Cheryl Scott
Robservations on the media beat:
ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7 is teaming with National Geographic to produce a five-part series on the fight to save the Great Lakes. ABC 7 meteorologist Cheryl Scott and scientists from National Geographic will present "So Great, So Fragile" on successive Tuesdays, starting this week. Episodes will stream live on ABC 7’s connected TV Apps on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku. "Whether for recreational use or drinking water, Chicagoans know the value of the Great Lakes, but may be unaware of factors threatening them," Scott said. "In our series with National Geographic, we get the chance to dig deeper on everything from climate change to pollution, revealing the impact on one of our greatest natural resources. We also show how we can work together to protect, save and keep our lakes great."
Bruce St. James
Bruce St. James, the longtime Phoenix radio personality who’s replacing Erich Mancow Muller as morning host at WLS 890-AM, says he knows he’s inheriting a broadcasting legacy. “I’m real excited for this. Without a doubt, this is an amazing opportunity,” St. James told Facebook friends shortly after news of his hiring broke here. “WLS is a legendary radio station that has had not just some of Chicago’s greatest talents work there but some of radio’s greatest talents. So I have a lot of work to do to prove myself worthy of the amazing history of WLS. . . . It’s pretty cool and pretty exciting for me to get this really unique opportunity at such a big station and in such an interesting city. I’m really looking forward to learning more about Chicago. I’ve got a lot to learn. I’m the guy from out of town, but I know that they’ll be real welcoming.” St. James debuts December 14 on the Cumulus Media news/talk station.
Pat McGann
Comedian Pat McGann opened Chicago’s 62nd Emmy Awards Sunday night with a timely monologue. (Here is the link.) “You should feel good if you just got nominated,” McGann said. “We always say that, right? If you were nominated you should feel great about that. And if you don’t win? Just go on Twitter and act like you did. Say the thing was rigged. The numbers were wrong. You can do that now. All facts are out the window. Thanks to you, Public Enemy No. 1. I’m kidding! I, in fact, love the media. I have a lot of respect for what you’re doing.” The virtual event was sponsored by the Chicago/Midwest chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Dahleen Glanton
Congratulations to Chicago Tribune columnist Dahleen Glanton on receiving the 2020 Dorothy Storck Award from the Chicago Journalists Association. As winner of the $1,000 top prize, Glanton was cited for addressing diverse subjects "with a keen interest in encouraging dialogue on race, poverty and violence." Also honored at the virtual awards ceremony Friday were two second-place winners — Burt Constable of the Daily Herald and Laura Washington of the Sun-Times and ABC 7. The award is named for the former reporter for Chicago’s American and Chicago Today, syndicated columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner who died in 2015.
John F. Kennedy
Sunday's comment of the day: Les Jacobson: Everyone over the age of 65 or so remembers precisely where and when they heard the news [of President John F. Kennedy's assassination]. It was tragic and earth-shaking. As Norman Mailer wrote: “It is virtually not assimilable to our reason that a small lonely man felled a giant in the midst of his limousines, his legions, his throng, and his security. If such a non-entity destroyed the leader of the most powerful nation on earth, then a world of disproportion engulfs us, and we live in a universe that is absurd.”