Andy Shaw

Robservations on the media beat:

Andy Shaw, the veteran journalist who heads the Better Government Association, has been named a contributing columnist to Crain’s Chicago Business. Starting Monday, Shaw’s column will alternate every other week with Rich Miller, editor and publisher of Capitol Fax, on the business weekly’s politics-focused Page 2. “Andy and I have talked over the years on how to cement a better partnership,” said Crain’s editor Michael Arndt. “Now that he’s got a different crew there [under director of investigations Bob Secter], it’s coming together pretty smartly.” Shaw joined the BGA as executive director in 2009 and was named president and CEO in 2011. A former political reporter for ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7, Shaw had been writing for the Sun-Times, which recently reduced the frequency of his column from weekly to monthly. The Sun-Times is expected to continue to work with the watchdog organization’s investigators on stories. Continue reading →

Ben Bradley and Lourdes Duarte

WGN-Channel 9 will move a step closer to around-the-clock news with the launch next month of a one-hour newscast at 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, the Tribune Broadcasting station announced Thursday.

The addition will bring “Chicago’s Very Own” to a record 70½ hours of news each week, plus news produced throughout the day for its CLTV cable channel. Continue reading →

Melissa Forman and Jeanne Sparrow

It’s over and out for Jeanne and Melissa on “You & Me.”

Thursday turned out to be the last day on the air for Jeanne Sparrow and Melissa Forman as hosts of “You & Me,” the locally produced talk-and-entertainment show airing from 6 to 8 a.m. weekdays on Weigel Broadcasting WCIU-Channel 26. Continue reading →

Rob Stafford

Rob Stafford, veteran broadcast journalist and principal news anchor at WMAQ-Channel 5, said Wednesday he will undergo a bone marrow transplant and chemotherapy to treat a rare blood disorder. “My prognosis is very good,” he said.

Stafford, 58, told colleagues at the NBC-owned station he will be treated at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, for amyloidosis, an incurable condition that has affected his kidneys. Continue reading →