Local magazine full of former Piloteers

For this week’s column, we’ll catch up with some former Daily Pilot

staffers who have moved on to other ventures besides newspaper work.

Some readers may not know this, but for the last couple years,

there has been an editor pipeline of sorts between the Daily Pilot

and Orange Coast Magazine, that sharp-looking glossy periodical based

on the corner of Birch and Bristol near John Wayne Airport.

It started at first with Nancy Cheever and Anastacia Grenda, who

left the Daily Pilot and our parent company Times Community News in

2000 to take the jobs of both editor and managing editor

respectively.

The pair, who worked here as both reporters and editors, decided

to leave the magazine at the end of 2002. Cheever is pursuing a

doctorate degree and working toward her longtime goal of teaching at

a university and Grenda decided to become a freelancer and spend more

time on family matters.

So that would seem to be end to our Daily Pilot connection, right?

Wrong.

Right after Cheever and Grenda left, we learned that their

replacements had some familiar names also.

Tina Borgatta, a longtime reporter and one-time assistant managing

editor of the Daily Pilot, replaced Cheever in the editor’s role.

Borgatta, some may remember, broke the notorious Panther Palace

sex house story as a reporter and covered Costa Mesa City Hall for

quite a while. She rose up the ranks at the Pilot and the Times

Community News Division, later spending time as a writer at The Times

Orange County and as an assistant managing editor at the San

Bernardino Sun.

DeAnna George, who worked for a variety of Times Community

Newspapers as both a writer and editor, before garnering the title of

Daily Pilot copy desk chief, took the managing editor job vacated by

Grenda.

George had left the Pilot in 2002 to take a job as a copy desk

editor at the Daily Breeze in Torrance.

Not too long ago, Pilot Managing Editor S.J. Cahn and I caught up

with Borgatta and George for lunch at Wahoo’s at South Coast Plaza

and they told us how much they enjoyed their new jobs away from

newspapering.

Later, we exchanged e-mails in which they explained the difference

between working for a daily newspaper and a monthly magazine.

“Mainly, there’s no more of the daily deadline frenzy,” Borgatta

wrote. “As a newspaper editor, you’re reading a lot of stories and

reacting to late-breaking news, and you have to make sure it all gets

done before you go to press that day. In magazines, you work two,

three, maybe even four months in advance, so you’re never reacting to

breaking news.

“At first it’s difficult because you’re instinct is to respond to

the news,” she continued. “But you soon learn that your time is

better spent concentrating on making that lineup of features for the

next magazine shine. And you have more time to pore over words.”

George pretty much echoed Tina’s sentiments:

“It’s definitely been a challenge to break the habit of pursuing

breaking stories,” George wrote. “We work four months, sometimes

more, in advance, so we have to identify stories that will still have

a relevance that far out. As far as the journalism goes, the same

rules apply: We strive to present readers with interesting, objective

information that connects them to their community, along with the

occasional hot, new fashion tip.”

Hot new fashion tips?

Now that’s certainly nothing I know about, just ask my wife. So I

probably wouldn’t be too useful doing something like that.

Still, I had to know, what’s better, newspapers or magazines?

“I’ve love both,” Borgatta wrote. “And I must say, the Daily Pilot

served as a terrific training ground. It’s where I was able to hone

all my skills as a journalist. I loved the clank and the clatter and

the hustle of the newsroom. But I also love the focus that magazines

give to features and profiles. They require a different sort of

creative muscle that I really enjoy flexing, and I think Orange Coast

Magazine does a great job of demonstrating that to our readers. It’s

really been a wonderful, wonderful experience.”

*

Here’s some information for those Daily Pilot readers who have

been more than generous in their support of the local Reading by 9

campaign at three Westside Costa Mesa schools.

The book buying program called “Fountain for Youth” is backed by

three Newport Beach Rotary Clubs and this newspaper, and has helped

to provide some 2,000 books for kindergarten through third-grade

students at Pomona, Whittier, and Wilson elementary schools.

The book-buying program is coordinated through Reading by 9, a

literacy effort sponsored by the Los Angeles Times. The schools plan

to hold receptions this week to thank the donors who helped provide

the books. If you are a donor and would like to attend, here’s the

information:

Whittier Elementary located at 1800 Whittier Ave. will have a

reception at 10 a.m. Wednesday. Call Cheryl Wright at (949) 515-6990

for details.

Pomona Elementary at 2051 Pomona Ave. will have a reception at 8

a.m. Friday. Call Janet Steward at (949) 515-6980 for details.

Wilson Elementary at 801 Wilson St. will have a reception at 11

a.m. Friday. Call Imelda Cavazos at 515-6995.

I’d like to extend my personal thanks to all those Daily Pilot

readers who donated money for books.