Daily Herald
Robservations on the media beat:
With the closing of its two remaining bureaus in Lisle and Elgin, the Daily Herald continues consolidation of staff at its Arlington Heights headquarters and Paddock Printing Center in Schaumburg. Both moves, to be completed by year’s end, follow the closing last December of the Daily Herald’s Lake County bureau in Libertyville. In addition to saving money, Doug Ray, publisher and CEO of Daily Herald Media Group, cited the ability of mobile journalists to report from where news happens. “This move reinforces our strategy to put more emphasis on ‘being there’ rather than ‘in-the-office newsgathering,’ ” he said.
Michael Madigan
Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass and political cartoonist Scott Stantis take on Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan in a new documentary funded by Illinois Policy Action. Capitol Fax political blogger Rich Miller also appears in “Madigan: Power, Privilege, Politics,” a one-hour documentary set for release October 10. A trailer for the film suggests it’s a one-sided attack on the state’s most powerful Democrat. Illinois Policy Action is an arm of the Illinois Policy Institute, funded for years by Republican Governor Bruce Rauner. Madigan’s office claims the documentary is being used to detract attention from Donald Trump’s Republican presidential candidacy.
Robert Jordan
Colleagues, friends and family toasted Robert Jordan Friday on his retirement after 43 years as news anchor and reporter at Tribune Broadcasting WGN-Channel 9. Except for a two-year stint as Midwest bureau correspondent for CBS News, Jordan, 73, has been a mainstay of “Chicago’s Very Own” since 1973. “When I came here, it was an independent station,” he told the gathering at Harry Caray’s Restaurant. “And as I leave, once again it is an independent station. But this time it’s No. 1. Then it was No. 5. So things have really changed over the years — for the better.”
Mark Zonca
Mark Zonca, former managing editor of Tribune Broadcasting WGN-Channel 9 and CLTV, has been hired as executive producer of “Good Day Chicago,” the weekday morning news program on Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32. He succeeds Dan Salamone, who exited in July after one year. Zonca, who most recently was senior director of communications at Illinois Institute of Technology, previously was a supervising producer at CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2. He is married to Mary Kay Kleist, the CBS 2 meteorologist.
Chris Hush
Chris Hush, a reporter at NBC affiliate WESH in Orlando, Florida, will join the reporting team at NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5, starting October 10. Hush, a graduate of Penn State University, previously worked for stations in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Elmira, New York. He served as an intern for NBC’s “Today.” Also at NBC 5, per-diem reporter Regina Waldroup has been promoted to full-time general assignment reporter, and reporter Katie Kim moves up to investigative reporter.
Terry Boers
Sounding hoarse and frail, Terry Boers called in to his afternoon show Thursday on CBS Radio sports/talk WSCR AM 670 to reassure fans he’ll return to The Score in October. But he acknowledged that his summer has been “awful” and last week was especially “miserable” as he undergoes treatment for an undisclosed ailment following surgery in June. “I told my doctor, I said: ‘Just leave me alone. Just get me to a screen where I can watch baseball. I don’t need any advice, I don’t need any counseling, I’m OK. My mind is alright. Just get me to a Cub game,’ ” Boers told Matt Abbatacola, who’s been filling in for him alongside co-host Dan Bernstein. “So that’s basically what I’ve been doing. . . . In a month from now I will sound a lot different than I do today. I will be fine. It’s just this reaction, this pain stuff last week, was not good. I’m not a big pain medication guy anyway, so I thought I’d try and I failed miserably. It was a miserable week, and it set me back a little bit. But I’m OK. I’m OK. So I’ll be fine, my friend.”