Media
Media: February 2018
When I called Chicago radio legend Fred Winston (WLS, WMAQ, WFYR, WCFL, WPNT, WJMK, WLUP, and just about every other station on the dial), the gentleman farmer now living in Southwest Michigan, was in the middle of a project. âYou caught me repairing a doorknob. Thank God for the internet. There are scores of YouTube […]
Media: January 2018
If youâve listened to rock and roll radio for the last three decades, youâve undoubtedly run across the work of Steve Seaver. Heâs been rocking Chicago since 1991 at stations like The Blaze, The Loop, and currently The Drive (97.1 FM). Heâs one of those rare personalities who can be identified by one name, […]
Media: December 2017
Itâs become a year-end tradition in this space to honor some of the broadcasters we lost in the past calendar year. All of them touched countless lives in the Chicago area, maybe even your own. The Chicago media community is diminished by their absence. JOE COLLINSÂ â Collins was a veteran traffic reporter in Chicago best […]
Media: November 2017
Tom Shaerâs career in Chicago media includes stints as the morning man (and first voice ever) on the Score, ESPN AM 1000, morning sports anchor on WBBM News radio, and TV sports anchor at Channel 5, among other positions, but the Massachusetts native got his start in the business in Boston, and he did it […]
Media: October 2017
Joe Cicero Star 105.5 (McHenry-based) morning show host Joe Cicero grew up in the Chicago area during one of local radioâs strongest eras–the early to mid-90s. âI grew up in Addison,â he explains, âand I dropped out of high school when I was 17 and drove a delivery van. That gave me a lot […]
Media: September 2017
Fred Huebner is certainly not a newcomer on the local sports radio scene. His roots go back four decades. âLike a lot of those guys on the Score, I started working at Sportsphone,â he explains. âI was there beginning in 1976. We would do reports that were exactly 59 seconds–and people called the number to […]
Media: August 2017
Itâs been ten years since I wrote my first novel $everance (ENC Press, 2007). That book was a satire about what had become of the media business since the original deregulation in 1996. It was intended to shine a light on the dangers of entrusting so much control over news and information in the hands […]
Media: July 2017
When Len OâKelly was working in Chicago as a music director and disc jockey for radio stations like WJMK (104.3), academia was the furthest thing from his mind. At the time he was a college dropout and working in one of the top markets in the country. He thought heâd be doing that the rest […]
Media: June 2017
When WXRT night jock Ryan Arnold says he grew up on WXRT, he doesnât just mean that he listened to the station. His mom Marge Arnold worked there when he was growing up, and he spent a lot of time in the hallways. âI literally grew up in the bowels of WXRT back when it […]
May 2017: Media
When Wally Phillips retired from WGN Radio, the afternoon man Bob Collins replaced him. When Bob Collins died in a plane crash, the afternoon man Spike OâDell replaced him. When Spike OâDell retired, Steve Cochran was doing the afternoon show at WGN. âThey offered me the job, and it was the worst deal offered to […]
Media: April 2017
Charlie Meyerson has been a part of the Chicago media landscape now for four decades as a newscaster for WXRT, WNUA, WGN, the Chicago Tribune and more. Just last year he brought home an Edward R. Murrow award for a report he did at Rivet Radio. âOne night at Rivet,â he explained, âwe had a […]
Media: March 2017
At the beginning of the 2016 season, WGN Cubs broadcaster Len Kasper got some excellent advice. âOne of my best friends is a non-fiction author and we talk about writing all the time. We met for breakfast last year just before spring training and he said âYou should keep a journal this year. Itâll be […]
Media: February 2017
Bill Cochran was drawn to music radio for the same reason most people are. âI just love music,â he admits. âIâm a music fan â almost a music geek. Since childhood discovering new music was always a joy for me. I grew up in Oklahoma, listening to a radio station with a format, as […]
Media: January 2017
2016 was a rough year. We lost some of our favorite musical and pop culture icons. But we also lost some beloved members and former members of Chicagoâs media community. I had the opportunity to interview a few of them, and for those I never met, I reached out to some of their former […]
December 2016: Media
WBBM-News Radioâs Josh Liss grew up in Skokie, and there was one voice that had a real impact on his career direction, though it didnât manifest itself for a few years. âHarry Caray was the big reason I wanted to do sports broadcasting,â he says. âI didnât have a dad to take me to […]
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