Tag Archives: News

Finebaum heads to Charlotte (while ESPN looks to cut costs)

Paul Finebaum, photo for column sig SPORTSThere is no doubt we’ll still be hearing callers from throughout the southeastern United States as Paul Finebaum grows what ESPN hopes will be a national network of rabid college fans eager to share their opinions with him on the air. Tuesday saw The Wall Street Journal publish a report about Finebaum’s new deal with ESPN. The formal announcement and first appearances on the network’s television and radio networks came Thursday morning.

The news of Finebaum’s departure from Birmingham broke just hours after word leaked from Bristol, CT about a significant number of employees being laid off by “the worldwide sports leader” as a cost-cutting measure. Most of the initial cuts took place in the company’s sales and technology departments and resulted in an approximately 5% reduction in workforce but more are expected in the coming weeks. The folks at Business Insider published a chart earlier this week providing a better visual understanding of the May 21 BigLeadSports post suggesting the rising cost of live sports was a major reason for the layoffs.

Fortune.com published a story earlier today suggesting the layoffs were probably a little overdue and that the company will still continue hiring in new areas – like Finebaum’s new home come August 2014. Now, even though we do live in what many would consider the heart of SEC country, it probably wouldn’t hurt to visit getsecnetwork.com and make sure the new station has a presence in metro Birmingham come 2014.

 

Alabamians seem to like their USA Today

forbes-interactive-media-mapThe first edition of Forbes Magazine‘s interactive media map shows that Alabama – and the rest of the southeastern United States – seems to be most influenced online by news reports from USA Today. That finding might surprise some of you out there. It won’t after a quick explanation of the methodology.

The map, scheduled to be updated monthly, takes a look at those links shared using website URL shortener bit.ly at a higher average rate than the rest of the country. While it doesn’t seem to take into consideration that some news organizations use their own shorteners – or even a different service – it does help folks get a better idea at exactly what’s influencing where while backing up some long held beliefs.

We’ll see how the map changes in the coming months (provided it’s a habit that wants to be changed by area residents).

Barons announce 2011 promo schedule

New Barons primary logo - Courtesy of Birmingham BaronsNo, normally this probably wouldn’t be much of a story to share. The reason it’s even getting mentioned here today is because when their new promotional schedule was released last week, it was based on the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox playing their home games at Regions Park in 2011.

The schedule does state clearly though that dates and time are subject to change. A tentative agreement was announced recently between the city of Birmingham and the Barons to eventually play their games at an as of yet to be built ballpark in greater downtown Birmingham, leading to a less than enthusiastic response from Hoover mayor Tony Petelos.

The Birmingham Business Journal reported in October that former Barons owner Art Clarkson has offered to bring an independent league team to Regions Park if the Barons do indeed eventually move. Incidentally it was Clarkson who delivered greetings from the Chicago White Sox as part of Rickwood Field’s 100th anniversary this summer.

Franklin Biggs sells Homewood Gourmet

Franklin BiggsFranklin Biggs has sold the Homewood Gourmet to Chris and Laura Zapalowski. The popular chef announced the decision via Facebook and the front page of the Homewood Gourmet’s website on May 14, with The Birmingham News doing a story the next day.

Biggs has been undergoing treatment for throat cancer since January and as a result of treatment, he has lost his sense of taste. He is scheduled to complete radiation treatment on June 25.

According to Biggs’ note, fans of the Homewood Gourmet will be in good hands. Both Zapalowskis have experience in the kitchen; Laura once worked for Biggs while attending Samford University. The couple relocated to Birmingham after Hurricane Katrina and have both been working for Chris Hastings at Hot and Hot Fish Club (Chris as Chef de Cuisine and Laura doing editing and recipe testing on Hastings’ cookbook).

We’re just wondering about the next time he decides to make Baby Blue Salad in the back of a pickup truck.

Birmingham prepares for the Second Front

The Second Front logoKyle Whitmire introduced a new political news blog to Birmingham, AL earlier today. The site, called The Second Front , is the first of several blogs that will make up a new site called Weld for Birmingham.

It’s a new venture for Whitmire (an award-winning columnist formerly of Birmingham Weekly ) and his former editor at the Weekly Glenny Brock, who contributed to the site’s first day of stories with a post about last week’s Design Review Committee decision involving Walgreens.

This section of Weld has already collected a lot of fans via Facebook and Whitmire has been tweeting using The Second Front‘s account for a couple of months now.

Wade Kwon was able to catch up with Whitmire by phone to find out more about the new blog and the overall site and shared the answers over on Media of Birmingham while Ike Pigott wrote earlier today about whether or not it is the online newspaper that Birmingham’s been waiting for.

Former Lipstick editor wins awards

We figured with all of the talk about skirt! that we needed to let you know what was up with one the folks who used to be at Lipstick.

Laurel Mills was no doubt ecstatic last month when the winners of the 59th annual Green Eyeshade Awards, were announced. The awards are given out by the Society of Professional Journalists and acknowledge excellence in journalism in 11 Southeastern states. This year there were 17 finalists from Alabama; Mills won two of the awards in the Print – Nondaily Division for pieces written while she was serving as the managing editor of Lipstick Magazine, which folded in February 2009.

Serious commentary award for “Lauren,” published in the magazine’s May 2008 issue.

Humorous commentary award for “This One Time at Camp …,” published in the magazine’s July 2008 issue.

UPDATE: City budget to be reworked to reflect deficit (yes, deficit)

New Birmingham, Alabama logoBirmingham Weekly is reporting via its Twitter feed that the City of Birmingham‘s figures actually reflect a $17 million deficit for 2009 and not a $13 million surplus that the new budget is based upon.

Reporters from the Weekly have been at the city’s budget workshop this afternoon where the City Council has asked that the budget be reworked to reflect the deficit while fulfilling their requests to not cut salaries – among other things.

Check out their Twitter feed for additional information.

UPDATE: Birmingham Weekly has now posted their own story on these recent developments as well as a response from City Council president Carole Smitherman after hearing about the deficit.