On New Year’s Day 2022, longtime San Diego journalist Don Harrison started the new year with one less job responsibility at San Diego Jewish World, an online daily news website he founded in 2007.
In 2022, for the grand total of $1, Harrison sold ownership to Jacob Kamaras, who had the title of managing editor. Kamaras, who also was working at the time as a public relations executive, became publisher and editor, while Harrison became editor emeritus.
Now, effective New Year’s Day 2024, Harrison has reacquired ownership of the website and resume his role as publisher and editor. He said the sales price of the reacquisition is $2.
“I think it is only fair that Jacob should make a 100 percent profit,” quipped Harrison to Times of San Diego. “Jacob gave me a one-dollar bill with George Washington’s face. I’m giving Jacob a two-dollar bill with Thomas Jefferson’s face.”
Kamaras plans to focus his energies on his family and J Cubed Communications, an international PR firm representing an array of Jewish nonprofit organizations and other clients.
“As a young father and full-time public relations professional, I simply don’t have the bandwidth to also put out a daily Jewish news publication,” Kamaras said. “Luckily, Don was ready to step back in.”
“Jacob is a valued friend and colleague,” Harrison said. “I look forward to the fact that our paths will continue to cross many times in his capacity as a public relations representative for some very important Jewish organizations.”
Harrison, considered a leader in the local Jewish community, founded San Diego Jewish World with his wife Nancy after a career in news reporting stints that included the Associated Press, The San Diego Union, San Diego Jewish Press-Heritage and San Diego Jewish Times.
Harrison began his journalistic career in 1962 with the UCLA Daily Bruin, eventually becoming that paper’s managing editor. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in political science, Harrison joined the Associated Press, serving in its Los Angeles and Sacramento bureaus and on the New York foreign desk.
In 1972, he was hired as politics writer of The San Diego Union, remaining in that position until 1980, when he joined L. J. Cella in establishing the public relations firm of Harrison & Cella. He also covered the 1982 gubernatorial race between Tom Bradley and George Deukmejian for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner.
In 1983, he served as communications director for San Diego’s Acting Mayor Bill Cleator, during which time he handled media arrangements for the visit to San Diego of Queen Elizabeth II. He also helped establish the San Diego Cruise Industry Consortium, for which he later served as executive director as owner of The Harrison Enterprises, an independent public relations firm.
Specializing in tourism accounts, Harrison helped found Old Town Trolley Tours of San Diego in 1989, and served as that company’s general manager.
Missing journalism, Harrison became a volunteer writer for the San Diego Jewish Press-Heritage, rising through the ranks to become its editor and co-publisher with Norman Greene.
After the Press-Heritage and Jewish Times folded because of insufficient advertising, staff members of both publications suggested the “Jewish Sightseeing” website that Harrison then maintained be converted into a Jewish news site to serve the San Diego Jewish community.
“I have never intended San Diego Jewish World to be a profit-maker,” Harrison said. “Rather, it has been my way of providing a service to the Jewish community and to assure that the Jewish people continue to have a voice in San Diego.”
Again at the helm of San Diego Jewish World, Harrison said he plans to “beef-up our coverage of San Diego County’s Jewish community, as well as those in the rest of the United States, in Israel, and around the globe.”
He plans to launch a daily email newsletter that features summaries and links to recently posted San Diego Jewish World news stories.
He also is hoping that the website will provide news content from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, an international news agency and wire service that primarily covers Judaism- and Jewish-related topics and news. Described as the “Associated Press of the Jewish media,” the wire service serves Jewish and non-Jewish newspapers and press around the world as a syndication partner.
Harrison said, “JTA understands the Jewish point of view and the nuances of Judaism and applies it across the board to its news content.”
Harrison has published nine books about finding Jewish life in unlikely places, the first being “Louis Rose: San Diego’s First Jewish Settler and Entrepreneur” in 2005, and the most recent being a three-volume examination of Jewish life and accomplishments called “Schlepping and Schmoozing Along the Interstate 5.”
He also has written “77 Miles of Jewish Stories: History and Anecdotes Along Interstate 8” that features stories related to Jewish history, settlement or people at each freeway exit along a 77-mile stretch of I-8 from Pacific Beach to the Imperial County line.
The 78-year-old Harrison said, “I’m feeling good and very energetic,” despite a series of health challenges in recent years. He has recovered from heart surgery, knee surgery and a brain operation to remove a benign tumor. “I believe I’m on the other side of those serious health issues,” Harrison said.
Former KPBS GM Tom Karlo Rescuing Sacramento’s CapRadio
Tom Karlo was hoping for a return to a relaxing, retirement in the new year. But, it’s “not yet” for the retired general manager of KPBS, San Diego’s public broadcasting TV and radio stations.
