KGO-TV crew robbed, beaten in East Oakland

Channel 7 reporter Tomas Roman was thrown to the ground at gunpoint and photographer Stan Wong was robbed of his camera while reporting in an East Oakland neighborhood, according to the Chronicle and Oakland Tribune.

Roman and Wong had finished interviewing neighbors in the 600 block of Capistrano Drive about efforts to find homes for a pack of severely abused pit-bull dogs when they were approached by two men at about 7:10 p.m. Thursday.

One threw Roman to the ground, pointed a gun at him and threatened his life. The other armed man confronted Wong and beat him with a gun.

The robbers ran away with Wong’s Panasonic P2 video camera. The victims were taken to a hospital.

"We're very grateful they were not seriously injured. They're doing fine,” said Kevin Keeshan, KGO-TV news director.

Keeshan said the robbers would have a difficult time selling or using the specialized Panasonic P2 camera.

"They won't be able to pawn it or take home movies with it," Keeshan said.

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KDFC's ratings surged before format flip

Classical KDFC had its best ratings of the year a month before it was replaced at 102.1 FM with simulcast of San Jose’s KFOX, the latest report from Arbitron shows.

KDFC had a 3.9 for the holiday period, up from 2.4 in November.

On Jan. 18, Entercom Communications announced that it had sold KDFC to the University of Southern California, which owns a Los Angeles classical station, KUSC 91.5. Entrecom bought two noncommercial FM frequencies (KUSF 90.3 in San Francisco and KNDL 89.9 in Napa County) and gave them to USC in the swap. However, neither station has much power compared to the old KDFC, and USC wants to increase the power of KUSF and buy a station the South Bay to bring classical music back to that area.


KDFC’s numbers in December were likely bolstered by the playing of classical Christmas songs.

A Christmas music worked for Lite Rock KOIT-FM 95.6, which dominated the ratings during the holidays with a 9.0 rating, up from 8.1 last year during the same period.

KOIT switches to all Christmas music in November, a format that is becoming increasingly successful year after year.

Without the Christmas music stunting, the leader would have been KCBS All News, which checked in at 6.0. KQED-FM 88.5 was third with 4.8.

The rest of the Top 10 were:

4. KGO-AM NewsTalk 810 (4.4) 

5. KMVQ Movin' 99.7 (4.3) 

6. KYLD WiLD 94.9 (4.1) 

7. Classical KDFC 102.1 (3.9) 

8. KMEL 106.1 (3.4) 

9. Univision’s KBRG Recuerdo 100.3 (3.4) 

10. KISS-FM 98.1 (3.3)

These ratings are for all listeners ages 6 and above. Advertisers use ratings for particular demographics rather than the overall numbers.

CBS Radio’s Movin 99.7, which played dance music, moved on to a new format this month, as well. The station’s new name is Now! 99.7, and it’s playing Top 40 hits with artists such as Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Ke$ha, Beyonce, etc.

Among the big radio companies, Clear Channel stations had a combined 17.8% share of the cumulative ratings, with 16% for Entercom and 15.4% for CBS.

The complete list can be found at www.radio-info.com and stationratings.com.

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New publishers for Marin IJ, Coco Times

Wilson

MediaNews Group announced today that Matt Wilson is leaving as publisher of the Marin Independent Journal and would be replaced by David Rounds, former publisher of MNG's Contra Costa Times. In addition, Rounds will serve as vice president in charge of circulation for MediaNews Group in the Bay Area.

MNG described the moves as a "management realignment."

Today's announcement said that Wilson, 54, of Berkeley, will be "leaving the newspaper to pursue other opportunities."

Wilson had been executive editor of the IJ from 2004 until 2008 when he was promoted to publisher. He spent 22 years at the San Francisco Chronicle, serving as managing editor, executive editor, associate publisher and executive vice president for news.

Rounds

Rounds, 60, of Livermore, has served for more than two years as president and publisher of Bay Area News Group East Bay — including the Contra Costa Times and Oakland Tribune — for MediaNews Group, parent company of the Independent Journal.

Before that he was vice president of circulation for the Contra Costa Times for more than seven years and had financial and operational responsibility for several East Bay newspapers, including the West County Times, the Valley Times, the Antioch Ledger and the San Ramon Valley Times.

Tully

In today's statement, MNG's top executive for the Bay Area, Mac Tully, said he wanted "a real heavy hitter" to replace Wilson.

UPDATE, 5:10 P.M., JAN. 28: Mac Tully will be replacing Rounds as publisher of the Contra Costa Times, Oakland Tribune and other East Bay papers operated by MediaNews Group, those papers reported Friday afternoon.

Tully had been overseeing Rounds as publisher of the East Bay papers before the move. The newspaper group said it hopes the moves will help it operate more efficiently.

