A Third Down & Ten
Trent Modglin had the idea of starting a cultural magazine years ago. “I was close to turning 30 and said, ‘If I don’t do it now, I’m never going to do it,'” says the DeKalb-area native. “I didn’t want to look back when I was 40 and say, ‘I wish I’d done that magazine about cornering the Chicago market.'”
Then a friend showed him Time Out New York and asked him if that was what he wanted to do. “Two weeks later I got a flyer in the mail for a subscription to Time Out Chicago,” he says. “I slapped my forehead thinking, ‘Maybe I waited too long.'”
Undeterred, Modglin launched The Real Chicago magazine in December 2005. “I just felt there was a niche or need for it,” says the 31-year old, who pays the bills by writing for Pro Football Weekly. “The other magazines just didn’t really do it for me. I envisioned my friends as my target audience. I just felt there was a need for a smaller magazine that dealt with young people in Chicago and what to do in the city.
“We live in such a culturally vibrant city; there’s so much out there. But I’ve found myself frustrated at times,” continues Modglin, who has lived in Chicago for the past eight years. “My friends also complained that we tend to do the same thing on the weekends. We wanted to open ourselves up to so much more.
“If you want to do the same things every weekend, that’s what Schaumburg and Palatine are for – if you want to see a movie and eat at Applebee’s.”
The free 20-page monthly is distributed to some 500 North Side locations (there’s also a Web version at www.therealchicago.org).
It’s a mix of regular items such as music reviews, a restaurant review called “Table For Four,” “Bar Of The Month,” “Dan’s Reel To Reel” (movie reviews), “Hidden Gems,” as well as first-person feature stories such as irreverent dating advice from comedian Ian Coburn and an article comparing the life of an Evanston-based homeless man with Will Smith’s movie version.
“We want to have it changing from month to month so it doesn’t get stale,” says Modglin. “That’s one of the problems with the other magazines in the city; they’ve become stale and are not as open to new ideas.”
One two-page feature detailed his experience riding along with gang detectives on the Fourth Of July last year. “I tell my writers not to be afraid to pitch ideas that they want to pitch,” he says. “If I don’t initially like the idea, we try to find a way to tweak it so we can make it more entertaining to people who are reading it in a sandwich shop or while riding the El.”
So far the monthly is a one-man show, with Modglin writing, editing, and selling ads out of his Lincoln Park condo and delivering the final product in his beat-up ’92 Camry.
“When I deliver them I see a lot of different storefronts for lease, and I always find myself looking through the window and envisioning that maybe in two years I’ll have six computers in there and six people answering phones and doing ad sales,” he says.
“But for now it’s out of the condo. That way I’m closer to the fridge, too.”
Musicians can send press kits to The Real Chicago Publishing, L.L.C., P.O. BOX 14342, Chicago, IL 60614
THWARTED: The Federal Communications Commission recently turned down a petition by the activist group Chicago Media Action to deny license renewals for nine Chicago television stations for failing to serve the public interest by inadequately covering state and local elections in 2004.
The FCC said it had “very little authority to interfere with a licensee’s selection and presentation of news and editorial programming.”
“This is predictable, because there are three Republicans and two Democrats on the FCC and they are in compliance with the majority that really wants to close down vigorous debate and free expression of ideas,” says CMA President Liane C. Casten. “Democrats have been fighting mightily to get the airwaves more open. The FCC has closed its eyes to this and has worked with the Bush administration to close down free debate.
“As long as the Commissioners are three [to] two, we’re going to get this kind of response.”
BUT WAIT – THERE’S MORE!: One way to beat the dog days of summer is to spend a Thursday evening watching a live taping of the National Public Radio news quiz “Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me!” in the air-conditioned bowels of Chase Tower. Jokes fly fast and furious as host Peter Sagal and announcer Carl Kasell trade witticisms with guests such as Paula Poundstone, P.J. O’Rourke, and Roy Blount, Jr. There’s far more gesturing and eye contact than you’d guess from hearing it on the radio, and the pickups at the end – where they re-do lines they’ve flubbed – can be the best part. This was the case on the night we went, when Roxanne Roberts’ giggle outbreak infected everyone in the theater.
August tapings are on the 2nd, 16th, 23rd, and 30th at the Chase Auditorium (10 S. Dearborn). Tickets are $20; call (312) 948-4855, visit www.chicagopublicradio.org, or listen Saturdays at 10 a.m. and Sundays at 9 p.m. on WBEZ-FM (91.5).
– Cara Jepsen
