WBEZ
Robservations on the media beat:
Hunter Clauss
Chicago Public Media WBEZ 91.5-FM has launched “The Rundown,” a weekday afternoon email newsletter highlighting the big stories of the day. “As we establish WBEZ as the premier news organization in Chicago, we continually seek new and different ways to engage with broader, more diverse audiences, and that means expanding beyond our on-air programming with more digital offerings, such as our WBEZ app and now this daily newsletter,” Goli Sheikholeslami, CEO of Chicago Public Media, said in a statement. “We expect ‘The Rundown’ to become a daily habit for Chicagoans who value news, information and context from WBEZ.” (Here is the link to subscribe.) It’s aggregated by Hunter Clauss, digital editor of WBEZ, along with the station’s multiplatform news team. Clauss joined WBEZ in 2016 after working as a producer for WTTW-Channel 11’s “Chicago Tonight” and a reporter for the Sun-Times and Chicago News Cooperative.
David Plummer
David Plummer has resigned as executive producer of “The Jam,” the low-rated morning news, talk and entertainment program on Weigel Broadcasting WCIU-Channel 26. Plummer helped launch the show in July 2017 after working as a producer for “Windy City Live” on ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7 and the syndicated “At the Movies.” Neal Sabin, vice chairman of Weigel Broadcasting, called Plummer’s resignation voluntary and said a new executive producer would be hired. “We are grateful for the time and effort he put into the show and wish him luck in his future endeavors,” Sabin added. Plummer did not respond to requests for comment.
Eve Ewing (Photo: Nolis Anderson)
A new monthly podcast series inspired by conversations between Studs Terkel and 20th century cultural icons is being launched by Terkel’s longtime radio station, Window to the World Communications classical WFMT 98.7-FM, and the Studs Terkel Radio Archive. “BugHouse Square with Eve Ewing,” hosted by writer and sociologist Ewing, will premiere Friday with Terkel’s 1962 interview with author James Baldwin. Ewing will follow up with contemporary writer and activist Darnell Moore. (Here is the link on iTunes.) According to the station, each episode will revolve around a theme tying Terkel and Ewing together and “drawing parallels between the past and the present."
Jon Zaghloul
Jon Zaghloul, an 18-year-old south suburban freelance journalist, has landed a radio outlet for “Sport Talk Chicago.” Starting next week, his one-hour call-in show will air at 9 a.m. Mondays on WHPK 88.5-FM, the noncommercial station licensed to the University of Chicago, where Zaghloul is studying economics. For more than four years he’s been running a sports website at sportstalkchicago.com, including a weekly podcast featuring top sports figures. (It’s also accessible on iTunes and Google Play.) Earlier this year Zaghloul was named Best Student Broadcaster of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations Network. He also works as public-address announcer for the Windy City ThunderBolts minor league baseball team in Crestwood.
How cool is this? The December issue of Mad Magazine will feature a six-page spread on “Svengoolie,” the venerable horror-movie host played by Rich Koz, and Me TV, Weigel Broadcasting’s Chicago-based network for classic television. (In the Mad version, it’s parodied as “Meh TV.”) Here’s a sneak peek:
Mad Magazine
Tuesday’s comment of the day: Paul Miller: When I interned for WGN Radio in the early ’90s, the idea that they would not have the No. 1 morning show and not be the flagship station for the Cubs and Bears was unthinkable. That station revolved around Cubs and Bears games. Having worked in the sports department at the time, I recall when they canceled DePaul basketball on the station, it was like a death in the family there. Today, they are just another station, no longer the powerhouse and part of Chicago culture. Anything can happen over a generation.