Karlo, who spent 47 years at KPBS, including the last 12 years as GM, agreed last summer to interrupt his retirement, which began in December 2020, to rescue Northern California National Public Radio affiliates from financial ruin.
Since August 2023, Karlo has served as interim president and GM of Capital Public Radio, known as CapRadio, with studios at Sacramento State University.
When he arrived, Karlo faced a budget deficit that included $3 million in unpaid bills from the past two fiscal years, along with several years of outstanding rent owed to Sacramento State and nearly zero dollars in operating reserves. Construction of a new downtown headquarters was a year behind schedule.
“CapRadio is still dealing with difficult financial issues,” Karlo told Times of San Diego. “We are still having challenging cash flow issues due to previous budgets not meeting expectations.”
In the past six months, Karlo said he has initiated staff layoffs and cancelled a number of locally produced shows. In September, Karlo said he expected the CapRadio board of directors to appoint a new president and general manager by the end of 2023.
“Well, not yet,” Karlo said. “I have been commuting since Aug. 15, and it looks like I will stay through the end of April, maybe the first couple weeks of May.
“I have made numerous changes in the workflow and the size of the staff. Unfortunately, we had to reduce staff from 103 to 75. We also have streamlined operations and made programming changes.”
On the positive side, Karlo said recent ratings have been moving higher for CapRadio’s two NPR-affiliated radio stations, including news-talk KXJZ-FM 90.9 and jazz-and-classical music KXPR-FM 88.9. Cap Radio also operates North State Public Radio, two stations owned by Chico State University.
“Our cumulative audience is up by 4%,” he said. “Our TSL (time-spent-listening) and AQH (average-quarter-hour, an audience indicator) numbers are both up by 33%. Membership and vehicle donations are up, too.
“My goal from day one has been to get a handle on the operating budget, balance the budget and find a level playing field from where CapRadio can go forward. My focus has not been on the past. It’s taking a little longer to stabilize the situation so that CapRadio can move forward. We are making progress, but it is going to take time.”
Crowe PR Adds Trace Materials as Client
Crowe PR, a San Diego-based public relations and digital agency, has announced the addition of Trace Minerals to its client roster.
Crowe PR said it will focus on increasing consumer awareness, emphasizing the importance of trace minerals and the brand through media relations, thought leadership and influencer marketing initiatives for the Roy, Utah-based provider of health supplements that help people achieve and maintain the idea level of trace materials in their bodies.
“Our goal is to help as many people as possible achieve the ideal level to quality of life,” said Scott Boyson, VP public relations and events, Trace Minerals. “We’re confident our partnership with Crowe PR will help us reach and educate more on the importance of trace minerals for optimal health.”
Trace Materials products are available through Amazon, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Kroger and GNC.
“Most people don’t realize the profound impact trace minerals can have on their health and well-being,” said Anna Crowe, Crowe PR founder and CEO. “As an organization focused on positively impacting lives, we are thrilled to partner with a health-minded company that’s committed to optimizing wellness. We’re looking forward to leveraging our strategic integrated PR approach and media relationships to drive visibility and growth for Trace Minerals and get their fantastic products into the hands of many more consumers.”
Marketers Are Optimistic Heading Into 2024
U.S. ad spending will strengthen in 2024 due in large part to ad dollars pouring in from political and Olympic spending.
Total ad spend is expected to grow by 9% in 2024, compared to just 3% in 2023, according to a forecast by Moffett-Nathanson, an investment and research firm firm, as reported by Inside Audio Marketing, an industry trade news outlet.
Meanwhile, nine in 10 local advertisers plan to keep budgets steady (69%), or increase them (21%), according to a survey of 2,000 local ad buyers and agencies conducted by Borrell Associates, as reported by Inside Radio, an industry trade news outlet. Just 10% plan to spend less in 2024.
Also, 37% of Borrell survey respondents plan to try something new in 2024, including search engine marketing, banner ads, mobile texts and streaming audio.
“Many businesses were still flailing when it comes to marketing,” Corey Elliott, Borrell executive VP of local market intelligence told Inside Radio. “They weren’t increasing budgets because things were working. They’re increasing them because things didn’t work. They’re trying new things.”
Also, WARC Media, a publisher of Admap and the Journal of Advertising Research, global marketing investment is set to increase by 8.2% in 2024 to top $1 trillion for the first time.
WARC Media also said, for the second consecutive year, nearly two-thirds (64%) of marketers cited an economic recession as having the biggest impact on marketing strategies in 2024, reported Inside Radio. Additionally, 41% cite inflation and cost-of-living increases as the biggest challenges ahead in 2024.
TikTok and YouTube will receive the biggest increases in marketing spend in 2024, while one-third of marketers (31%) plan to decrease investment in X, formerly Twitter, which would be the highest decrease in the past three years.
Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly on Mondays in Times of San Diego.
