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gels at KHONIt's not that he can't keep a job. Nevertheless after eight months, Wally Zimmermann will leave his post as communications director for the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii to get back into the news business.
"Not to put too fine a point on it," he laughed, "considering the last job I had was for 13 years, it's a little shorter, yes."
His tenure as news director at KITV ended in August 2001 but last week he accepted a job as executive producer of the Channel Two Morning News after Rick Blangiardi told him, "You need to be in the game. I want you in the game."
Blangiardi runs both KHON and KGMB as Hawaii market senior vice president for Emmis Communications Corp.
Zimmermann officially begins Oct. 21 but he's been going in to the station at 5 a.m. before heading to his Chamber job at 9 a.m.
His addition is the latest of three organizational moves announced at KHON, one of which is to shift the focus of existing Executive Producer Mike Gaede to the evening news.
"The role of executive producer is to be responsible for the look and feel of each show," Blangiardi said. "Dividing it in half makes it much more feasible."
Mainland broadcast news and programming veteran Kim Montour started last week as interim executive in charge of the newsroom; her position runs through December.
The station is continuing its search for a news director to replace Jim McCoy, who resigned last month.
Blangiardi and Zimmermann first crossed professional paths in Honolulu in the 1980s when Blangiardi said he was impressed by Zimmermann's abilities as a competitive news director but more so by "the incredible loyalty he engendered." "You can't bottle that," Blangiardi said.
Speculation has continued that there will one day be a single news director for both KHON and KGMB under Emmis' ownership.
"I really don't have a plan for that," Blangiardi said. "If and when the situation presents itself, we'll evaluate the scenario at that time."
Zimmermann said he did not accept the job with a news directorship as a quid pro quo.
"I'm going into television news again because it's what I really, really like to do and it's one of the few skills I've found I have," Zimmermann said, laughing again.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com