Aaron BLANK

KIRO TV Seattle Expands its 11 PM Sunday Newscast to a Full Hour

Aaron Blank — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 22:46:06 +0000

KIRO TV recently announced that it is expanding its 11 pm newscast to a full hour making it the first station in the Seattle market to air a 60-minute broadcast in that hour.

Puget Sound Business Journal Managing Editor Leaves for Reuters

Aaron Blank — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 22:35:53 +0000

Seattle journalist Al Scott has left the Puget Sound Business Journal for Reuters. Al recently appeared on KUOW’s Weekday program which confirms the move here: Weekday Website. Al is now the financial industry editor at Reuters. He’s the former managing editor of the PSBJ. He was a business projects reporter at The Seattle times prior to his time at the business journal.

KVI 570 AM Seattle to Flip to Talk Radio as Smart Talk 570 KVI

Aaron Blank — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:42:41 +0000

On January 3, 2012, oldies KVI 570 AM will once again become a talk radio station under its new ‘smart talk’ format. The station’s new tag line will be Smart Talk for a Sound Life, featuring lifestyle, health, local and entertainment news.

At the start of 2011, station management flipped the station from a conservative talk show format to an oldies concept.

Radio show host Mark Christopher and KOMO 4 (ABC-Seattle) TV’s Elisa Jaffe will start the day with Sunrise Seattle. The station will pick up Clark Howard, Phil Hendrie, Scott Carty and others. The radio station is owned by Fisher Communications.

Mary White Leaves ‘Fitz in the Morning’, Ellen Tailor to Replace Her

Aaron Blank — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 13:50:31 +0000

News to me but not so recent to most everyone else. Looks like Mary White has left ‘Fitz in the Morning’ on KKWF 100.7 FM. Taking her place is Ellen Tailor, the co-host of ‘Gravy in the Morning’ in Lansing, Michigan. You can follow her journey to Seattle on her Facebook page. She starts in Seattle in December.

Seattle News Anchor Lily Jang to Leave Q13 Fox; Announces Her Departure on Facebook

Aaron Blank — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:34:41 +0000

Mark Wright, now Lily Jang. Lily announced yesterday evening that she is leaving the TV station after 11 years in Seattle. Here is her Facebook post:

“After 11 wonderful years in Seattle…I’m leaving Q13 and moving home to Houston. My immigrant parents worked their entire lives for my brother and me and gave us our American dreams. Now that dad’s facing Parkinson’s, I’m leaving a job I love for my family that comes first. The next chapter is still unwritten…”

Earlier this month, HuffPost named Lily a Twitter powerhouse. Perhaps social media is a part of her future? Just speculating and just saying: http://www.myfoxspokane.com/news/kcpq-twitterpowerhouse-lily-jang-20111101,0,2023670.story.

If you want to connect with Lily online, send her a tweet here: www.twitter.com/lilyjang.

Best wishes to you, Lily! Good luck in your next role. Houston is very lucky to get you back!

Deserves Recognition: Issaquah Press Earns Top Honors as Best Community Newspaper in Wash.

Aaron Blank — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:34:39 +0000

I recently spent a number of days working with the Issaquah Press team helping them gain information — so I was pleased to hear that the paper was named the best community newspaper in the state. Here is the story. Congrats Issaquah Press!

Patch Hits Seattle Market

Aaron Blank — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 12:59:41 +0000

Over the last year, Patch has made its mark in the Puget Sound region. In simple terms, Patch is a new way to find out about, and participate in, what’s going on near you. It is a community news site run by locals in your town.

Patch’s website says they are a community-specific news and information platform dedicated to providing comprehensive and trusted local coverage for individual towns and communities.

They say they want to make our life better by giving us quick access to the information that’s most relevant.

