Loyola University (Photo: Zack Miller/The Phoenix)
Robservations on the media beat:
Mary Chappell
The world needs more journalists like Mary Chappell. The Loyola University senior and editor-in-chief of the Loyola Phoenix student newspaper wrote a column this week that made many in the business want to stand up and cheer. (Here is the link.) In the piece headlined "As Reporters, It’s Our Duty to Document the Good, the Bad and the Ugly," Chappell explained why her paper needs to cover campus protests without fear or favor. "Our sole job is to side with complete and full accuracy," she wrote. "Our job isn’t to be a promoter, it’s to cover things as they are." Her full-throated defense stood in contrast to an ill-conceived editorial last fall in Northwestern University's Daily Northwestern, which capitulated to the mob. Chappell, who grew up in Denver, has worked for the Daily Herald, Sun-Times and CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2.
Victor "The Dizz" Blackful and Mike Love
Chicago radio veterans Mike Love and Victor “The Dizz” Blackful, who reunited earlier this year to launch their “ChicagoFamous” weekly podcast, are expanding to five days a week and going live. Starting Tuesday, their show will air from 3 to 6 p.m. weekdays on The Maze Jackson Page on Facebook and YouTube. Jackson launched the platforms in July to stream his morning show with Todd Stroger, which also airs on time-brokered gospel station WBGX 1570-AM. "We plan to change the way people see radio," Jackson said. Mike Love & The Dizz were best known as the co-hosts of “Bad Boy Radio” weekday evenings on iHeartMedia hip-hop WGCI 107.5-FM from 1997 to 2007.
Chicago White Sox
No one is talking, but a decision could come soon on a new radio home for Chicago White Sox baseball. As reported here, the favorite appears to be WMVP 1000-AM, the Good Karma Brands ESPN sports/talk station. Also at the negotiating table is Entercom all-news WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM (although it’s not known whether games would air on both AM and FM). That would give Entercom rights to both local baseball teams, with Chicago Cubs already on sports/talk WSCR 670-AM. The White Sox now air on Nexstar Media Group news/talk WGN 720-AM, which took itself out of the running for renewal.
Maria Pappas
Look for Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas to fill in for midday host Perri Small from 9 a.m. to noon Monday on Midway Broadcasting news/talk WVON 1690-AM. Coinciding with Labor Day, Pappas will interview Robert Reiter, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor. Other guests will include A&E's "Hoarders" organizer Dorothy Breininger, Chicago yoga expert Per Erez, and Adam Hollingsworth, better known as “The Dreadhead Cowboy.” The final half-hour will be dedicated to "Black Houses Matters," Pappas's weekly segment on property tax questions from homeowners. “I am going to have fun and hope the audience does too,” she said.
Fred Weintraub
Fred Weintraub, the globe-trotting Chicago broadcaster who splits his time between London, Singapore and home, gets the profile treatment from Rick Kaempfer in the September issue of Illinois Entertainer. (Here is the link.) When Weintraub hosts his weekly radio show with Hannah Stanley Sundays on Evanston Broadcasting talk station WCGO 1590-AM, it's 11 a.m. in Chicago but midnight in Singapore. "If you want to do it, you find a way," said Weintraub, who also works as executive producer of sports at Weigel Broadcasting. "I feel fortunate to do what I do, so it works for me."
Museum of Broadcast Communications
Here's the latest from Chicago's Museum of Broadcast Communications: Under a limited operating schedule, the museum at 360 North State Street will be open this weekend from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Saturday. After that it will be open sporadically through Thanksgiving weekend, with admission specials available over Columbus Day/Indigenous People Day, Halloween and Veteran's Day weekends. See museum.tv for the latest information and discount offers.
Thursday's comment of the day: Andrew Herrmann: Thank god I never threw out that "Mighty MET" shirt from 1979.