Media Spotlight--February 24

Every weekday in 2014, I'll be keeping an eye on what's happening in the media. My focus will be on some of my favorite subjects...the moguls, the pundits, the broadcast news biz, show business, and the publishing business. (Read "$everance" if you want a crystallization of my positions on those subjects.) And, of course, I'll also keep tabs on Chicago's media.


Chicago Media

~Terri Hemmert Q & A
A good read in this weekend's Chicago Tribune about WXRT's Terri Hemmert's 40 years in Chicago radio. One of the subjects she tackled was "DJ Nightmares". I still have them even though I haven't been a radio DJ for years. This was Terri's version...

My good friend (and fellow WXRT personality) Lin Brehmer and I were talking about this recently. DJs have work nightmares. I remember one I had when we were still playing vinyl. I had a dream that every record in our library was a Fiestaware dinner plate, with a little hole in the middle. And I'd put them on the turntable and nothing was playing. DJ nightmares, something people don't think of.

Broadcast News

~CBS Sunday Morning Provided a Valuable Service



~CNN To Cancel Piers Morgan
He seems to be a bit insufferable, but I still hope he didn't learn about this by reading the New York Times.


Journalism

~The AP Cautiously Commends New DOJ Regulations
The Associated Press has come out in favor of the new guidelines for what the Justice Department can and cannot pursue with journalists. The headline says "cautiously", and I think that's the right word. But it's a good sign.


The Radio Biz

~Cumulus Installs New Maternity Policy
I'm not one to shy away from criticizing radio companies for being cheap and/or shortsighted, so I feel I should also commend them when they do something right. From today's Inside Radio:

Under federal law every employee is allowed up to 12 weeks of unpaid family leave for the birth of a child. That’s what most radio groups offer according to an informal survey. But Cumulus Media will today implement a new policy that sets the bar higher for radio groups. It will offer women up to six weeks of time off – fully paid – for the birth of a child.

~Bieber May Move Into Dickey's Neighborhood
From Tom Taylor's NOW column today. This little item made me chuckle: There goes the neighborhood – Lew Dickey’s neighbor could be Justin Bieber.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution says there’s already a protest brewing in the exclusive enclave. There are signs like “Just(in) say no” and “Keep Buckhead Bieber free.” There’s supposedly going to be a social media-organized protest outside 421 Blackland this morning – one that Lew Dickey should have a good view of. Wondering what Lew’s hacienda is worth? City-Data figures the land value at $1,329,200 and the building value at $6,670,800, for a total property value of $8 million. How large is it? The “building area” is listed at 13,868 square feet.

Showbiz

~Alec Baldwin In His Own Words
In this lengthy piece in the New Yorker, Alec Baldwin explains what happened with the homophobic rant (he says he didn't say it), the play called "Orphans", in which he tangled with Shia LeBouf (who was fired), and his days as an MSNBC talk show host. Read it at the link above if you're interested. He can't say he was taken out of context. He wrote the piece. I still think he comes off sounding like an ass, but that's just my opinion.