Patch’s website says they make it easy to:
•Keep up with news and events
•Look at photos and videos from around town
•Learn about local businesses
•Participate in discussions
•Submit your own announcements, photos, and reviews

Patch is run by professional editors, writers, photographers and videographers who live in or near the communities it serves. In the Puget Sound / Seattle area, here are the people behind it:

Patch – Issaquah, Brad Wong, Editor, brad.wong@patch.com
Patch – Edmonds, Heidi Dietrich, Editor, heidi.dietrich@patch.com
Patch – Bellevue, Vinice Buhain, Editor of Bellevue Patch, venice.buhain@patch.com
Patch – Bonney Lake / Sumner,Lauren Padgett, Editor, lauren.padget@patch.com
Patch – Enumclaw, Dan Kearney, Editor, dan.kearney@patch.com
Patch – Gig Harbor, Akiko Oda, Editor, akiko.oda@patch.com
Patch – Kirkland, Greg Johnston, Editor, Greg.johnston@patch.com
Patch – Lakewood, Marques Hunter, Editor, marques.hunter@patch.com
Patch – Mercer Island, Kendall Watson, Editor, kendall.watson@patch.com
Patch – Redmond, Caitlin Moran, Editor, caitlin.moran@patch.com
Patch – Renton, Jenny Manning, Editor, jenny.manning@patch.com
Patch – Shoreline / Lake Forest Park, Tony Dondero, Editor, tony.dondero@patch.com
Patch – University Place, Brent Champaco, Editor, brent.champaco@patch.com
Patch – Woodinville, Annie Archer, Editor, annie.archer@patch.com

(*Please note that this list will likely change often and it will become outdated over time.)

Former Q13 News Anchor Mark Wright Joins KING 5′s News Team

Aaron Blank — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 06:25:48 +0000

I was just reading Facebook when I came across Mark Wright’s Facebook page. This is what it said:

“Today was my first day on the job at KING 5 (I start anchoring next Monday). What a fun day it was! On my way home tonight, “Welcome to the Home Team” was still ringing in my ears. Everyone in every department said that to me with a smile and handshake. I realized that it’s not just a slogan there. It’s something much deeper. Can’t wait for Monday!”

Then I found this on KING’s website.

“Mark Wright loves getting up early and he really likes waking people up. Now he’ll do that on KING 5 Morning News.

Wright will join fellow anchor Joyce Taylor, meteorologist Rich Marriott and traffic reporter Tracy Taylor 4:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. on KING and 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on KONG. His first day will be Labor Day, Sept. 5.

“This is a big job and we were looking for someone who viewers in Western Washington will invite into their homes every morning,” Mark Ginther, executive news director said. “We talked with a number of people, and we believe Mark’s community roots and standing will be a real asset to us. We are thrilled to have someone with his experience joining our team.”

Wright is a native of Seattle but grew up on his family’s organic vegetable farm in Whatcom County. He attended Ferndale High School and Washington State University, where he fell in love with broadcasting. His professional broadcasting career began while attending the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, where he worked as a reporter and anchor for the university-owned public radio station.

After graduating, Wright worked as a reporter and anchor in Spokane and then Salt Lake City before returning to Seattle in 2003 to work at KCPQ. He’s a two-time Emmy Award winner for his work as a hard news reporter and documentary producer.

Wright has multiple community commitments. He a member of the Downtown Seattle Rotary Club. The club serves those in need at home and overseas. It is the world’s largest Rotary. Mark has served on the Rotary Service Foundation Board of Directors.

He also volunteers his time to emcee various charity benefits and events around Western Washington including Food Lifeline, Junior Achievement and Wellspring Family Services.”

Welcome to the Seattle airwaves, Mark!

Seattle’s Q13 Fox News Adds 5 PM Newscast

Aaron Blank — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 23:46:41 +0000

Starting on Monday, June 27, KCPQ TV (Q13 Fox News) in Seattle will start airing a 5 pm newscast. Here is a link to their upcoming TV schedule: http://affiliate.zap2it.com/tv/q13-fox-news-at-five/EP01424849.

Q’s news anchor, Maria Arcega-Dunn, wrote this on her Facebook wall on Tuesday: “All this week we are prepping for the launch of the new 5pm news next Monday on Q13 FOX!”

Puget Sound Business Journal Names Gordon Prouty as Publisher

Aaron Blank — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 23:34:44 +0000

Gordon Prouty, the advertising director of the San Francisco Business Times has been named publisher of the Puget Sound Business Journal. He starts in Seattle on July 5, 2011. Prouty replaces PSBJ publisher Emory Thomas, who was recently named chief content officer of the entire Business Journal network.

For more info on Prouty visit the PSBJ’s story here.