{"id":13220,"date":"2017-01-20T06:00:50","date_gmt":"2017-01-20T12:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=13220"},"modified":"2017-01-20T09:08:54","modified_gmt":"2017-01-20T15:08:54","slug":"robservations-chicago-magazine-top-honors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2017\/01\/20\/robservations-chicago-magazine-top-honors\/","title":{"rendered":"Robservations: Chicago magazine up for top national honors"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Chicago<\/a>

<\/a> Chicago magazine<\/p><\/div>\n

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

Chicago magazine <\/a>has been nominated for prestigious honors from the American Society of Magazine Editors. <\/a>The revitalized monthly was named a finalist Thursday for the 2017 National Magazine Awards in the General Excellence \u2013 Special Interest category. \u201cWe pour a lot of energy and emotion into every issue, and we don\u2019t do it to win awards but to serve our readers,\u201d said Chicago editor and publisher Susanna Homan.<\/strong> \u201cEven so, this particular category is special to us because everyone on the masthead contributed. In our industry, the National Magazine Awards are like the Oscars \u2014 being even a finalist is a\u00a0very big deal.\" Sixty-four media organizations were nominated in 20 categories this year. Awards will be presented February 7 in New York.<\/p>\n

\"Bill<\/a>

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

Thursday marked the debut of \u201cBill Zwecker\u2019s<\/strong> Chicago,\u201d a new showcase for the veteran show biz columnist in the Sun-Times. <\/a>His full page on Tuesdays and Thursdays will focus on entertainment stories, personalities, films, TV shows, books and even celebrity chefs \u2014 all with a Chicago connection. Thursday\u2019s opener was an interview with Michael Keaton,<\/strong> who stars as Chicagoan Ray Kroc<\/strong> in \u201cThe Founder.\u201d Zwecker, who\u2019s been a Sun-Times columnist for 25 years, doubles as entertainment reporter for Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Empire\"<\/a>Staffers at WTTW-Channel 11<\/a> were sworn to secrecy this week when the cast and crew of Fox\u2019s \u201cEmpire\u201d <\/a>drama\u00a0series filmed scenes at the Window to the World Communications station\u2019s North Side studios. Stars included Taraji Henson<\/strong> and Taye Diggs<\/strong> along with special guest Phylicia Rashad.<\/strong> \u201cThey had requested a \u2018closed set\u2019 for the privacy of their performers, so even though I know they were filming around the building, we were asked to keep things as low key as possible,\u201d Kim Mattes,<\/strong> director of production services at WTTW, told employees. \u201cOur hope is now that they know what an amazing facility we have, they\u2019ll shoot here again in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Angi<\/a>

Angi Taylor<\/p><\/div>\n

Angi Taylor,<\/strong> who co-hosts the \u201cFred + Angi\u201d morning show with Christopher Frederick<\/strong> on iHeartMedia Top 40 WKSC FM 103.5,<\/a> has taken on additional duties at night. She\u2019s just been named co-host of \u201cThe Rendezvous\u201d the relationship advice and music show syndicated by Premiere Networks and hosted by Simon Marcel<\/strong> (formerly known to Chicago listeners as Simon Badinter). \u201cHosting a syndicated show is a dream come true, and I can't wait to share the love, romance and fun with a national audience,\u201d Taylor said in a statement. \u201cThe Rendezvous\u201d airs here from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Friday on iHeartMedia adult contemporary WLIT FM 93.9.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Chris<\/a>

Chris McDonnell<\/p><\/div>\n

Chris McDonnell,<\/strong> former president and general manager of Telemundo Chicago WSNS-Channel 44,<\/a> has landed as vice president and general manager of KRON, the MyNet affiliate in San Francisco. His position here was eliminated<\/a> last November and combined with the duties of David Doebler,<\/strong> president and general manager of NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5.<\/a> A graduate of Northwestern University\u2019s Medill School of Journalism, McDonnell previously worked in sales management at NBC 5.<\/p>\n

\"Shel<\/a>

Shel Lustig (top) and Reed Pence<\/p><\/div>\n

A tip of the hat to Shel Lustig<\/strong> and Reed Pence<\/strong> of northwest suburban MediaTracks Communications<\/a> on the 25th anniversary of \u201cRadio Health Journal,\u201d their award-winning weekly public affairs program. Now syndicated to more than 450 stations nationwide, the show is still hosted by the original trio of Lustig, Pence and Nancy Benson.<\/strong> \u201cConsidering all the medical advances of the last quarter century, it\u2019s a completely different world from when we first went on air,\u201d Pence said in a statement. \u201cBut what hasn\u2019t changed is the public\u2019s need for reliable reporting on the health issues facing us as individuals, communities and as a nation. I mean, our very first segment was on the crisis in health insurance, and 1,250 episodes later \u2014 we\u2019re still talking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CNS\"<\/a>Comcast SportsNet Chicago <\/a>announced plans Thursday for live streaming online and on mobile devices of Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox games during the 2017 season. Danny Ecker<\/strong> of Crain\u2019s Chicago Business <\/a>reported it first. \u201cWith live streaming currently offered for our Bulls and Blackhawks telecasts, the addition of MLB streaming further illustrates our commitment to provide our viewers with the most in-depth and compelling Cubs and White Sox content in and out of the home and on any device,\u201d Phil Bedella,<\/strong> vice president and general manager of CSN Chicago, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\"Digital<\/a>The parent company of the Sun-Times this week announced the launch of Digital 312, <\/a>a new Chicago-based marketing agency. Billed as a \u201cfull-spectrum, in-house digital and marketing solutions firm,\u201d it\u2019s designed to serve small and mid-sized businesses as well as national companies. \u201cWe recognize that mobile marketing and advertising is a key component in crafting a successful and thorough digital strategy,\u201d Chris Best,<\/strong> director of digital services, said in a statement. \u201cWe no longer consider mobile as a future trend \u2014 it\u2019s today\u2019s reality, it\u2019s now. We are excited to be a player in this forum.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robservations on the media beat: Chicago magazine has been nominated for prestigious honors from the American Society of Magazine Editors. The revitalized monthly was named a finalist Thursday for the 2017 National Magazine Awards in the General Excellence \u2013 Special Interest category. \u201cWe pour a lot of energy and emotion into every issue, and we... 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\/13220"}],"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=13220"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13233,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13220\/revisions\/13233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}