{"id":17981,"date":"2018-05-10T06:00:03","date_gmt":"2018-05-10T11:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=17981"},"modified":"2018-05-10T06:00:04","modified_gmt":"2018-05-10T11:00:04","slug":"robservations-tronc-loses-15-million-payout-michael-ferro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2018\/05\/10\/robservations-tronc-loses-15-million-payout-michael-ferro\/","title":{"rendered":"Robservations: Tronc loses on $15 million payout to Michael Ferro"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

<\/a> Michael Ferro (Photo: Christopher Michel)<\/p><\/div>\n

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

As a parting gift to Michael Ferro,<\/strong> tronc<\/a> paid out its former chairman\u2019s entire three-year, $15 million \u201cconsulting fee\u201d in a single payment, it was disclosed Wednesday. \u201cThe company fully expensed the $15.0 million contract in the first quarter,\u201d tronc reported to investors, resulting in a net loss of $14.8 million. \u201cThe quarter was negatively impacted by a charge related to the acceleration of the accounting for the consulting agreement with our former nonexecutive chairman,\u201d Terry Jimenez,<\/strong> tronc\u2019s chief financial officer, said in a Chicago Tribune<\/a> report. Ferro abruptly resigned as chairman March 18 \u2014 hours before he was accused of sexual misconduct<\/a> by two women in a Fortune magazine takedown. One month later, he cashed out <\/a>all nine million of his tronc shares for $208.6 million. The undisguised greed of Ferro\u2019s $15 million consulting agreement proved a rallying point for journalists who organized the Chicago Tribune Guild and won newsroom staffers their first bargaining rights<\/a> in the Tribune\u2019s 171-year history.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Sean \u201cSonic\u201d Leckie<\/p><\/div>\n

WBMX 104.3-FM <\/a>rounded out its full-time air staff Wednesday with the hiring of Sean \u201cSonic\u201d Leckie<\/strong> as afternoon personality on the Entercom classic hip-hop and R&B station. Leckie, who has split his radio career between stations in San Diego and Atlanta, called the Chicago job a dream come true. \u201cWhen you invest and believe in yourself, you can do anything,\u201d he told Facebook <\/a>friends. \u201cTruly humbled.\u201d The final piece in the new station\u2019s lineup, he debuts today as host from 2 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. \u201cSonic brings a passion for music and drive to succeed to 104.3 Jams,\u201d Jimmy deCastro,<\/strong> senior vice president and market manager of Entercom Chicago, said in a press release.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Charles Whitaker<\/p><\/div>\n

Charles Whitaker<\/strong> was named interim dean<\/a> of the Medill School of Journalism<\/a> at Northwestern University Wednesday. He\u2019ll lead the school while a national search is under way for a successor to Brad Hamm,<\/strong> who announced he\u2019s stepping down at the end of the current academic year. Whitaker joined the Medill faculty as a professor in 1993 and now is associate dean and Helen Gurley Brown magazine chair. He previously was a senior editor at Ebony magazine and a reporter for the Miami Herald and Louisville Times. Whitaker earned bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees from Medill in the early \u201980s.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Chicago Tribune<\/p><\/div>\n

The Chicago Tribune just became the latest news organization to disable reader comments on its website. \u201cWe\u2019ve turned off comments across chicagotribune.com<\/a> while we review our commenting platform and consider ways to improve the system,\u201d the paper\u2019s editors announced. Columnist Mary Schmich<\/strong> cheered the move, tweeting:<\/a> \u201cOh happy day.\u201d A spokesperson for parent company tronc could not provide a time frame for the return of comments, saying only: \u201cWe are exploring options to make commenting better on the site.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Mike Joseph<\/p><\/div>\n

The radio industry is remembering Mike Joseph<\/strong> as a pioneering programming consultant who revitalized Top 40 radio and reinvented it for FM audiences. In 1982 he brought his trademark \u201cHot Hits\u201d format to Chicago, transforming WBBM 96.3-FM into a contemporary hit radio powerhouse that\u2019s still in the game. Joseph died last month in Los Angeles at 90, his son, Mike Joseph Jr.,<\/strong> told AllAccess.com.<\/a> Born in Youngstown, Ohio, Joseph studied pre-law at Western Reserve and began his radio career as program director of WTNS in Cochocton, Ohio, in 1950. One of his early clients as a consultant was WKBW in Buffalo, New York. \u201cAnd that staff I still say is one of the greatest rock staffs in the history of rock and roll,\u201d he once recalled, <\/a>\u201cincluding the greatest rock jock ever, Dick Biondi.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s comment of the day:<\/a> Steve Robinson:<\/strong> In his nearly three decades on the radio in Chicago, Carl Grapentine, the dean of American classical music radio announcers, has shared his passion, joy and knowledge of classical music with millions of listeners in a gentle, calm and loving manner. During the many years I was on the air with him during pledge drives I would watch in continuing amazement as wave after wave of phone calls flooded into the station in answer to his calm but impassioned requests for support. Hats off and bravo to Welz and Nick at Ravinia for honoring this gentle giant who has given so much to Chicago.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robservations on the media beat: As a parting gift to Michael Ferro, tronc paid out its former chairman\u2019s entire three-year, $15 million \u201cconsulting fee\u201d in a single payment, it was disclosed Wednesday. \u201cThe company fully expensed the $15.0 million contract in the first quarter,\u201d tronc reported to investors, resulting in a net loss of $14.8... 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\/17981"}],"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=17981"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17994,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17981\/revisions\/17994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}