{"id":18620,"date":"2018-07-09T06:00:05","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T11:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=18620"},"modified":"2018-07-09T06:00:06","modified_gmt":"2018-07-09T11:00:06","slug":"robservations-new-owners-plan-diverse-reader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2018\/07\/09\/robservations-new-owners-plan-diverse-reader\/","title":{"rendered":"Robservations: New owners plan \u2018more diverse\u2019 Reader"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/a> Dorothy Leavell (Photo: WTTW\/Chicago Tonight)<\/p><\/div>\n

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

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

The new owners of the Chicago Reader<\/a> hope to expand the alternative weekly\u2019s distribution and advertising beyond the North Side and lakefront, while retaining its investigative reporting and coverage of culture and entertainment. That\u2019s the word from Dorothy Leavell,<\/strong> who heads the group that brought<\/a> the Reader last month from the Sun-Times. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be more diverse in its circulation especially,\u201d Leavell told Phil Ponce<\/strong> on \u201cChicago Tonight.\u201d <\/a>\u201cThere are many of our communities \u2014 African-American communities \u2014 on the South Side and the West Side that you can\u2019t get a Reader. So we\u2019re No. 1 going to be expanding its reach.\u201d Leavell, who also publishes the African-American Chicago Crusader and Gary Crusader, said she plans to develop a \u201cfull-scale sales team\u201d for the Reader. \u201cWe don\u2019t expect any real earth-shattering things from the beginning. . . . There may be some other areas people would like to see us focus on. We\u2019re going to listen to them before we make any real changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Sinclair Broadcast Group<\/p><\/div>\n

Sinclair Broadcast Group<\/a> pushed back strongly last week against opponents of its plan to buy Tribune Media stations (including \u201cChicago\u2019s Very Own\u201d WGN-Channel 9 and news\/talk WGN 720-AM). In response to numerous petitions to deny the deal, Sinclair wrote<\/a>\u00a0to the FCC: \"Contrary to petitioners\u2019 rhetoric, the sky is not falling. Sinclair\u2019s acquisition of Tribune will not radically disrupt the media marketplace or impede viewers\u2019 access to quality local news, nor will it violate any FCC rules or policies. . . . Because Sinclair\u2019s acquisition of Tribune will neither violate any FCC rules or policies nor impede viewers\u2019 access to high-quality local news and information programming, petitioners resort to speculation, exaggeration and outright misstatement to conjure alleged harm. Petitioners\u2019 objections to the proposed transaction are not supported by the record in this proceeding or other observable facts, but are instead rooted in unfounded assumptions, misunderstandings of law, ignorance of the modern media landscape, a desire to silence voices with which they disagree and, in many instances, blatant self-interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Beethoven<\/p><\/div>\n

A three-part series on the life and music of Beethoven<\/strong> marks the debut of \u201cClassical Profiles,\u201d <\/a>a new audio download series produced by Steve Robinson,<\/strong> former general manager of classical WFMT 98.7-FM and the WFMT Radio Network. (Here is the link.<\/a>) It\u2019s written and narrated by John C. Tibbetts,<\/strong> associate professor at the University of Kansas, who previously produced \u201cThe World of Robert Schumann<\/strong>,\u201d distributed by the WFMT Radio Network. \u201cMy goal with \u2018Classical Profiles\u2019 is to help \u2018casual\u2019 listeners develop their appreciation and become lifelong fans by providing fast-paced, dramatic, informative and entertaining programs about the great composers \u2014 at a very reasonable cost,\u201d said Robinson, who formed Chicago-based New Media Productions in 2016. Future offerings will include a 10-episode series on Mozart.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Veronica Carter<\/p><\/div>\n

Wrapping up more than 12 years on Chicago radio, Veronica Carter<\/strong> has signed off as afternoon traffic reporter at Entercom all-news WBBM 780-AM\/WCFS 105.9-FM<\/a> to move back home to California. In addition to two stints at WBBM Newsradio, the former news anchor also worked at Tribune Broadcasting news\/talk WGN 720-AM and Merlin Media. \u201cMy kids have grown up and now I have zero obligations, so I'm going to do what I want for the next two or three decades!\u201d Carter wrote on Facebook.<\/a> \u201cThat includes spending a lot of time outdoors, visiting my mother, sisters and other family members, and of course chillaxing on the beach!\u201d Applications for her replacement are being accepted at Entercom.com, <\/a>according to Ron Gleason,<\/strong> director of news and programming at WBBM Newsradio.<\/p>\n

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Mark Suppelsa<\/p><\/div>\n

Sunday was moving day for Mark Suppelsa.<\/strong> Seven months after he retired as news anchor at Tribune Broadcasting WGN-Channel 9, Suppelsa, 56, packed up and moved with his wife, Candus,<\/strong> to their longtime vacation home in Bigfork, Montana, near Glacier National Park. Suppelsa surprised his bosses, colleagues and viewers when he announced<\/a> that he was calling it quits after a 25-year run on Chicago TV news. He anchored his final newscasts for WGN in early December, withdrew from all social media, and recently closed on the sale of his house in Evanston.<\/p>\n

Comment of the day: <\/a>Gary Vanicek:<\/strong> I don't understand the move. Perhaps there is more to this. Mully & Hanley rate highly in the key demo (top ten in town, usually). Perhaps they don't generate enough billable revenue. Perhaps the host's salaries are too high. Perhaps deCastro likes Haugh since he worked at the failed FM sports station, too. The Score's ratings have held up since the last shake-up, although not a lot of time has passed yet. Will that trend continue?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robservations on the media beat: The new owners of the Chicago Reader hope to expand the alternative weekly\u2019s distribution and advertising beyond the North Side and lakefront, while retaining its investigative reporting and coverage of culture and entertainment. That\u2019s the word from Dorothy Leavell, who heads the group that brought the Reader last month from... 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\/18620"}],"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=18620"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18630,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18620\/revisions\/18630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}