EXCLUSIVE: Coastal Living swaps editors

Also, ex-Southern Accents editor departs Southern Progress

Lindsay BiermanSara PetersonLess than 2 years after becoming editor of Coastal Living magazine, Lindsay Bierman is swapping his magazine title and job title. Media of Birmingham has learned that Bierman, shown at left, will become deputy editor of Southern Living on Monday. The move was announced in a company e-mail sent Wednesday (included below).

He had previously been editor of Cottage Living for just a few months before Time Inc. closed the publication.

Coastal Living’s executive editor Sara Peterson, shown at right, will succeed him as editor. The magazine debuted a redesign in 2009.

It’s the second editor change in less than 6 months at Birmingham-based Southern Progress Corporation, after Cooking Light’s swap in September.

All four titles are part of Southern Progress.

Also mentioned in the memo is the departure of Entrée’s editor Karen Carroll, who had also served as editor of Southern Accents before it folded in August. She leaves the company March 31 after 22 years at Southern Progress. Succeeding her is senior editor Alice Doyle.

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The e-mail announcement from Time Inc. Executive Vice President Sylvia Auton …

Date: Wed, 24 Feb 2010 09:17:57 -0500

To: Lifestyle Group Colleagues

From: Sylvia Auton

Re: New Lifestyle Editorial Appointments

I am pleased to announce that Lindsay Bierman has been appointed Deputy Editor of Southern Living, effective March 1st. Sara Peterson will succeed Lindsay as Editor of Coastal Living.

Lindsay is a multi-talented editor who over the last year has developed Coastal Living with great creativity, intelligence and vision. All who work with him admire and respect his tremendous zeal and innovative thinking. Lindsay, who has spent more than half his adult life in the South, joined the company 14 years ago as the first Homes Editor at Coastal Living and served as Executive Editor at Southern Accents before moving to Cottage Living and then back to Coastal Living.

Last fall Eleanor Griffin and her staff restaged Southern Living, which is the country’s 5th largest monthly consumer magazine, to great reader and advertiser acclaim. In his new role, Lindsay will team up with Eleanor to build on this strong momentum.

On Lindsay’s recommendation, Sara, who has served with distinction as his Executive Editor, will also assume her new role on March 1st. A superb talent, Sara was instrumental in honing and executing last year’s redesign and re-launch of Coastal Living. Prior to being named Executive Editor in 2008, Sara had been the Homes Editor of Southern Living. Before moving to Birmingham, she spent six years in New York, where she was the Lifestyle Editor at Redbook and a Senior Editor at Family Life.

Separately, Karen Carroll, Editor of Entrée, a magazine created exclusively for Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, has decided to leave the company at the end of March. Karen’s keen, sophisticated eye was evident throughout the pages of both Entrée and Southern Accents. Karen began her career at Southern Accents as an intern in 1987 and rose to Editor in Chief by 2001, a position she held until that magazine’s closure last year; she added responsibility for Entrée in 1998. Highly respected and admired by the industry and her peers, we thank her for her commitment and contribution over the past two decades and wish her well in the future.

Alice Doyle will succeed Karen as Editor. Prior to joining the company in 2001 as Homes Editor of Southern Living, Alice had previously worked in New York at Saks Fifth Avenue, Women’s Wear Daily, and Elle. As Karen’s right hand at Entrée and Southern Accents, her fashion insights, expertise, creative talent and extensive industry contacts have been invaluable in raising the profile of Entrée.

Please join me in congratulating Lindsay, Sara and Alice on their new positions and wishing Karen the very best.

Sylvia

• • •

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More coverage of Southern Progress Corporation.

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Read more Birmingham media updates.

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iPhone app review: BlazeRadio

BlazeRadio is the student-run, commercial-free Internet-only radio station for the University of Alabama at Birmingham. It runs 24 hours a day with two streams: popular and classical.

The station added a new way to listen in January: through your iPhone or iPod Touch with the free BlazeRadio app.

QueCentric, a Birmingham technology consulting firm, built the app.

Birmingham-based iPhone developers Josh Grenon and Brian Cauble served as our guest reviewers.

What was your overall experience?

Josh: Good.

Brian: The overall experience was good. This was also a very simple app that allowed you to listen to the two radio stations at UAB and get news about BlazeRadio.

Do you get the sense that this is a custom app, or a “skinned” app for various sister outlets?

Josh: This is definitely a custom app.

Brian: It felt like a custom app.

As a radio consumer, what did you like? What would you add?

Josh: I like that the music plays quickly and easily. I would add more UAB specific information about BlazeRadio such as names of the DJs.

Brian: I’m not sure there is much to add. The app serves the purpose of the station.

As an app developer, what did you like? How would you improve it?

