Daily and Weekly Entertainment Editors and Writers Reveal Newsroom And Media Pitch Secrets And Protocols
Entertainment Publicists Professional Society (EPPS)Sponsor media workshop on publicity trends and protocols in pitching weekly and daily entertainment publications.
Hollywood, CA (PRWEB) October 9, 2004
“Story ideas come from all kinds of places, some of the best ones come from my teenagers, but I prefer an email pitch that’s fast, fun and intriguing,” Entertainment Editor Rob Lowman of the Los Angeles Daily News told a about 150 PR pros at a PR Newswire Entertainment Publicists Professional Society (EPPS) sponsored workshop recently (9-23-04) at the Wyndham Bel Age Hotel, West Hollywood. “I don’t need to be flattered and never start your pitch off with ‘let me take a few minutes of your time,’ because I get hundreds of emails daily.
The Daily News is the largest paper of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group (LANG) - others are Long Beach, San Gabriel, Pasadena, Whittier, Ontario, and San Bernardino. (About 650,000 total daily circulation). The Daily News provides the overwhelming bulk of the entertainment coverage with combined sections on Friday and Sunday. “I have a DVD column, and on I write on studios and TV Networks. All of our stories go out on New York Times wire,” he said.
Los Angeles Newspaper writers phone numbers and email-everyone's email is first name. last name. com as in Robert. lowman@dailynews. com. All the phone numbers are 818-713-extension. Sandra Barrera - Music, General Assignment, Extension: 3728; L. Evan Henerson - Theater, Film, General Assignment, Extension: 3651; David Kronke _ Television. Extension: 3638; avidkronke@Aol. com; Val Kuklenski - Television, General Assignment, ext: 3750; Rob Lowman _ Entertainment Editor, DVD Columnist, Cherry Picker, ext: 3687; Fred Shuster - Music, General Assignment, ext: 3676; Bob Strauss _ Film, ext: 3670; Glenn Whipp _ Film, ext; 3672; Eric Noland _ Travel Editor, ext: 3681; Natalie Haughton _ Food Editor, ext: 3692.
“Email is definitely the best way to pitch us,” said Kevin Bronson and Scott Sandell – both Deputy Editor, Calendar Weekend, Los Angeles Times, which is the most read section of the national newspaper with a total circulation of 914,584. Calendar and Calendar Weekend sections, covering Los Angeles-area entertainment, lifestyle, and recreation; Health (Monday), covering consumer health and fitness trends, healthcare news, and medical research updates; Food (Wednesday), offering cooking advice and recipes and reviewing southern California restaurants; and Homes (Thursday) covering home design, decorating, and consumer electronics. “We need about a three week notice, especially for Calendar stories,” said Sandell. “Breaking news hopefully in the morning by 11:00 with a heads up,” said Bronson. Contact info: Kevin. Bronson@latimes. com; 213-237-5324 Scott. Sandell@latimes. com; 213-237-5324.
“We need a two-week notice at the Daily Breeze and the stories need to be about artists that live in the south Bay or about national acts coming to Los Angeles,” said Corey Levitan, Daily Breeze, entertainment writer and columnist; Hollywood Correspondent for New York Post. Levitan covers all music and split film with Jim Farber. Both can be reached at: corey. levitan@dailybreeze. com and Jim Farber - jim. farber@dailybreeze. com. “You should email your pitch with my name and if you call me and you’re reading a script I will hang up on you. Our circulation is 80,000.”
“We have the second most read newspaper in Los Angeles,” said Entertainment Editor Antonio Mejias-Rentas, La Opinión. “We developed a relationship with the Tribune Company this year, which had owned 50 percent of La Opinion for a few years. The Lozano family (Lozano Enterprises) that owns it, formed a new company called ‘Intermedia that now owns both La Opinion and La Prensa, one of the oldest Spanish language newspapers in the country in New York City. The company is about to announce the acquisition of another Hispanic newspaper soon.” Mejias Rentas prefers email pitches and contact: (213) 896-2065 Email: Antonio. Mejias@laopinion. com. Other contacts: Brenda Camberos, assignment editor (213) 896-2067; Victoria Infante, La Vibra editor (213) 896-2034 and Alicia Morandi, Life and Style editor (213) 896-3260.
“We very Orange County, rarely cover Los Angeles, but we do cover Long Beach, and I have a detailed voice mail explaining out to get a hold of me,” said Rich Kane, music editor, OC Weekly (714/550-5900, rkane@ocweekly. com) one of seven alternative weeklies owned by the Village Voice media, which also owns the LA Weekly. “We don’t rely on publicists, because we have a full time staff,” said Kane.
“Email news releases are the best way to get my attention,” said Deborah Vankin, book and restaurant editor, LA Weekly. “A hard press kit, the book and materials should be mailed later. I spend a half hour at the end of the day clearing out my voice mailbox, sorry. Our circulation is 224,000.” Contact info: Best way is by phone: 323-465-9909. Other contacts: Tom Christie – Senior Features Editor – tchristie@laweekly. com; 323-465-9909; John Payne – music editor; jpayne@laweekly. com; 323-465-9909 and Jonny Whiteside – music calendar listings; jwhiteside@laweekly. com.
“We prefer email pitches and I like to have a weeks notice on pitches and our daily deadline is by 11:00 a. m.,” said Entertainment Editor Mariana Caballero, HOY El pulso de nuestra gente, which is a sister newspaper of the Los Angeles Times. The Hispanic daily, which began last February already has a subscription exceeding 250,000 readers. Contact info: 213-237-4567 Tel.: (213) 237-4567. Email: mcaballero@hoyllc. com. “We have two great sections: HOY (Weekly Entertainment Guide) / Farandula (Showbiz Breaking News),” said Caballero.
“Email is also best for pitching our staff,’ said Phillip Zonkel, staff writer, Long Beach Press Telegram. “I get a lot of pitches from rock bands. Tell me why these people are important, why se should waste my time and get me the details up front. I need a least one week notice and two weeks is better.” First contact by email, pzonkel@earthlink. net; then phone, 572-499-1258; third snail mail: 604 Pine Ave., Long Beach, CA 90844. Other contacts: Marlene Greer, features editor, 562-499-1253; Alessandra Djurklou, theater writer-critic and food editor, 562-499-1252 and Al Rudis, restaurant editor, 562-499-1255.
The Press-Telegram is a 100,000 circulation daily paper covering Long Beach and several surrounding communities in LA and Orange counties (San Pedro, Wilmington, Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Cypress, Hawaiian Gardens, Norwalk, Downey, Cerritos, Lakewood, Artesia, and La Mirada). The audiences are very diverse, with large Latino, black, Cambodian, Anglo, and gay populations. Our daily features-entertainment section, "U," shares copy with our six other sister papers - LA Daily News, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star News, San Bernardino Sun, Whittier Daily News and Inland Daily Bulletin. Total circ is 650,000.
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