MEDIA NOTEBOOK
A curation of news items about the media from this past week, with a particular emphasis on Chicago…
RADIO/PODCASTS
*Halloween Radio/Podcasts
=WGN Radio (720AM) will present a six-hour Halloween special on Monday night, from 7pm-1am. It will be hosted by Carl Amari, and he’ll have classic Halloween material from the early days of radio. Among the Halloween episodes featured will be “My Favorite Husband” starring Lucille Ball, and “Our Miss Brooks” starring Eve Arden.
=Last Halloween the If The Walls Could Talk podcast released two bonus episodes about a 1977 murder in Lincoln Park. The story involves a ghost, a kitchen knife, and somehow…John Wayne Gacy. Super popular last year. Rediscovering an audience this year. Perfect Halloween entertainment, wherever you listen to podcasts. Hosted by Chicago radio vets Todd Ganz and Stephani Young.
=Here’s one from the Audacy Halloween world: Mayim Bialik interviews Cassandra Petersen, better known as Elvira.
=And here are nine more Halloween podcasts for 2022.
*The Trump Tapes
=Bob Woodward released the audio of his Donald
Trump interviews. It’s really a fascinating look at the former president,
but for me, it’s an even more fascinating look at how Bob Woodward conducts his
interviews. This is raw tape, not polished broadcast-ready interviews. It seems
like Woodward’s technique is just letting his subject talk.
*The Men of the Mix
=There’s something a little off-putting about the “Men
of the Mix” moniker, but during this Breast Cancer Awareness month of October,
the male on-air staffers at WTMX have flexed their promotional muscles to raise
more than $17,000 for breast cancer research. You can still contribute here.
*The Radio Talent Institute
=Columbia College will be the home for next summer’s (June 19-28) Radio Talent Institute, which is an intensive summer program
designed to serve as an incubator for new and upcoming radio talent. This is
the brainchild of the IBA (Illinois Broadcasters Association) and the RAB
(Radio Advertising Bureau).
*Harry Caray Interview from 1985
=The Facebook page Radio Archives and Memories has
been posting some classic interviews from the mid-80s, conducted by Bill
Schenold. None of these have been heard before and this one with Harry Caray is really a gem. Harry discusses Disco Demolition, getting fired in St. Louis,
Bill Veeck, and even Wally Phillips.
*Jon Zaghloul leaves WCKG
=I interviewed the University of Chicago student last year for Illinois Entertainer when he began broadcasting on WCKG. Jon announced
this week that he and WCKG are no longer affiliated. The kid has some chops if
you are looking for sports talkers.
MEDIA BIRTHDAYS/MILESTONES
*Former WGN Radio program director Mary June Rose
celebrated a birthday on October 24. She now lives in North Carolina and works
as a photographer (MJ Rose-Photos).
*Former WLUP (and CBS-Boston) promotional guru Anne-Marie
Kennedy’s birthday was also October 24.
*October 25, 2014, we lost one of the good ones. Cindy
Gatziolis was the promotion director at the Loop during the second Loop hey-day
in the 90s, before going on to work for the Mayor’s Office of Special Events. I wrote this tribute to her the day she passed away.
*Chicago rock radio royalty Patti Haze
celebrated her birthday on October 25. I interviewed Patti for Illinois Entertainer in 2016.
*Chicago radio/TV producer Jasmine Cooper’s
birthday was October 26. Jasmine was kind enough to appear at the Chicago
Writers Association conference (Let’s Just Write!) for a panel discussion I
moderated earlier this year. Jeff Hoover from WGN-TV was there as well.
*Former Chicago personality Liz Wilde’s
birthday is October 27. She worked at the Loop in Chicago in the mid-90s, but
has also been on the air in Miami, Boston, Cleveland, Dallas and more.
TV/STREAMING
*Halloween review
=One of the big names in terror/horror
these days is Guillermo Del Toro. The New York Times reviews his latest Netflix series, Cabinet of Curiosities.
*NewsNation Fires Reporter After He Questions
“Mission”
=NewsNation reporter Paul Gerke was on a conference call with news president Michael Corn when he questioned the supposed mission of NewsNation after they aired a two-hour Trump rally without commentary or analysis. He pointed out that didn’t seem to fit in with the mission of being an unbiased program, the supposed reason this program was created in the first place. Gerke soon found himself out of a job.
*45 Years of Dorothy Tucker
=CBS-Channel 2 reporter Dorothy Tucker was
recognized this week by the National Association of Black Journalists for her
45 years of excellence in the television news field.
*The Dangers of Being a Reporter
=The television news business isn’t all lollipops and
rainbows, especially when the subject a reporter tackles is politics. Take a look at this Arizona reporter’s Twitter timeline for an idea of how toxic it is
out there these days, especially for women.
*Network TV Corner
=Jim Nantz is stepping down from covering the NCAA basketball tournament after 30+ years of doing it. Ian Eagle will be taking his place.
=If you haven’t seen Dr. Phil’s show in a
while, you may be a little surprised at the political turn it has takenrecently.
*Where do young people get their news?
=Would you believe Tik Tok? This Pew Research Study
has the details.
*Cable TV Corner
=Ben Smith’s first media column for Semafor is about a Fox News lawyer’s screw-up, that might lead to Lachlan Murdoch’s secrets being revealed.
=The Washington Post looks into Tucker Carlson’s bullying of a Republican Congressman over an innocuous story about Tucker’s son, Buckley.
=Layoffs to hit CNN soon. CEO Chris Licht plans
to lay off up to a thousand employees by year end.
NATIONAL MEDIA NEWS
*Musk Takes Over Twitter
=It became official yesterday. He walked into the
headquarters carrying a sink; a joke telling people they need to let this sink
in. Get it? Then he fired the top management immediately. Buckle up for what
comes next.
*DOJ Codifies Rule Barring Secret Subpoenas of
Journalists
=Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the official change on Wednesday: “Because freedom of the press requires that members of the
news media have the freedom to investigate and report the news, the new
regulations are intended to provide enhanced protection to members of the news
media from certain law enforcement tools and actions that might unreasonably
impair newsgathering.”
*Should the Government Bail Out Local Media?
=Perry Bacon wrote an op-ed last week
suggesting that the government should spend billions to save (or revive) local
media. Interesting idea. Never gonna happen.
*Bad Winter Coming for US Media Companies
=Saved this one for last. If you’re currently working
in the media world, I wouldn’t read this with any sharp objects nearby. The report comes from Axios.
If you have any
media stories (Chicago or national) that you think I might like to share in
future columns, feel free to drop me a line at rick@eckhartzpress.com or
amishrick@yahoo.com
