Michigan Avenue (July/August issue)
Robservations on the media beat:
Modern Luxury
Writers for one of Chicago's fanciest lifestyle magazines say they haven't gotten paid in months. Michigan Avenue magazine, which relies on freelance contributors for much of its content, is behind as much as eight months in paying for work it has published. Officials of Modern Luxury, which owns Michigan Avenue, acknowledge "ongoing invoicing issues," which they attribute to their merger with GreenGale Publishing (formerly Niche Media) in April 2017. "The executive team has realized the extent of a large technical gaffe in the accounting department when Modern Luxury merged accounting software with Niche Media during our acquisition of their company," Stephanie Davis Smith, editorial director of Atlanta-based Modern Luxury Media, told staffers in an email. "We want to assure you that the company is solvent, the accounting process is getting the full attention of the CFO and CEO, that we are committing our resources to resolving the issue, that you WILL get paid, and our accounting team is doing the best they can to sort through the issues so we don't underpay or double pay." In Chicago, Modern Luxury also owns CS (Chicago Social), NS (North Shore), Modern Luxury Weddings Chicago and Modern Luxury Interiors, among other titles.
Andrew Patner
Friends of Andrew Patner are putting the finishing touches on a collection of the late Chicago arts critic’s writings about the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Artist Tom Bachtell, Patner’s longtime partner, just finished a drawing of him for the frontispiece. The University of Chicago Press plans to publish the book, titled A Portrait in Four Movements: The Chicago Symphony under Barenboim, Boulez, Haitink, and Muti, in spring of 2019. Patner, a bright light on the local arts and culture scene for decades, served as critic-at-large at classical music WFMT 98.7-FM and contributing critic on classical music for the Sun-Times. In 2015 he died of a bacterial infection at 55.
Steve Dahl
Steve Dahl, who pioneered the subscription podcast model in 2011, is still innovating. The Radio Hall of Famer has upgraded his dahl.com network with new premium content, including new downloading and streaming options. Each show has its own separate RSS feed, and is accessible on free apps or at dahl.com. It also includes access to his weekday afternoon show on Cumulus Media news/talk WLS 890-AM as a daily podcast. "I couldn’t be happier with our progress," Dahl said of the improvement (which carries a new monthly subscription fee of $10.95). "We have been working on the logistics of this changeover since last December. It hasn’t been easy, but it has definitely made us better content providers, and it puts us in the right position to keep pace and possibly even join the big dogs one day."
Mike North
Mike North, the retired Chicago sports talk show host, has joined BearsBarroom.com, a fan site and podcast platform for Chicago Bears fans. North will provide sports betting advice and contribute commentary to the site’s video and audio channels, according to principal owner Aldo Gandia, who launched the site in 2014. Gandia was an award-winning producer at CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2. Also working with North and Gandia will be marketing expert and former Chicago radio executive Jeff Schwartz. “We’ve got some special things in the works at the Barroom,” North said in a statement. “It’s good to partner up with passionate Bears fans. I’m excited.”
Bruce Oscar
Send get well wishes to Bruce Oscar, afternoon jazz host at WDCB 90.9-FM, who’s recovering from double pneumonia. He’s been on leave from the College of DuPage station since June 28. Leslie Keros and Al Carter-Bey have been filling in afternoons, and Barry Winograd has been filling in on Oscar’s “Swing Shift” show from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. “Bruce is making an excellent recovery, his voice is well rested, and he is excited about getting back to his regular air shifts soon,” said Dan Bindert, station manager of WDCB. “We’ll all be celebrating his return when it occurs.”
Jennifer Lyons
Jennifer Lyons, news director of Tribune Broadcasting WGN-Channel 9, has been honored by the Illinois Coalition of Community Blood Centers with its 2018 Most Innovative Blood Drive Coordinator Award. “As a blood recipient herself, Jennifer takes her blood drives to heart and works hard to make sure they are heavily promoted prior to the drives, on social media and with on-air interviews during the drives,” according to the statewide association of not-for-profit blood centers. “For those that can’t make it into the news studio to donate, Jennifer encourages viewers to donate at local centers, and LifeSource sees a huge spike in donations during that time with people asking that their donation be credited to WGN.”
ABC 7 Chicago
ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7 has been recognized for its coverage of deadly tornadoes last year. ABC 7 was the sole Chicago station nominated this year for a News and Documentary Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Regional News Story by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The station's 4 p.m. newscast was cited for coverage of four tornadoes in and around Ottawa, Illinois, on March 1, 2017. Emmy winners will be announced October 1 in New York.
Thursday’s comment of the day: John Schroeder: I've been away from Chicago for nearly 19 years, and it still seems that when it comes to radio, they're still arranging deck chairs on the Titanic.