As for quitting? Barbra Walters said the same thing years ago. I still see her on my TV all the time. Watching Oprah cry over “the end” was a bit nauseating. Millions of people losing their jobs (unlike Oprah losing her job by choice). She has a couple of years to get used to “the end” while many Americans stand in unemployment lines worried about their future. I can’t feel bad for Oprah. Once again, she has shown she’s completely out of touch with the common man/woman.

News Flash! Entertainment is a competition. Chicago has had a litany of winners over the decades, many of them mentioned here. But Chicago loses to New York and Los Angeles because we embrace our “Second City” psychosis. Simply showing up to execute a ‘job’ in media is not going to cut it. You must sear your presence into the imagination. Audiences are sophisticated and inundated. Go out and capture them.

I laughed until I cried when Oprah was criticized as “Elitist” to open her season on Michigan Avenue. Duh! Yeah! That’s the point.

The provincialism is embarrassing.

Do you think for a minute a Representative of Los Angeles County would utter the same words about Steven Speilberg if he wanted to tumble animatronic dinosaurs down Wilshire?

Stop. If your mind is forming around a scenario that leans to the affirmative; I bet you dollars to donuts you haven’t got that Oprah interview either.

If Oprah won’t talk to local press it’s the fault of the local press. Try keeping up. Try investigating the world with a world perspective. Try getting after it with the vigor and foresight of the visionaries you cover. Try being proud and agressive and defensive of your city.

Perhaps then you could hold a conversation with an Oprah, or Hefner, or Donahue et al.

Charlie Thomas is one of those media types who think they know more and are better than others.

Thank God there was Walter and Bill as a team. They were worth watching every night.

Two things seem to distinguish Ch 7 from the rest. Chuck Goudie’s pieces do occasionally delve serious subjects in a welcome longer format, such as the recent arrest of 2 Chicago men who might be linked to terrorist attacks in India. But he also tends to do too many Chicago Outfit stories. And Steve Dolinski is very knowledgeable in his Hunger Hound reports. It is not just about what new restaurant opened, but identifying trends in the dining business and showcasing local businesses.

Second, his own nescasts at WLS are hardly pure as the driven snow. Whenever ABC/Disney has network product to push, it invariably shows up as “news” in their afternoon block between 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Nobody seems to care. Nobody comments. I’d suggest Charles is being a tad disingenuous in his critique of Bill and Walter. Nobody takes Charles to rask over his oh-so-cozy relationship with Roland Burris. He always gets The Big Friendly Hello from Senator Burris, while Mike Flannery, by contrast is rudely addressed as “Flannery!” As in “Don’t go there, Flannery! Don’t go there, Flannery!” I’m still asking myself why Mike Flannery didn’t stop Burris cold and say, “That’s MISTER Flannery to you, Senator.”

Where was Chales Thomas that day to speak up for his colleague Mike Flannery?

I guess he picks and chooses what to be outraged about. Two little old men reading 20 minutes of Friday night news is so much more important.

Yeah. Right.

This was just one incident. I pretty big incident. How many more have there been by this reporter? Who knows? This one was very public. If that reporter reads this site, I would love to hear the explanation. If you have nothing to report, why make up something as this reporter did? Did the reporter want to be “first” with the “news?” There are many reasons why the reporter may not have had the facts when it was time to do his live report. But making up, or guessing at, the verdict in this case was not right.