{"id":18750,"date":"2018-07-23T06:00:10","date_gmt":"2018-07-23T11:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=18750"},"modified":"2018-07-23T06:00:10","modified_gmt":"2018-07-23T11:00:10","slug":"robservations-wgn-staffers-still-mum-sinclair-setback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2018\/07\/23\/robservations-wgn-staffers-still-mum-sinclair-setback\/","title":{"rendered":"Robservations: WGN staffers still mum on Sinclair setback"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

<\/a> WGN<\/p><\/div>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>

Tom Skilling<\/p><\/div>\n

No matter how dead the deal may look, employees of WGN-Channel 9<\/a> and WGN 720-AM<\/a> aren\u2019t ready to speak out about the apparent collapse <\/a>of Sinclair Broadcast Group\u2019s acquisition of their Tribune Media parent company. Though many privately expressed relief that the FCC has derailed the $3.9 billion transaction, most declined to comment publicly. One exception was WGN\u2019s superstar meteorologist, Tom Skilling,<\/strong> who said: \u201cI don't know how final these latest developments are and want to be careful not to get out ahead on this. Ours is a very special television station and I work with an amazing group of people here. My hope is however this comes out that my fellow WGN employees feel secure and happy at the outcome.\u201d Paul Rennie,<\/strong> president and general manager of WGN, was out of the country and could not be reached.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Patricia Callahan<\/p><\/div>\n

Patricia Callahan,<\/strong> Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune,<\/a> has been hired as a senior reporter covering business for ProPublica. <\/a>She\u2019ll join the independent, nonprofit newsroom August 31. \u201cThis is a critical time to be reporting about business and the dismantling of regulations that impact every aspect of American life,\u201d Callahan said in a statement. \u201cI\u2019m thrilled to join such an innovative group of investigative journalists.\u201d A graduate of Maine South High School and Northwestern University\u2019s Medill School of Journalism, Callahan worked for the Wall Street Journal and the Denver Post before joining the Tribune in 2004.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Jenniffer Weigel<\/p><\/div>\n

Jenniffer Weigel,<\/strong> the Chicago journalist, author and broadcaster, has joined the Sun-Times<\/a> as director of community development. In her new role, Weigel will be creating special events, podcasts and video content for the company with a focus on the community. She'll report to Sun-Times CEO Edwin Eisendrath.<\/strong> Weigel, a former video reporter\/columnist for the Tribune, is the daughter of the late sports anchor Tim Weigel<\/strong> and sister of Rafer Weigel,\u00a0<\/strong>news anchor at Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Tony Macaluso<\/p><\/div>\n

Tony Macaluso<\/strong> has resigned as director of network syndication for WFMT Radio Network <\/a>to move with his family to Leeds, England. In addition to heading the national distribution division of Window to the World Communications classical WFMT 98.7-FM, he also oversaw development of the Studs Terkel<\/strong> Radio Archive <\/a>and served as executive producer of numerous radio series. Before joining WFMT Radio Network in 2012, Macaluso was director of marketing for the Grant Park Music Festival. He's a graduate of Glenbard North High School, Augustana College and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Chet Coppock<\/p><\/div>\n

People who have read Chet Coppock\u2019s<\/strong> fifth and latest book say it\u2019s his most thoughtful and introspective yet. Your Dime, My Dance Floor: Chet Coppock in Pursuit of Chet Coppock, <\/a><\/em>published by Rick Kaempfer<\/strong> and David Stern\u2019s<\/strong> Eckhartz Press, features numerous stories about the sportscaster\u2019s athletic heroes. But it also includes reflections on life decisions he has made, career bridges he has burned, and the difficulties he has encountered as a father and husband. It will be released August 8 with a signing that night as part of the Arlington Heights Memorial Library\u2019s Books and Brews<\/a> series at Eddie\u2019s Restaurant, 10 Northwest Highway, Arlington Heights.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Lorne Michaels<\/p><\/div>\n

Lorne Michaels,<\/strong> creator and executive producer of \u201cSaturday Night Live,\u201d will headline a gala fundraiser for Chicago\u2019s Museum of Broadcast Communications<\/a> August 10. It\u2019s in conjunction with the museum\u2019s ongoing exhibition, \u201cSaturday Night Live: The Experience.\u201d \u201cThe exhibit is fun, interactive and educational and a must-see for any SNL fan,\u201d Julian Jackson,<\/strong> executive director of the museum, said in a statement. \u201cThe relationship between Chicago and SNL is historic.\u201d Tickets for the event at the museum, 360 North State Street, are available at museum.tv. <\/a>Guests will have access to the exhibit.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s comment of the day:<\/a> Shane Gericke:<\/strong> I\u2019m still mildly shocked--but very pleased--that an FCC run by a Trump appointee is putting the kibosh on a right-wing corporation's purchase of WGN and other Tribune broadcast properties. Especially when this same FCC so brazenly neutered net neutrality. Sinclair's scheme was outrageous, of course: Selling WGN to a car dealer with ties to Sinclair's boss? P.T. Barnum wouldn't have had that much chutzpah! But this administration normally doesn't care about legal niceties when they interfere with Big Business.\u00a0<\/em>Color me impressed.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robservations on the media beat: No matter how dead the deal may look, employees of WGN-Channel 9 and WGN 720-AM aren\u2019t ready to speak out about the apparent collapse of Sinclair Broadcast Group\u2019s acquisition of their Tribune Media parent company. Though many privately expressed relief that the FCC has derailed the $3.9 billion transaction, most... 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\/18750"}],"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=18750"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18766,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18750\/revisions\/18766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}