Robservations on the media beat:
Just in time to cover the NFL Draft today, Glenview native Courtney Cronin has signed on with WMVP 1000-AM, the Good Karma Brands ESPN sports/talk station. She’ll serve as Chicago Bears reporter and on-air fill-in host during the NFL offseason. Cronin, who’d been reporting on the Minnesota Vikings for ESPN since 2017, came home earlier this year to cover the Chicago Bears for the network. At ESPN 1000 she succeeds her mentor and friend, Jeff Dickerson, who died of cancer in December. "We are thrilled to welcome Courtney to our ESPN Chicago family,” said Danny Zederman, director of content at ESPN 1000. “She is well connected in NFL circles and will bring our fans the Bears information they desire. In addition to her reporting, our fans are going to enjoy what Courtney has to offer as a radio host, where she'll talk all things Chicago sports." Cronin graduated from north suburban Glenbrook South High School and Indiana University.
Colleagues took notice Wednesday when Brad Edwards quietly wrapped up his three-year run as main news anchor at CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2. Incoming to succeed him alongside Irika Sargent at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. will be Joe Donlon. “Hell of a run, @tvbrad,” CBS 2 reporter Charlie DeMar tweeted after Edwards's last night. “You were the steady hand during some of the biggest moments in recent years. When it got hectic you knew just what to ask reporters in the field to give viewers the info they needed. You’re a leader, mentor and a friend. Congrats on a job well done!” Edwards now shifts to primary anchor for the CBS News Chicago streaming news service and continues as an investigative reporter at CBS 2.
Eight months after he retired from Chicago radio, Bill Cameron is back: “I’m coming out of retirement this week to resume doing a Sunday public affairs show and podcast at WLS 890-AM at 5 p.m,” Cameron tweeted Wednesday. “We call it ‘Take 1’ with leading newsmakers like Senator Richard Durbin this week and a returning roundtable of Ray Long, Greg Hinz and Heather Cherone.” In addition to his role as dean of Chicago’s City Hall press room, Cameron hosted the long-running “Connected to Chicago” talk show for the Cumulus Media news/talk station. Earlier this week Cameron was named recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Headline Club.
"Wild Chicago" has new meaning for longtime Chicago TV host Will Clinger. He's back home recovering from serious injuries after he was attacked on a CTA Red Line train just after 8:30 p.m. Monday. Clinger, 64, was beaten unconscious after he started to chase a woman who stole his mobile phone on the train. He was treated for a contusion, brain bleed and swollen right hand. Clinger hosted the weekly magazine show "Wild Chicago" on Window to the World Communications WTTW-Channel 11 from 1992 to 2003. Since 2016 he's been hosting "Wild Travels," a national series airing on WTTW and other PBS stations.
Joe Hosey, editor of the Joliet Herald-News, has been appointed executive editor of The Times of Northwest Indiana, starting May 9. “I’m looking forward to continuing the good work The Times already is doing,” Hosey told the newspaper. “I’m impressed with the news staff. The Times website is terrific. I can’t wait to put my imprint on the operation.” In addition to his 17 years over two stints at the Herald-News, Hosey was an editor for the online news service Patch.com. As an award-winning former investigative reporter and columnist, he wrote the book on Drew Petersen, later adapted for a Lifetime movie.
Cassandra West, assistant managing editor for news features at Crain’s Chicago Business, was named recipient of a McAllister Editorial Fellowship at the annual Neal Awards ceremony, sponsored by the Software & Information Industry Association. The fellowship, which recognizes excellence in the realm of business-to-business publishing, cited West’s oversight of two monthly series for Crain's — one on public policy issues and another on diversity and inclusion. West began her career at the Sun-Times and worked for the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Reporter before joining Crain’s in 2020.
“Harold Washington: Honoring the People’s Mayor,” a one-hour roundtable discussion commemorating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Chicago’s first Black mayor, will air at 7 p.m. Friday on Nexstar Media WGN-Channel 9. Taped at the Harold Washington Library Center, the special is hosted by WGN news anchors Micah Materre and Ben Bradley. Participants include Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Cook County Circuit Court Chief Judge Timothy Evans, Jacky Grimshaw and Judd Miner.
Wednesday’s comment of the day: John Hartness: Let's see if Tracy Baim publishes the "fact check" to [Leonard] Goodman's article. Many would like to see what was behind this dispute and make their own decision if the hill was worth dying on.