{"id":29211,"date":"2021-03-24T06:00:24","date_gmt":"2021-03-24T11:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=29211"},"modified":"2021-03-24T15:44:20","modified_gmt":"2021-03-24T20:44:20","slug":"life-chicago-tonight-still-busy-former-reporter-eddie-arruza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2021\/03\/24\/life-chicago-tonight-still-busy-former-reporter-eddie-arruza\/","title":{"rendered":"Life after 'Chicago Tonight' still busy for former reporter Eddie Arruza"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

<\/a> Eddie Arruza<\/p><\/div>\n

Two years ago this week Eddie Arruza stepped down<\/a> as a host and correspondent for WTTW-Channel 11\u2019s <\/a>\u201cChicago Tonight,\u201d capping a distinguished 15-year run at the Window to the World Communications public television station.<\/p>\n

While co-workers and admirers were sad to see him go, the veteran Chicago newsman insists he\u2019s had no second thoughts about his move.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remain very proud of my long association with \u2018Chicago Tonight,\u2019 but\u00a0I still feel I made the right decision at the time,\u201d Arruza, 60, told me the other day. \u201cIt\u2019s so good to see Brandis [Friedman] and Paris [Schutz] carrying the legacy of the show into a new era. I haven\u2019t ruled out returning to the airwaves,\u00a0so to speak,\u00a0if the right kind of forum presents itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since becoming a free agent, Arruza has been writing and working on\u00a0independent video projects and building his own production venture. He even obtained an FAA\u00a0license to operate a drone.<\/p>\n

\"The lockdown\u00a0delayed some projects I had hoped to start over the last year, but things are beginning to look good for 2021 \u2014 especially an initiative I\u2019m developing to document the lasting impact COVID-19 has had on Chicago area organizations and people,\" he said. \"I believe it\u2019s important to capture the\u00a0history of this moment which has changed life as we knew it in many ways.\"<\/p>\n

He's also working on a project for the Chicago Sculpture Exhibit<\/a> as the nonprofit arts organization celebrates its 20th anniversary.<\/p>\n

Legendary Chicago sculptor Richard Hunt has given his name to a $10,000\u00a0prize\u00a0to be awarded this summer, and Arruza will be documenting the process leading up to announcement of the winner. The selected sculptor will create a new work for\u00a0Chicago.<\/p>\n

The Cuban-born Arruza, who came to the U.S. with his family in 1966 and graduated from the University of Cincinnati, began his TV career in Chicago at former Univision Spanish-language WCIU-Channel 26, where he served as news director, reporter and news anchor.<\/p>\n

He later worked as a reporter for ABC-owned WABC in New York before returning home to join Tribune Broadcasting WGN-Channel 9 as a reporter, fill-in news anchor and program host. He moved to WTTW in 2003.<\/p>\n

I asked Arruza if he\u2019d been following the recent drama at WTTW which saw news director Hugo Balta forced out <\/a>in the wake of a staff uprising over Balta\u2019s use of social media to express personal views.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was unfortunate and sad to see the reporting surrounding the situation at \u2018Chicago\u00a0Tonight\u2019 and its new news director,\u201d Arruza said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I said when I\u00a0departed, I\u00a0wish the hard-working and devoted staff only the best moving forward. That includes visionary and\u00a0inspiring leadership so the program can continue being a beacon of balanced and in-depth news reporting and analysis\u00a0for the Chicago area.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two years ago this week Eddie Arruza stepped down as a host and correspondent for WTTW-Channel 11\u2019s \u201cChicago Tonight,\u201d capping a distinguished 15-year run at the Window to the World Communications public television station. While co-workers and admirers were sad to see him go, the veteran Chicago newsman insists he\u2019s had no second thoughts about... 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\/29211"}],"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=29211"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29232,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29211\/revisions\/29232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}