout outs," my skepticism was palpable.

Dec 05 2006 – Mobile radio’s loss may be Tinseltown’s gain. Longtime WABB FM radio personality Cherish Lombard has left the station’s morning show to pursue an acting career in Hollywood.

Nov 21 2006 – Viewers who’ve grown accustomed to having WPMI chief meteorologist David Glen guide them through hurricane landfalls and summer showers may be saddened to know he has accepted a job in Chattanooga.

Nov 08 2006 – When national daily newspaper circulation figures were made public recently, publishers nationwide lamented yet another plunge in readership, this time to the tune of a 3.4 percent decrease in Sunday circulation.

Oct 25 2006 – WABB FM’s morning show crew recently spent 59 straight hours on the air asking women to take off some of their most private garments, but it wasn’t some sort of raunchy radio stunt.

Oct 10 2006 – "Hound Dawg" passes The man known as the "Hound Dawg" died last week, leaving many grieving listeners and former co-workers.

Sep 27 2006 – There’s a new head honcho on Azalea Road. WPMI TV-15 announced last week that Bob Franklin has joined the station as vice president/general manager.

Sep 13 2006 – Morning talk radio host Shane McBryde’s most recent stint on the local airwaves ended abruptly Sept.

Aug 29 2006 – The last few days have brought good media attention to the Mobile area in the way of a very positive Wall Street Journal article highlighting the post-Katrina boom, and a positive piece in Parade magazine featuring advances in the Mobile County school system.

Aug 16 2006 – Just a bit over a year after arriving here, WPMI and WJTC vice president and general manager Donita Todd has been promoted to the same position with WOAI in San Antonio.

Aug 01 2006 – In 2005, satellite radio companies XM and Sirius claim to have increased their subscriber base by more than 4.9 million people, and are starting to liken their rise to the success of cable television in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

Jul 19 2006 – NBC’s hottest show is coming to the Port City looking for potential contestants who want to make a deal.

Jul 05 2006 – It seems for the past several years, as we draw closer to mid summer, there’s a drastic increase in the use of sunscreen and the application of media stories on Global Warming.

Jun 21 2006 – The Federal Communications Commission’s "Equal Time" clause has been invoked in the race for the Alabama’s First Congressional District, causing Rep.

Jun 06 2006 – Hey, did you know Hurricane Season is here? Don’t answer that.

May 23 2006 – It’s awards time in the news business, and the Alabama Press Association recently announced the winners of its Better Newspapers Contest.

May 09 2006 – This issue marks a bit of a landmark for this publication – it is our 100th.

Apr 26 2006 – The long, tedious saga concerning who would eventually own WZEW 92-FM finally came to a close two weeks ago when Ken Johnson and dot.com media were awarded the right to purchase the station, pending FCC approval, according to Barry Wood, the station’s former owner.

Apr 11 2006 – Media Frenzy Big changes at HOT 104, and the ZEW.

Mar 29 2006 – It looks like Alabama’s oldest newspaper will be changing its name and mixing a few other things up in the coming weeks.

Mar 14 2006 – If you’ve got legal questions but don’t want to shell out the shekels to consult an attorney, or if you’re itching for someone to talk to late on Sunday nights, WPMI TV-15 may have a new show for you.

Mar 01 2006 – WZEW morning show regular Jolene Roxbury is making pretty big splash these days – big enough, in fact, to land her a gig at a Kendall Jackson wine convention in California this summer.

Feb 14 2006 – While the devastation of Hurricane Katrina brought many a New Orleanian fleeing to the Azalea City, it seems the destruction will be drawing one of Mobile’s media leaders back to the Big Easy.

Feb 06 2006 – WALA General Manager Vanessa Oubre is leaving the local FOX affiliate to head back to New Orleans.

Jan 31 2006 – By Rob Holbert Managing editor Mr. Hillyer is going back to Washington.

Jan 18 2006 – The exodus of longtime employees continues at WHIL, Mobile’s fine arts public radio station.

Jan 04 2006 – The beginning of a New Year is the time to look forward and think about ways in which our local media can better itself.

Dec 21 2005 – WPMI reporter Bruce Mildwurf and photojournalist Mike Corry were selected for one of the most prestigious broadcast journalism awards in the country recently, as they were one of 13 winners of the 2006 Alfred I.

Dec 07 2005 – lagniappemobile.com This fine publication has been rolling along now for three-and-a-half years, and during that time, we’ve managed to pay almost no attention to our Web site.