The San Diego Press Club will celebrate its 46th annual Excellence in Journalism awards program on Tuesday evening, Oct. 29. About 500 awards in more than 180 categories will be presented to print, online and broadcast journalists and photographers.
The event will be held at the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation’s Joe and Vi Jacobs Community Center, 404 Euclid Avenue in southeast San Diego. A dozen or so restaurants, wineries and craft beer breweries will provide refreshments. Retired broadcaster Marti Emerald will serve as emcee.
At the event, the Press Club will present three special awards, including: Retired San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Roger Showley, Harold Keen Award for outstanding contributions in journalism; Bob Stefanko and Mia Park, Ranch & Coast Magazine, Jim Reiman Award for excellence in media management; Teresa Warren, TW2, Andy Mace Award for career achievements in public relations.
Showley, a third-generation San Diegan, was the newspaper’s longest tenured newsroom employee at 44 years when he retired in March 2018. He covered mostly real estate development and design after joining the paper as a reporter in March 1974. For 20 years, Showley wrote a column called “Smokestacks and Geraniums.” His beats throughout his career also included historic preservation, politics and pop culture. For a while, he was the newspaper’s designated reporter on Harry Potter stories. Showley has authored three books on San Diego’s history, including “San Diego: Perfecting Paradise,” “Balboa Park: A Millennium History” and “San Diego: Then & Now.”
Showley’s award is named after Harold Keen, who anchored San Diego’s first television news broadcast in 1949 and was described by colleagues as the dean of San Diego journalists. Keen arrived in San Diego in 1936 as a reporter for The San Diego Sun. He later worked for the San Diego Union, San Diego Magazine and KFMB-TV/Channel 8. He passed away in 1981.
Stefanko has served as owner and publisher of Ranch & Coast since April 1998. His niece, Mia Park, serves as executive editor and associate publisher. The glossy magazine, which bills itself as “San Diego’s Ultimate Lifestyle Magazine,” has won numerous awards for writing and design.
Stefanko and Park’s award is named after Jim Reiman, who served for many years as assistant news director at KGTV-TV/Channel 10. Reiman was considered an unsung hero of the profession, similar to many behind-the-scenes journalists who do not have a byline nor appear on camera. When Reinman retired, the Press Club created the award to honor enlightened media managers and the first recipient was KGTV assignment editor Jack Moorhead in 1997.
Warren, a native San Diegan with a 38-year career in marketing and public relations, opened her firm in 1992. Her clients have included commercial real estate, construction, accounting and finance, nonprofit and law firms.
Warren’s award is named after Andy Mace, former public relations manager at Pacific Telephone in San Diego. In 1971, Mace is credited with the idea of starting the San Diego Press Club. He later started his own company, Andy Mace & Associates, with an office at the Mission Valley’s Stardust Hotel & Country Club, now the Handlery Hotel. He passed away in 2009 at age 88.
This year’s awards program drew more than 900 entries, making it one of the largest journalism competitions in the nation. Judges included members of press clubs in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Rochester, Florida, Cleveland, Orange County, Milwaukee, Tulsa and Alaska.
Marty Whitney Returns to 91X
XTRA-FM 91X has announced the return of Marty Whitney who will join Danielle Stuht for the 5-to-10 a.m. morning drive timeslot starting Monday, Oct. 7.
Whitney, with more than 20 years of experience in radio, was at 91X in the early 2000s, serving as music director and nighttime host. Since then, he has hosted mid-days at 98.7-FM in Los Angeles, nights at KIOZ-FM in San Diego, mornings at KRZQ in Reno and, most recently as special programming producer for Apple Music Beats.
In a press announcement, Whitney said, “The kook has come home to roost.”
“I’ve been a fan of Marty for years and he brings a true, authentic vibe that is a perfect fit for mornings on 91X,” said Stuht.
Garett Michaels, 91X program director, said, “Marty is ideal for mornings on 91X, his enthusiasm is contagious, while his passion for the music, lifestyle and culture of San Diego is always on display. We love the positive energy he brings and we look forward to his contributions to our team.”
Digital Operative Partners with 85SIXTY
Two San Diego-based, founder-led marketing agencies have announced a strategic partnership. Digital Operative, a digital commerce agency for direct-to-consumer brands, and 85SIXTY, an agency specializes in enterprise digital media and data science, will offer clients a streamlined, multi-agency approach to develop and execute cross-channel strategies, according to a press announcement. The two firms will retain their existing names.
“85SIXTY’s creativity and data management skills have been sought after by established and emerging brands for years,” said B.J. Cook, CEO and co-founder, Digital Operative. “Adding their core competencies to our data-driven e-commerce offerings is the next logical step for our clients and business. Each company has developed expert practices that will help brands see results faster since they won’t have to oversee multi-agency partnerships. Steve has created a lively culture and we’re excited to officially team up with 85SIXTY.”
“Our experience tells us that brands shouldn’t have to orchestrate the work of multiple agencies,” said Steve Price, CEO and founder, 85SIXTY. “Taking 85SIXTY’s core strength of using aggregated data to help marketers make smarter decisions and fusing it with Digital Operative’s deep understanding of what digital shoppers want is what the industry and our clients need. We want brands to view our teams as an extension of their in-house marketing team. Formalizing this relationship with the authentic and collaborative team at Digital Operative was an easy decision.”
Fox 5 San Diego Adds 7 p.m. Weekday Newscast, Expands Weekends
KSWB-TV/Fox 5 San Diego has added a 30-minute, weekday newscast at 7 p.m. with anchors Andrew Luria and Maria Arcega-Dunn.
The station also started this past weekend an expanded nighttime newscast from 60 minutes to 90 minutes, on Saturdays and Sundays, from 10 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. with anchors Misha DeBono and Jason Sloss.
“In the past 11 years Fox 5 has nearly doubled the number of hours of local news we broadcast each week, from 32 hours per week in 2008 to 62 hours today,” said Rich Goldner, VP and news director. “These additional news hours strengthen our evening newscasts and support our continued digital growth across multiple platforms.”
“The expansion of our weeknight and late news further bolsters our station’s commitment to delivering San Diego’s most trusted news coverage,” said Scott Heath, president and GM.
Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly on Mondays in Times of San Diego.