Jim Richards

Leaving Chicago will be “really bittersweet” for veteran radio programmer Jim Richards, who guided two of Chicago’s legendary rock stations to the top of the ratings among their respective audiences.

After two years as operations manager of classic rock WLUP FM 97.9 and alternative rock WKQX FM 101.1, Richards, 47, is headed to San Francisco to become operations manager/program director of Cumulus Media’s KFOG FM and KSAN FM.

In the latest Nielsen Audio survey, the Loop ranks No. 1 in its target demographic of men between 25 and 54, while WKQX ranks No. 1 among men between 18 and 34 and men between 18 and 49. Continue reading →

James W. Mabie

After 13 years on the board of trustees of Window to the World Communications, James W. Mabie was elected chairman Wednesday of the parent company of public television WTTW-Channel 11 and classical music WFMT FM 98.7.

Mabie, 78, also serves on the board and is a past chairman of Chicago Public Media, parent company of WBEZ FM 91.5, where a performance studio is named for him. He previously was on the board of the defunct Chicago News Cooperative. Continue reading →

Here are my picks for the 10 most notable Chicago media stories of the month.

Click on the arrows to advance the photos. To read the original posts, click on the headlines under each photo:

Continue reading →

Linda Bergstrom

After two years overseeing features at the Sun-Times, Linda Bergstrom resigned Tuesday as associate editor, citing personal reasons.

Bergstrom, whose last day will be Thursday, declined to comment. She was the highest-ranking woman in the editorial department of the paper. Continue reading →

David Scott

David Scott, Chicago-based editor of the 14-state central region for The Associated Press, is headed to Washington, D.C., as AP’s new national political editor.

Scott, 37, will direct the news agency's national political reporting and oversee AP's coverage of the 2014 and 2016 elections under Washington bureau chief Sally Buzbee.

"The political editor job is a critical one for AP — directing our national political coverage, advising states on political reporting and working with colleagues on our race-calling, accountability, vote count and polling operations," Buzbee said in a statement. "It requires superb news skills, keen interest in both politics and policy, and strong competitive instincts. We are thrilled David is taking it on." Continue reading →

Roy Leonard

Chicago broadcast legend Roy Leonard says he’s “feeling fine” after falling and injuring himself as he was leaving a performance Sunday at the Civic Opera House.

Leonard, 83, said he was on his way back to his car with his son, Kolin, after attending the press opening of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s “The Sound of Music” when he tripped over a small rise from the sidewalk to a brick-paved entrance to the parking garage. Continue reading →

CNN should be ashamed. I know I am.

“Chicagoland,” the much-ballyhooed documentary series that completed its eight-week run on CNN Thursday, turned out to be as manipulative as its critics suspected.

A front-page story in Friday’s Chicago Tribune revealed the extent to which producers kowtowed to City Hall for what was billed as “a non-scripted, eight-part original series about a heartland American city.” Whatever it was, it wasn’t journalism. Continue reading →

Katherine Green

Katherine Green, a veteran television news executive who stepped down last fall after six years at CNN Worldwide, was named senior vice president of news for Tribune Broadcasting Thursday.

Green will oversee news production and news operations for all 42 Tribune Broadcasting stations (including Chicago flagship WGN-Channel 9) and will report to Larry Wert, president of broadcast media. Her appointment, effective May 5, completes the executive management team Wert has been assembling since he began in February 2013. Continue reading →

Saint Millie

Can a newspaper and website aimed at younger readers help transform an unknown rap artist into a bona fide star?

Ernest Wilkins’ cover story earlier this week about Saint Millie was only the beginning of RedEye Chicago’s extraordinary efforts to raise the profile of the 22-year-old Oak Park musician (born Milton McKinney) and chronicle his “Road to Glory” journey. Continue reading →

Bill Kurtis and Diane Sawyer (1982)

Zoraida Sambolin isn’t the first Chicago news anchor to come home after bailing out of a network morning news show. Three decades earlier, Bill Kurtis did the same thing.

To the delight of Sambolin’s fans, WMAQ-Channel 5 announced Wednesday that the Chicago native was returning to co-anchor “NBC 5 News Today” after two years in New York as host of CNN’s “Early Start.” She stepped down last December after anchoring the two-hour weekday morning news show first with Ashleigh Banfield and later with John Berman. Continue reading →