Patti Vasquez

Maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to wake up the mayor of Chicago with a prank call at 2 in the morning. But it did make for some unusual radio.

Patti Vasquez, the Chicago standup comic who hosts late nights on Tribune Media news/talk WGN AM 720, featured a bit in which she’d call local celebrities in the middle of the night. Mostly they were folks who had to get up early, like morning TV anchors and reporters. Usually she’d just get the person’s voice mail and leave a funny message. WGN bosses didn’t seem to have a problem with it.

In the early morning of September 2, Vasquez had three guests in her studio — Illinois State Senator Dan Kotowski, Chicago Tribune political cartoonist Scott Stantis and Gregory Seal Livingston, founder of the Coalition For A New Chicago. One of them slipped Vasquez the home number of Mayor Rahm Emanuel. So she placed a call. It was about 1:55 a.m. Continue reading →

Robert Reed

Robert Reed, a veteran Chicago journalist and former editor of Crain’s Chicago Business, will join the Chicago Tribune later this month as its new business columnist.

“We continue to make investments in the business section as we cover the companies and issues that are important to our readers,” Mary Ellen Podmolik, associate managing editor/business, said in a statement Wednesday. “Bob has had a long and distinguished journalism career in Chicago. We look forward to him bringing his voice to the Chicago Tribune.” Continue reading →

Me-TV FM

In the first step of an unusual partnership between competitors, Tribune Media news/talk WGN AM 720 will air news updates during morning drive on Me-TV FM, Weigel Broadcasting’s soft rock/oldies station on WRME LP 87.7.

Starting Wednesday, “Me-TV FM News Minute” will air at 20 minutes and 50 minutes past each hour from 6 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday. WGN’s Andrea Darlas, Steve Grzanich, Ryan Burrow and Vic Vaughn will take turns anchoring the news, weather and sports updates. Continue reading →

Phil Rosenthal

The Chicago Tribune has demoted columnist Phil Rosenthal after more than a decade as a cornerstone of its business section and may be reassigning him to reporting duties in sports, according to multiple sources.

Rosenthal has been missing from the Tribune since his last story ran online September 2. In his new role, sources said, he is expected to report feature stories for the sports section.

Rosenthal did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Continue reading →

John Gallagher

Longtime radio executive John Gallagher is out after two years as vice president and market manager of Hubbard Radio Chicago, where he oversaw hot adult-contemporary WTMX FM 101.9, classic rock WDRV FM 97.1 and adult contemporary WSHE FM 100.3.

Drew Horowitz, president and chief operating officer of Hubbard Radio, cited performance issues for the move Monday. “We were not hitting the metrics that we needed to hit both in ratings and revenue,” Horowitz said. “We wish John only the best in his future endeavors.” Continue reading →

MeTV Music

The “timeless and memorable” soft rock/oldies format of Chicago’s fastest-growing radio station can now be heard around the world.

Weigel Broadcasting has just launched MeTV Music, a free online streaming music service adapted from the wildly successful Me-TV FM, which airs in the Chicago area on WRME LP 87.7, a low-power analog station on VHF television channel 6 that operates as a radio station. Continue reading →

Carol Marin (September 11, 2001)

The following is excerpted from my blog post of September 8, 2011 on TimeOutChicago.com:

September 11, 2001, profoundly affected broadcast journalists who covered the terrorist attacks that day. But 10 years later, Carol Marin looks back with regret that television news so quickly lost the sense of life-or-death seriousness it conveyed to a shocked and grieving nation.

“I thought we distinguished ourselves in those days following 9/11,” Marin said in an interview this week. “We had been given a sobering lesson in what our real purpose and mission is. This is what news was built for — to be the link between people hungry to know what was happening and why.” Continue reading →

Robert Feder

Well, this shouldn't come as much of a surprise: I’ve been troncked.

Tronc, the company formerly known as Tribune Publishing, has chosen not to renew the licensing and marketing agreement for RobertFeder.com. My contract was up at the end of August. Officially I was informed that this was done “for business reasons.” Continue reading →

Linda Yu

Linda Yu, who’s been a trailblazer and role model in Chicago television news for 37 years, will retire in late November as news anchor of WLS-Channel 7’s top-rated 4 p.m. Monday-through-Friday newscast, the ABC-owned station announced Tuesday.

Yu, 69, will anchor her final broadcast on November 23, with Judy Hsu succeeding her alongside Rob Elgas, and Tanja Babich succeeding Hsu as morning news anchor alongside Terrell Brown.

“Since Linda Yu began anchoring the 4 p.m. news in 1984 it has been the No. 1 newscast for 32 years -- an astonishing winning streak,” John Idler, president and general manager of ABC 7, said in a statement. “Linda is a class act who leaves a remarkable legacy at ABC 7. She will be truly missed by everyone at ABC 7 and her many loyal viewers throughout Chicago.” Continue reading →

Ashley Barnes

It’s a new morning at Weigel Broadcasting with the addition this week of two new reporters to the staff of “You & Me” on WCIU-Channel 26.

Chicago natives Ashley Barnes and Rodney Spencer have joined the local talk-and-entertainment show, airing from 6 to 8 a.m. Monday through Friday on The U. Their hiring follows a realignment of the show earlier this year when it was cut from three hours to two. Continue reading →