{"id":15231,"date":"2017-08-22T07:30:01","date_gmt":"2017-08-22T12:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=15231"},"modified":"2017-08-22T07:30:02","modified_gmt":"2017-08-22T12:30:02","slug":"robservations-tom-skilling-weeps-life-changing-eclipse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2017\/08\/22\/robservations-tom-skilling-weeps-life-changing-eclipse\/","title":{"rendered":"Robservations: Tom Skilling weeps at \u2018life-changing\u2019 eclipse"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

<\/a> Tom Skilling (August 21, 2017)<\/p><\/div>\n

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

Television\u2019s wall-to-wall coverage of the solar eclipse Monday combined a celebration and science lesson in a way viewers haven\u2019t seen since the U.S. space program\u2019s moon landings a generation ago. But in watching\u00a0Tom Skilling<\/strong> weep<\/a> at the sight of the celestial spectacle, you\u2019d have to go back 80 years to the broadcast of the Hindenburg disaster<\/a> to recall an outpouring of as much unabashed emotion by a reporter covering an event. Unlike Chicago radio newsman\u00a0Herb Morrison\u2019s<\/strong> plaintive wail at an unfolding catastrophe (\u201cOh, the humanity!\u201d), there was the superstar meteorologist for Tribune Broadcasting WGN-Channel 9<\/a> crying tears of overwhelming joy at witnessing the solar phenomenon (\u201cPath of Totality!\u201d). Reporting from a beach in Carbondale, Illinois, Skilling said: \u201cWe\u2019ve been told people start sobbing. For some, it\u2019s just a life-changing event. We might start doing that too.\u201d Then he did. And it was perfect.<\/a> \u201cFor fans and even colleagues, it wasn\u2019t just that we\u2019d seen the eclipse,\u201d wrote Jack M. Silverstein<\/strong> in a\u00a0Chicago magazine<\/a> blog post. \u201cIt was that we\u2019d seen Skilling<\/em> see the eclipse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Edwin Eisendrath<\/p><\/div>\n

Edwin Eisendrath<\/strong> took his crusade to rejuvenate the Sun-Times <\/a>to the City Club of Chicago <\/a>Monday with an appeal to subscribe and a pledge to honor the trust of its readers. Backed by an investor group including a coalition of organized labor, Eisendrath acquired the newspaper last month with plans to secure its digital future as a multichannel operation. \u201cSince the paper was saved, the outpouring of really relief and gratitude has been overwhelming and from everywhere in the city \u2014 including, I have to say, from that Gothic tower over there on Michigan Avenue,\u201d he told the gathering of civic leaders. \u201cThe truth is Chicago cares deeply about the Sun-Times, and we feel that everywhere. So it is with enormous humility the new ownership group accepted this responsibility along with the keys to a great newspaper.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Tim Knight<\/p><\/div>\n

The leadership shakeup<\/a> Monday that sent former Sun-Times publisher and editor Jim Kirk<\/strong> to step in as interim executive editor of the Los Angeles Times rocked management here too. Tronc,<\/a> Chicago-based parent company of the L.A. Times and the Chicago Tribune, also cut the positions of Tim Ryan,<\/strong> president of publishing, Joseph Schiltz,<\/strong> chief marketing officer, and Ken DePaola,<\/strong> senior vice president of sales. When the dust settled, Tim Knight,<\/strong> who heads the digital content and commerce division of tronc, has assumed responsibility for all of the company\u2019s local market operations other than the L.A. Times.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Michael \u201cDJ Mike P\u201d Pryor<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe Jam,\u201d <\/a>the new 6-to-8 a.m. weekday show that debuted July 31 on Weigel Broadcasting WCIU-Channel 26 <\/a>with an original theme song<\/a> by Che \u201cRhymefest\u201d Smith,<\/strong> has another musical claim to fame: It\u2019s the only morning program on Chicago TV with an in-studio disc jockey. Michael \u201cDJ Mike P\u201d Pryor,<\/strong> a native of the South Side and a graduate of Urban Prep Charter Academy in Englewood, plays the jams for hosts Jordan Cornette, Felicia Lawrence<\/strong> and Danielle Robay.<\/strong> \u201cMy approach to spinning for \u2018The Jam\u2019 is to take a bit of the old, throw in the new and create a groove somewhere in between where everyone can feel energized about their day,\u201d Pryor said in a statement. \u201cI\u2019m excited to be the man providing the soundtrack to Chicago\u2019s morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Robb Ellis<\/p><\/div>\n

Robb Ellis<\/strong> debuted over the weekend as a per diem meteorologist at CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2.<\/a> He\u2019ll fill in on the air and handle other weather duties occasionally, according to CBS 2 news director Jeff Kiernan.<\/strong> Ellis, former chief meteorologist at WIS, the NBC affiliate in his native Columbia, South Carolina, previously worked at WISH, the CW affiliate in Indianapolis. He received his meteorology degree from North Carolina State University in Raleigh.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Beth Schenker<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s such a mechaye<\/em> to welcome \u201cThe Big Schmear,\u201d<\/a> a new podcast about Jewish food. On the second and fourth Monday of each month, host and producer Beth Schenker<\/strong> explores the culture and history of Jewish eating \u2014 from restaurants to recipes. \u201cFor me, Jewish food is about my Jewish identity: it connects me with my past through the memories of holiday meals shared with family and friends and at the same time Jewish food links me to the future as I develop my own family food traditions and explore new developments in Jewish food worldwide,\u201d she said. Schenker is assistant dean at Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership in Chicago. She\u2019s married to Steve Robinson,<\/strong> former general manager of classical music WFMT FM 98.7.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robservations on the media beat: Television\u2019s wall-to-wall coverage of the solar eclipse Monday combined a celebration and science lesson in a way viewers haven\u2019t seen since the U.S. space program\u2019s moon landings a generation ago. But in watching\u00a0Tom Skilling weep at the sight of the celestial spectacle, you\u2019d have to go back 80 years to... 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\/15231"}],"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=15231"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15245,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15231\/revisions\/15245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}