Robservations on the media beat:
Peggy Kusinski and Dionne Miller, two of the best sportscasters in town, are teaming up to co-host a new weekly show on WMVP 1000-AM, the Good Karma Brands ESPN sports/talk station. Starting this weekend they'll be heard on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. It marks a return to the station after 19 years for Kusinski, who went on to a long run as sports anchor at NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5. Miller, who's sports anchor at ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7, co-hosted a weekly Chicago Bears pregame show with Jeff Meller last season on ESPN 1000 and has filled in as a weekday host over the past year. "We are really excited to have Peggy and Dionne on our team and know the fans will enjoy this duo," said Danny Zederman, director of content at ESPN 1000. "I think it's going to be great."
Maddie Lee, who covered the Chicago Cubs and White Sox for NBC Sports Chicago, has been hired by the Sun-Times as its new Cubs beat writer, starting Monday. She replaces Russell Dorsey, who left to join Stadium, a multi-platform sports network headquartered at United Center. Before signing on with NBC Sports Chicago as digital reporter/producer in 2020, Lee covered the Oklahoma City Thunder for The Oklahoman. "Maddie brings great talent and energy to the job, and we can’t wait for her to join the best lineup of sports writers in the city," Steve Warmbir, interim editor-in-chief of the Sun-Times, told staffers in an email. Tweeted Lee: "I'm excited to work with such a powerhouse group of sports writers at such a storied publication."
Alejandra Cancino, former senior investigative reporter at the Better Government Association, has been hired as deputy editor at City Bureau, the nonprofit civic journalism lab serving Chicago’s South and West Sides. Before joining the BGA in 2016 Cancino spent six years as a business and metro reporter for the Chicago Tribune. Born in Guatemala and raised in Chile and Miami, Cancino is a former president of the Chicago Headline Club. She was the first recipient of an AP-National Opinion Research Center Fellowship at the University of Chicago.
Terry Foxx, who hosted afternoons for seven years in the '90s at Audacy Top 40 WBBM 96.3-FM, has been hired as director of programming and audience at KUT, the University of Texas NPR station in Austin. He most recently was brand manager for Radio One stations in Charlotte, North Carolina. “KUT has a rich heritage and is part of the fabric of Central Texas,” said Foxx, who grew up in Texas. “I look forward to joining the strong team at KUT and engaging new listeners in creative ways.”
The Chicago Tribune launched a free weekly newsletter Thursday unearthing stories, photos and other treasures from the newspaper's vast archives. Inspired by the paper's Sunday Flashback features and @VintageTribune Instagram account, Vintage Chicago Tribune is billed as "a look back at events, places and people involved in shaping Chicago’s past, present and future, in ways both small and big." (Here is the link to subscribe.) It's the work of senior visual editor Marianne Mather and visual reporter Kori Rumore.
Thursday’s comment of the day: Jeff Steven Kwit: Rich Koz is not only a Chicago TV icon, he is humble, approachable and respects his fandom. He seems humbled by their adulation, completely devoid of ego. The term "living legend" has never been more apt.