Columns
Media: November 2017
Tom Shaerās 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 radioās strongest eras–the early to mid-90s. āI grew up in Addison,ā he explains, āand 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. āLike a lot of those guys on the Score, I started working at Sportsphone,ā he explains. āI was there beginning in 1976. We would do reports that were exactly 59 seconds–and people called the number to […]
Media: August 2017
Itās been ten years since I wrote my first novel $everance (ENC Press, 2007).Ā 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 OāKelly 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 heād be doing that the rest […]
Media: June 2017
When WXRT night jock Ryan Arnold says he grew up on WXRT, he doesnāt 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. āI 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 OāDell replaced him. When Spike OāDell retired, Steve Cochran was doing the afternoon show at WGN. āThey 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. āOne night at Rivet,ā he explained, āwe had a […]
Media: March 2017
At the beginning of the 2016 season, WGN Cubs broadcaster Len Kasper got some excellent advice.Ā āOne 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 āYou should keep a journal this year. Itāll be […]
Media: February 2017
Bill Cochran was drawn to music radio for the same reason most people are. āI just love music,ā he admits. āIām a music fan ā 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 […]
Sweet Home: Ronnie Baker Brooks
Donāt call it a comeback. Although itās been an entire decade since Ronnie Baker Brooks has released an album, his presence in the blues industry during that timeĀ has been ubiquitous. āI produced Eddy Clearwaterās album, West Side Strut, I did a compilation with Johnny Castro, I co-produced my dadās last album and Iāve been […]
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 Chicagoās 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 Radioās Josh Liss grew up in Skokie, and there was one voice that had a real impact on his career direction, though it didnāt manifest itself for a few years. āHarry Caray was the big reason I wanted to do sports broadcasting,ā he says. āI didnāt have a dad to take me to […]
RIP: Riot Fest Co-Founder Sean McKeough
Riot Fest Co-Founder and Cobra Lounge owner Sean P. McKeough, 42, passed away suddenly on Tuesday, November 29, the staff at Riot Fest announced today. Sean and co-founder Mike Petryshyn nurtured the punk rock festival from its beginnings as a small club event to its current incarnation as multi-day festivalsĀ in Chicago’s Douglas Park […]
Media: November 2016
Patti Haze remains one of the iconic radio voices from the rock and roll era in Chicago. Her sexy alto voice and friendly demeanor graced the airwaves of every major rock station in Chicago (save WXRT). She was on WLUP (twice), WMET, WCKG, and CD 94.7. Despite her incredible pedigreeāas arguably the Queen of Chicago […]
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