News director leaves KITV for mainland opportunities

KITV News Director Genie Garner packed up her office and left her job at the station Friday.

Andrew Jackson, KITV president and general manager, said Garner will be "seeking future opportunities on the mainland."

Garner joined KITV in October 2009 after some similar gigs on the mainland and as a news producer for KGMB-TV from 1989 to 1991.

Managing Editor Chuck Parker will be "taking a leadership role in the interim," Jackson said.

Garner’s exit follows the departure of several veteran broadcast journalists including investigative reporter Keoki Kerr (for competitor Hawaii News Now) and weather forecaster Amber Lynn Hyden in January (for Hawaiian Airlines); online managing editor Brent Suyama in October (for the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs); reporter Darryl Huff in June (AlohaCare); anchor and reporter Dan Meisenzahl in January 2011 (state Department of Transportation); and the late 2010 retirement of reporter Denby Fawcett.

The station also has hired high-profile talent. Lara Yamada and Kenny Choi joined KITV in April and September of 2010, respectively.

As of Tuesday afternoon, six of the eight open positions on the KITV website were in the news department, though Jackson says only three positions remain vacant and that those would soon be filled.

By comparison, two of the six positions available at KGMB-TV/KHNL-TV are in the news department, and of the three available at KHON, two are news department gigs.

The KHON site is likely to be sporting another opening soon, as Jackson has announced to the KITV news staff that cross-town reporter Andrew Perreira would join KITV March 1, succeeding Kerr as senior reporter. To satisfy the terms of a noncompete clause in his current employment agreement, Perreira will work off-camera until April 1.

Ryan Tsuji, formerly an OC 16 sports announcer, also has been hired as a morning show reporter and anchor, wearing one of the two hats previously worn by Meisenzahl, who also served as a morning show producer. Also, Michelle Chan, from Texas, will be joining the station as a newscast producer.

In addition to the news director position, for which a local and national search is under way, KITV is looking for a senior producer, a weekend weather anchor and an anchor/reporter, Jackson said. "These are tremendous opportunities."

The station’s news shows have ranked an almost consistent third place behind Hawaii News Now (KGMB/KHNL) and KHON, with few exceptions in recent years even prior to the KGMB/KHNL newsroom consolidation.

"You’re going to continue to see changes throughout our news," Jackson said. "The only way to do this is brick by brick … to create something that’s going to last."

Linsanity plate, gravy all over

Never one to let a marketing opportunity pass him by, L&L Drive-Inn CEO Eddie Flores will introduce the Lin-Katsu Chicken plate Friday morning to take advantage of the craze surrounding Jeremy Lin, the Harvard-educated New York Knicks point guard who has become a sports and media sensation.

The dish will be available initially at the Walmart Keeaumoku, airport and Kahala stores. Other stores will follow next week.

"We’re very proud of him," said Flores, who also identifies as Asian-American.

The Lin-Katsu plate will sport rice, mac salad and chicken katsu, with a sauce formulated after the types of flavors found in Lin’s parents’ Taiwan homeland, Flores said. "We modified our katsu sauce with a little more spice and mayo. It is ono. I tried it this afternoon," Flores said Tuesday.

That’s really something, given that Flores doesn’t normally eat L&L plate lunches. The Lin-Katsu plate will sell for the same price as a regular chicken katsu plate.