Josh: I like the simple interface. I’d put a feature into the app to enabling sharing of the radio on social networks like Twitter and Facebook. I would also add a way for users to e-mail feedback to the radio station.

Brian: I liked that the streaming was good. It wasn’t choppy at all. You could improve it by offering a better music selection and maybe a sports-only station.

Since it’s a free app, would you pay money for it? How much? Why or why not?

Josh: I would not pay money for this application because it is not feature complete.

Brian: I would not pay for this app.

• • •

Our other iPhone app reviews: the CBS 42 app and the Fox 6 app.

• • •

Josh GrenonJosh Grenon (@joshgrenon) is a .Net developer by day and an iPhone developer by night. He started developing iPhone applications — such as Bham iCamp — in early 2009. Josh is also executive producer of Inspirageek, a casual yet informative video blog for geeks, and founder of user group Birmingham Mobile Tech.

brian caubleBrian Cauble (@briancauble) is the co-owner of Appsolute Genius, an iPhone application development company in Birmingham. His other interests include promoting local entrepreneurship through Birmingham Entrepreneur, participating in social media and a huge attachment to college football.

• • •

Read more Birmingham media updates.

Have a news tip? Let us know!

Photos from Going (to) Rogue

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Our first mixer of the year was a big success, with more than 20 MOBsters in attendance at Rogue Tavern downtown. Thanks to Bob Farley of f8 Photo for the photography.

David and James

David and James

Tom and Stacey

Tom and Stacey

Kathy, Susan, Sally

Kathy, Susan, Sally

Lauren and Janet

Lauren and Janet

David and Javacia

David and Javacia

Lindsey and Kevin

Lindsey and Kevin

Kevin and Amber

Kevin and Amber

Emily and Crystal

Emily and Crystal

Lauren and Janet

Lauren and Janet

Rick and Tom

Rick and Tom

Wade and Jeff

Wade and Jeff

• • •

See more photos from other MOB events.

iPhone app review: Fox 6

More and more TV viewers are seeing the news, not from traditional 5-6-10 p.m. broadcasts, but from online and other sources. Two Birmingham stations have custom apps for the iPhone (which are also compatible with the iPod Touch and soon-to-arrive iPad).

In this post, we review Fox 6’s free iPhone app.

Birmingham-based iPhone developers Josh Grenon and Brian Cauble served as our guest reviewers.

Fox 6 app news Fox 6 app weather

Fox 6 iPhone app: News and Weather tabs

What was your overall experience?

Josh: Great! Great user experience!

Brian: Overall, the experience was mixed. The interface is clean and understandable, but features such as sharing stories are very awkward.

Do you get the sense that this is a custom app, or a “skinned” app for TV station affiliates?

Josh: This application could be skinned to various TV stations. I would recommend that other TV stations use this type of application for their news.

Brian: This definitely feels like a skinned app. It seems like an app intended to be used by many affiliates with minor changes.

Fox 6 app videoAs a news consumer, what did you like? What would you add?

Josh: I liked the main categories listed in each tab: news, videos, weather and traffic. Those are the first categories I would look for in an iPhone news application. I liked that no ads were in this application. [Note: A later upgrade has added advertisements, as shown in the screenshots, taken after the review.]

Brian: I liked the ability to have sports and movie information. I would add more local video content for sports and traffic accidents.

As an app developer, what did you like? How would you improve it?

Josh: I had a great user experience with this application! I love the use of the tab bar control to separate the news categories! The only thing that would improve this application would be the Three20 icon menu used in the iPhone Facebook application; this would allow more categories on the front screen when the application starts.

Brian: Not much. The app has way too basic of a look and feel. I would improve the aesthetics and allow users to customize which topics are most important to them.

Since it’s a free app, would you pay money for it? How much? Why or why not?

Josh: I’d pay 99 cents for this application.

Brian: I would not pay for it. It would need two features to be worth paying for. First, it needs to be customizable. People want customizable news content from a local source. Second, it needs push notifications. People would like to be notified when breaking local news happens.

• • •

Our other review: the CBS 42 iPhone app.

• • •

Josh GrenonJosh Grenon (@joshgrenon) is a .Net developer by day and an iPhone developer by night. He started developing iPhone applications — such as Bham iCamp — in early 2009. Josh is also executive producer of Inspirageek, a casual yet informative video blog for geeks, and founder of user group Birmingham Mobile Tech.

brian caubleBrian Cauble (@briancauble) is the co-owner of Appsolute Genius, an iPhone application development company in Birmingham. His other interests include promoting local entrepreneurship through Birmingham Entrepreneur, participating in social media and a huge attachment to college football.

