{"id":12121,"date":"2016-08-15T06:00:42","date_gmt":"2016-08-15T11:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=12121"},"modified":"2016-08-24T14:15:46","modified_gmt":"2016-08-24T19:15:46","slug":"robservations-bga-staff-votes-to-unionize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2016\/08\/15\/robservations-bga-staff-votes-to-unionize\/","title":{"rendered":"Robservations: BGA staff votes to unionize"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Andy<\/a>

<\/a> Andy Shaw<\/p><\/div>\n

Robservations on the media beat:<\/p>\n

Investigators, reporters and other staff members of Chicago\u2019s Better Government Association<\/a> voted unanimously last week to seek representation by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. <\/a>The unionizing move could be seen as a challenge to Andy Shaw,<\/strong> who has headed the nonprofit investigative news organization and civic watchdog group since 2009. It comes just weeks after the resignations<\/a> of Robert Reed<\/strong> as director of programming and Robert Herguth<\/strong> as director of investigations. Their departures reportedly were prompted by changes in the organization\u2019s structure and revisions in its investigative strategy. No comment yet from Shaw or SAG-AFTRA officials. SAG-AFTRA recently won elections to represent producers of \u201cChicago Tonight\u201d at Window to the World Communications WTTW-Channel 11,<\/a> and staffers who work in content and technical areas at Chicago\u00a0Public Media\u00a0WBEZ FM 91.5.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/a>

Michael Ferro<\/p><\/div>\n

According to a report in The New York Times,<\/a> tronc chairman Michael Ferro<\/strong> tried to use his newspapers\u2019 reporters to investigate management of the investment firm that opposed his takeover and administration of Tribune Publishing. \u201cDuring a meeting in July at his estate in Lake Geneva, Wis., [Ferro] suggested to top editors and executives that their journalists investigate Oaktree and Bruce Karsh,<\/strong> co-chairman and co-founder of the firm, according to two people with direct knowledge of the meeting,\u201d the Times reported. No stories about Oaktree or Karsh were published, but the incident underscores Ferro\u2019s reputation for abuse of authority<\/a> and disregard for ethics<\/a> of journalism. A spokesman for Ferro denied the story.<\/p>\n

\"Amy<\/a>

Amy Dickinson<\/p><\/div>\n

To the relief of countless fans, \u201cAsk Amy\u201d<\/a> is back. On hiatus since July 14, the popular advice column by Amy Dickinson<\/strong> returned to the pages of the Chicago Tribune<\/a> on Monday. \u201cThe ongoing response from readers who have missed the column has been so heartening,\u201d Dickinson said. \u201cChicago readers are so fiercely loyal.\u201d No word on why her column was on hiatus from the Tribune, where it\u2019s been anchored since 2003. In the interim, the syndicated version of \u201cAsk Amy\u201d continued to appear in newspapers across the country.<\/p>\n

\"Bill<\/a>

Bill Zehme<\/p><\/div>\n

The September issue of Chicago magazine<\/a> marks a return to print for Bill Zehme,<\/strong> the legendary Chicago writer who\u2019s been making a comeback<\/a> after treatment and recovery for colorectal cancer. Scoring an interview with Da Coach Mike Ditka,<\/strong> Zehme inaugurates Back Room,<\/em> the magazine\u2019s new back-page feature. A note to readers from Susanna Homan,<\/strong> editor and publisher of Chicago, hails the start of Zehme\u2019s monthly venture (and his first byline for the magazine) as the coup it is: \u201cAn icon returns.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Abby<\/a>

Abby Hornacek<\/p><\/div>\n

Abby Hornacek,<\/strong> billed as a \u201crising star\u201d in sports digital and social media, has been hired by 120 Sports,<\/a> the Chicago-based digital video network. She\u2019ll co-host \u201cThe Rally,\u201d a live-streamed, nightly multi-sport highlights show on Twitter. A graduate of the University of Southern California, she was a sports anchor and features reporter for Fox Sports Arizona, a co-host for Fox Sports San Diego and a freelance reporter for ESPN. Hornacek is the daughter of New York Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Phil<\/a>

Phil Rosenthal<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cTelevision in the 1990s\u201d will be the topic of a panel discussion August 27 at the Museum of Broadcast Communications,<\/a> 360 North State Street. Participants will include Phil Rosenthal,<\/strong> Chicago Tribune business columnist, Justin Kaufmann,<\/strong> evening host at Tribune Media news\/talk WGN AM 720,<\/a> and Sharon Ross, <\/strong>associate professor at Columbia College Chicago. It\u2019s the latest event tied to the museum\u2019s ongoing exhibit on Watching TV in the 1990s. <\/a>Walter Podrazik,<\/strong> curator and writer of the exhibit, will serve as moderator. Tickets are available at\u00a0museum.tv.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robservations on the media beat: Investigators, reporters and other staff members of Chicago\u2019s Better Government Association voted unanimously last week to seek representation by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. The unionizing move could be seen as a challenge to Andy Shaw, who has headed the nonprofit investigative news organization and... Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12121"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12121"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12205,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12121\/revisions\/12205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}