"We are trying to combine and utilize resources in the best way we can," Tully said.

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Merc investigations editor moves on to Medill

Tulsky

Rick Tulsky, investigations editor at the Mercury News, is joining the Medill School of Journalism at Northwest University as its director of a new "watchdog/accountability initiative." Tulsky will "lead development of an initiative that will involve students, faculty and local organizations in identifying systemic flaws in government and public institutions and empowering citizens with the kind of knowledge that leads to change," according to a statement from Medill. Tulsky is one of the Merc's most honored staffers, having shared a Pulitzer in 1987 when he was at the Philadelphia Inquirer. He was also a Pulitzer finalist at the LA Times and Merc.

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California Watch creates distribution network

California Watch, a project of the Center for Investigative Reporting in Berkeley, has created a distribution network for its stories, giving its reporters a larger audience than the project's website and its relationship with KQED. It also gives CalWatch a new source of revenue besides grants and memberships.

The network will include the San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee, San Diego Union Tribune, Orange County Register, Bakersfield Californian, and the Fresno Bee.

“It’s our hope that many more news organizations, both large and small, will join us in the coming months," said California Watch Editorial Director Mark Katches. They're looking for both newspapers and broadcasters to sign up.

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Columnist questions Patch.com's purpose

Nicholas Carlson of Silcon Alley Business Insider has posted a scathing column about Patch.com, the chain of hyperlocal websites. From Carlson's column:

AOL now has about 800 Patch editors nationwide. The number is supposed to swell to 1,000 by year end. Each editors makes $40,000 to $50,000 per year. Add in payroll taxes and some benefits and you have to figure Patch's people alone cost AOL around $50 million each year. 

What is AOL getting for this money? About 3 million unique visitors per month, according to the New York Times. 

That is an absurdly small number. 

By contrast, Gawker Media, with a headcount around 120, reaches around 30 million people each month, according to Quantcast. ComScore says the Huffington Post has 25 million unique visitors each month. 

The question that must be driving Armstrong and Patch boss Warren Webster nuts is: Why is Patch's traffic so low? 

Critics attack Patch's content as "piffle," too boosterish, irrelevant, or amateurish. 

All of that may be true, but it's not the real problem. The real problem with Patch is that no one needs it.

Carlson goes on to question the wisdom of Tim Armstrong, the chief executive of Patch's parent company AOL.

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Yee gets death threats after criticizing Limbaugh

State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco who has introduced bills to expand press freedom, is receiving death threats after asking Rush Limbaugh to apologize for mocking the Chinese language.

One fax received by Yee showed a graphic of an American flag adorned pickup truck dragging a noose.

The faxes that were sent to Yee’s office today also state (with misspellings):

FIGHTING The Marxist Nigger Thug Hussein Obama & Fish Head Leeland Yee To: JoBama Rectum Sniffing Moron LEELAND LEE Achtung! Fish Head Leeland Lee. Rush Limbaugh will kick your Chink ass and expose you for the fool you are. Without exceptions, Marxists are enemies of the United States Constitution! Death to all Marxists! Foreign and Domestic!

“It is quite disturbing that such racist sentiment still exists in our country,” said Yee. “As I have said in the past, it is unfortunate acts like these that demonstrate why we must continue to be vigilant against hate and intolerance. Such vitriol has no place within our political discourse or anywhere in our society.”

The expletive-laden faxes contain graphics and language similar to messages Yee receive in April 2010 after he called for Sarah Palin’s speaking fee at California State University to be disclosed. The Pima County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona contacted Yee regarding the April faxes and a possible connection to faxes found during the investigation surrounding the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

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Broadcasting legend Carter B. Smith dies

Longtime long-time Bay Area radio personality Carter Blakemore Smith died Monday after a battle with a brain tumor. He was 74.

Known on the air as Carter B. Smith, he got his start as an intern on KSAN-AM (1450) in the 1950s before joining Berkeley's KRE (then 1400 AM and 102.9 FM) and KSFR (then 94.9 FM) a few years later. He parlayed his experience into a role as sidekick, foil and substitute for Don Sherwood at KSFO. In all, he worked three separate stints at KSFO over the years, according to his biography at the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame.

Among Carter's greatest accomplishments was his effort in 1982 to publicize the need to restore San Francisco's landmark cable cars, the bio said. In addition to taking an 18-hour marathon ride on "Cable Car 68" to raise funds for the restoration effort, he appeared on radio stations from coast-to-coast (and around the world via shortwave) to increase awareness of the venture. His interests were varied and wide-ranging, and included aviation history and ham radio (Carter's amateur license was K6CWM).

Always a listener favorite, he later moved on to KNBR, KFRC (in its Magic 61 incarnation) and KABL.

Smith was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame in 2007 and here are some of his airchecks.

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