• • •

What should Birmingham media outlets do online?
Ask our all-star panel on Feb. 16.

iPhone app review: CBS 42

More and more TV viewers are seeing the news, not from traditional 5-6-10 p.m. broadcasts, but from online and other sources. Two Birmingham stations have custom apps for the iPhone (which are also compatible with the iPod Touch and soon-to-arrive iPad).

In this post, we review CBS 42’s free iPhone app.

Birmingham-based iPhone developers Brian Cauble and Josh Grenon served as our guest reviewers.

cbs42 app news cbs42 app weather

CBS 42 iPhone app: News and Weather tabs

What was your overall experience?

Brian: My experience was actually very positive.

Josh: Clunky.

Do you get the sense that this is a custom app, or a “skinned” app for TV station affiliates?

Brian: I know that it is a skinned app, but it has the feel of a custom app.

Josh: I think this can be a skinned app. It seems that only a few view images and data have to be changed for this app to be used for another news station.

cbs42 app video

As a news consumer, what did you like? What would you add?

Brian: The organization was really well done. I found it easy to navigate. I would add the ability to customize the categories.

Josh: I liked the different types of news in this application. There was everything from horoscopes to video news. I wouldn’t add any else to the news.

As an app developer, what did you like? How would you improve it?

Brian: I think the app is laid out well and very attractive. The video quality could be improved a bit. I would allow users to log in to Facebook or Twitter and store that login to make sharing easier.

Josh: As an app developer, I am very disappointed in this application. It seems like the developer spent too much time designing the top menu bar. Also the top menu bar was horribly placed at the top of the screen; it would be much easier to navigate if it were placed at the bottom. The rest of the app did not get as much attention as the top menu bar did, and so my overall user experience suffered. I would also remove all ads to improve this application.

Since it’s a free app, would you pay money for it? How much? Why or why not?

Brian: I would pay as much as $1.99 for it. It is a much better experience than a mobile Web site.

Josh: I would pay 99 cents for this application to remove all ads.

• • •

Our other review: the Fox 6 iPhone app.

• • •

brian caubleBrian Cauble (@briancauble) is the co-owner of Appsolute Genius, an iPhone application development company in Birmingham. His other interests include promoting local entrepreneurship through Birmingham Entrepreneur, participating in social media and a huge attachment to college football.

Josh GrenonJosh Grenon (@joshgrenon) is a .Net developer by day and an iPhone developer by night. He started developing iPhone applications — such as Bham iCamp — in early 2009. Josh is also executive producer of Inspirageek, a casual yet informative video blog for geeks, and founder of user group Birmingham Mobile Tech.

• • •

What should Birmingham media outlets do online?
Ask our all-star panel on Feb. 16.

February event: Media Outlets Unleashed

Update: See photos from this event.

What are Birmingham media outlets doing right in new media? How can they improve, and make money at it?

Join us for our panel discussion:

Our moderator:

Join us on the Samford campus for lunch, networking and a lively discussion with your questions.

  • 11:30 a.m.-noon — Networking
  • Noon-1 p.m. — Panel

Invite your friends and colleagues in media (print, broadcast, online, etc.), public relations, advertising and marketing.

Special: First five registrants can buy 2 tickets for the price of one!

Please RSVP by Thursday, Feb. 11, 5 p.m.

Note: You must RSVP for this event. Late fee is $20; fees go to W Social Marketing.

Please RSVP by Thursday, Feb. 11, 5 p.m.

Special thanks to our sponsors, Samford University Brock School of Business and W Social Marketing. Also thanks to J&M Photography and Design for shooting this event.

Questions? Contact us or leave a comment.

Samford University Brock School of Business W Social Marketing

P.S. Please join our free mailing list for all the updates straight to your In box.

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Fox 6’s Bill Bolen retires

Anchorman Bill Bolen, a fixture in Birmingham television and radio for 56 years, signed off today after 41 years with Fox 6. The 81-year-old Selma native ended his long career on the morning show “Good Day Alabama.”

Gov. Riley declared today as “Bill Bolen Day.” Mayor William Bell presented him with a key to the city.

Bolen graduated from the University of Alabama with a bachelor of arts degree in radio arts. He served in the Air Force and worked different positions in Birmingham radio, including at WSGN (610 AM). He started on television with CBS affiliate WBMG (now WIAT) in 1965, joining WBRC-6 in 1969.

General manager Lou Kirchen said [video]:

In a time, when we may believe that chivalry is dead, we only have to look at the life of Mr. Bolen to know that’s not so. He will be long remembered for his generous smile, his deep, warm voice, his sense of humor, his faith and its manifestation in his commitment to our community. We are really going to miss you Mr. B.

Bolen received the American Cancer Society’s Life Inspiration Award in 1997 after surviving his own bout with the disease.

• • •

Read more Birmingham media updates.

Have a news tip? Let us know!

EXCLUSIVE: Birmingham News executive editor Hunter George to retire in April

Hunter George is stepping down at the Birmingham News on April 30. The newspaper’s executive editor sent an e-mail to his newsroom colleagues on Wednesday to announce his departure:

At the end of April, I plan to retire after 42 years in the newspaper business. That career includes

  • covering Jane Fonda while getting pepper-gassed at the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach,
  • interviewing Otis Redding, Little Richard and B.B. King,
  • covering one Super Bowl and two Orange Bowls,
  • enticing 30 Miami cops to leave their duty posts and meet me at the FOP hall to complain about the chief,
  • covering a Beatles concert,
  • covering two plane crashes,
  • covering the 1972 Senate race in Florida,
  • supervising 150 summer interns,
  • working 40 election nights,
  • taking a call from Jimmy Cagney at 8:30 on a Sunday morning,
  • and telling the executive editor of The Miami Herald that there was nothing going on one morning and having him respond: “There’s plenty going on; you just don’t know about it.”

What we journalists do is more interesting than what most people do. It has been a privilege to work with you for the past 12 years. I shall think of you all fondly and I promise to call whenever I see a typo.

The News has seen several changes at the top, most recently the arrival of new publisher and president Pam Siddall. Also, buyout offers have been made to the entire staff, with the deadline extended till March. Parent company Advance Publications will end its “no layoffs” pledge at the end of next week.

No word on if or how George’s position will be filled.

• • •

Read more Birmingham media updates.

Have a news tip? Let us know!

EXCLUSIVE: Kyle Whitmire, Birmingham Weekly part ways

Media of Birmingham has learned that columnist Kyle Whitmire is leaving Birmingham Weekly after 9 years with the publication. Whitmire characterized it as a mutually agreed upon split.

His final War on Dumb column will appear in Thursday’s issue, while his last official day will be Sunday. Whitmire covered city politics, winning several awards for his coverage. Most recently, he reported on the federal trial of former mayor Larry Langford and the resulting special election.

Whitmire was also the principal architect in bhamweekly.com’s current site design. He was most recently featured as the subject of the cover story, “Fighting City Hall,” in B Metro magazine, discussing how he wants to be remembered someday:

“I have this revenge fantasy that centuries from now an historian or archeologist will find what we’ve written in the Weekly and wonder, ‘Why weren’t these people in charge?’ So whenever I think no one is reading what I’m writing, I say to myself that I’m writing for posterity. Someone might mistake ‘War on Dumb’ for the Dead Sea Scrolls.”

He’s also a co-founder of Media of Birmingham.

Whitmire declined to reveal his immediate plans, other to stay in Birmingham.

Update Jan. 27: Whitmire offers an instant history lesson in his final column

At the turn of the 21st century, Birmingham pined to be more like Atlanta. Little did it know it was well on the way toward making that nightmare come true.

The city ended the decade as it had every one before, as the “city of perpetual promise.” Some perceived this as an indicator of incessant failure. Others, rightly, knew its true meaning — the city of perpetual hope.

Also, Whitmire penned a farewell note via Facebook:

I’m incredibly grateful for my time at the Weekly and the opportunities it has given me. For the last nine years, I’ve been able to cherry-pick my assignments and I’ve had the editorial latitude to have a point of view as a columnist — things I never would have had at any other media, at least not at such an early stage in my career.

Whatever happens next for me, my time at the Weekly made that possible.

Plus, AL.com sports producer Dennis Pillion has his theories about the sudden departure of the Weekly’s best-known columnist.

• • •

Read more Birmingham media updates.

Have a news tip? Let us know!

January event: Going (to) Rogue

Update: See photos from this event.

  • Tuesday, Jan. 19
  • 5:30-7 p.m.
  • Rogue Tavern, 2312 Second Ave. N., downtown [map]
  • Free, but you must RSVP (else, $10 late fee)

It’s either the latest 2009 Election Day or the earliest one in 2010. Either way, celebrate the end of campaign season with a drink before covering the election returns.

Start the new year with fun and networking with Media of Birmingham!

We’ll meet at Rogue Tavern downtown.

Invite your friends and colleagues in media (print, broadcast, online, etc.), public relations, advertising and marketing.

Please RSVP by Monday, Jan. 18 (MLK Day), noon.

Note: You must RSVP for this event. Late fee is $10 + service charge; fees go to W Social Marketing.

Please RSVP by Monday, Jan. 18, noon.

Special thanks to our sponsor, W Social Marketing.

Questions? Contact us or leave a comment.

W Social Marketing

P.S. Please join our free mailing list for all the updates straight to your In box.

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