Rewinding a decade of Chicago media pros and cons
In the first few minutes of the year 2000, planes were supposed to fall from the sky, nuclear generators were supposed to explode, elevators were supposed to stop dead, and clocks were supposed to spin around wildly. At least that’s what the media told us might happen.
Despite the dire warnings of mass computer meltdowns that came to be known as “Y2K,” New Year’s Eve 2000 came and went fairly uneventfully. But in hindsight, that set the tone for a decade in which the media, through either exaggeration or negligence, trifled with the public’s trust time and again.
From the run-up to war over nonexistent weapons of mass destruction to the blatant fraudulence of Ken Lay, Bernie Madoff, John Edwards, Tiger Woods and many others, why were we so often misinformed? Closer to home, the same could be asked about plenty of public officials (including two disgraced governors), financial swindlers and media tycoons. To paraphrase the New York Times’ Frank Rich, we’ve all been played for suckers.
Maybe the next 10 years will be better. For now, here’s a look back at the 10 biggest Chicago media stories of the decade:
- The Queen and the President: Could Barack Obama have won the Iowa caucuses and gone on to win the 2008 presidential election without Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement? Maybe, but I doubt it. Chicago became the nexus of American politics and media when the most powerful woman in television abandoned her political neutrality and added the junior senator from Illinois to her list of favorite things. From a star-studded fundraiser at Oprah’s mansion in Montecito and Election Night in Grant Park to the Inaugural Gala in Washington and Christmas at the White House, “The Oprah & Obama Show” rolls on.
- Lord Black of Crossharbour goes to jail: A couple of con men from Canada fleeced shareholders of the Chicago Sun-Times’ parent company out of millions. But before Conrad Black and David Radler were sent to prison, their nefarious deeds nearly destroyed a profitable and legendary newspaper. Only at the 11th hour did Mesirow CEO Jim Tyree rescue the Sun-Times from liquidation. Just one question lingers: Big Jim Thompson, where the hell were you?
- Sam Zell’s $8.2 billion mistake: Maverick real estate mogul Sam Zell devised a complicated and risky scheme to take Tribune Co. private in 2007 and run the far-flung media empire with his customary bravado. Unfortunately, he knew way too little about what he was getting into. Within a year, he filed for bankruptcy. Within two years, he turned over the job of CEO to his henchman and old radio buddy, Randy Michaels. Zell still faces a barrage of angry creditors over what he now calls “the deal from hell.”
- Bob Collins’ plane crash: He was our favorite “Uncle Bobby,” Chicago’s No. 1 radio personality at the height of his popularity, with double-digit audience shares often twice that of his closest competitor. He’d just signed a new five-year, multimillion-dollar contract with WGN that had him set for life. And then one Tuesday afternoon in February 2000, a midair collision ended it all for Bob Collins and two others. Mornings for millions were never the same.
- Diann Burns’ record breaker: It was a bad omen when the aerial banner flown over Chicago’s Columbus Day parade to promote Diann Burns had her name misspelled. To jump from top-rated ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7 to CBS cellar-dweller WBBM-Channel 2 in 2003, the veteran anchorwoman signed the biggest local news deal ever — a five-year contract said to be worth more than $10 million. Her tenure turned out to be such a bust that CBS cut her loose six months early without a public word of farewell.
- Portable People Meters devour radio: A device no larger than a cell phone upended the radio industry when Arbitron replaced its long-discredited paper diary method in 2008 with a seemingly infallible electronic audience-measurement system (though questions about minority sampling persist). Broadcasters had years to plan for PPM, but still were caught short when mountains of previous ratings proved to be illusory. Coupled with an economic downturn of epic proportions, the ratings change put many of the biggest names in the business out of work.
- Roger Ebert’s amazing sequel: Although he hasn’t uttered a word since July 2006, Roger Ebert’s power to communicate has never been stronger. The illness and surgeries that sidelined him from television (and would have defeated any lesser man) summoned in Ebert the will not only to retain his stature as America’s preeminent movie critic, but to reinvent himself as a vigorous social and political commentator, an essential blogger and an award-winning tweeter. Chicago’s most beloved and admired newspaperman continues to inspire us all every day.
- Howard Stern flips off radio: It took three tries for the New York shock jock to crack the tough Chicago market, but discerning listeners came to embrace him here as wholeheartedly as anywhere. Fed up with FCC witch hunts and corporate interference, Howard Stern declared himself “the last of a dying breed” and fled terrestrial radio at the end of 2005 for a $500 million satellite deal. It was our loss. Without the “King of All Media,” his former CBS Radio affiliate here collapsed — and FM talk soon disappeared from Chicago’s commercial airwaves.
- The lesson of 9/11: Twenty-one months after the Y2K scare, planes really did fall out of the sky — but these were guided by deranged terrorists. The events of Sept. 11, 2001, brought out some of the worst in the media, typified by anchors flaunting American flag lapel pins and their corporate bosses stifling all dissent. But it also brought out some of the best. By focusing on matters of life and death (and setting aside the nonsense that usually passes for local news), Chicago media and their counterparts elsewhere showed what can happen when professionals strive to honor the public trust. All too quickly, however, it was back to business as usual.
- Old media vs. new media: Troubled about the sad state of the news business, Chicago Public Radio alumnus Ken Davis rented a downtown hotel ballroom to convene what he called “The Chicago Journalism Town Hall.” On Feb. 22, 2009, he assembled a who’s who of media luminaries to assess the present and gaze into the future. (Included on the panel was revered elder statesman John Callaway, who delivered what turned out to be a valedictory to his brilliant 50-year career.) Beyond the bitter, often angry schism between mainstream media professionals and new media entrepreneurs, what emerged was a glimpse into an exciting, uncharted world of challenges and opportunities in the decade ahead. Years from now, I have a feeling people in that room will remember it as a turning point. I know I will.
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12 2009
blogs.vocalo.org
Obama did a lot of hard work in Iowa. And, he would have won without Oprah. Quit being a kiss ass Rob. Just because some people are so weak that they gave their whole lives to her doesn’t make her a “Queen.”
What about Bruce Wolf???
Yes, the overly important anchorperson is over. Were they not overpaid, anyway ? The personality-driven performer is NOT over – in television, radio or print. That is why people (everyone) is reading your blog (it is really your newspaper column in the new media) and you are still relevant. I disagree that people here warmed up to Howard Stern. We still like (no, love !) our local flavor. He was not local. I don’t know anyone that liked or listened to him. People are still going to flock to the most clever, the inventive thinkers and yes . . . the most entertaining ! All media may not be getting better – but it needs to step up to get the attention of the distracted and overwhelmed masses yearning to be enlightened and amused – whether they know it or not.
Oprah a queen? Mr. Feder, you have insulted her. This is the Queen of All Media. Or Queen of all drek. People forget that when she came into Chicago and went syndicated, she was the queen of trash guests and topics. That took off and the tired old Donahues and the like followed. Then when Oprah set herself apart by going high-brow to criticize the rest and set herself apart, she separated herself from the field. She also opened the door for the Springers to take television to lower depths than could be imagined. Strategically successful? Yep. Quality and sincerity….ummmm, notsomuch.
“Coupled with an economic downturn of epic proportions,”
This is the same insane excuse that Dahl used to convince himself that his rating under PPM were horrible. The truth is that PPM gives us the first honest ratings in radio, and Dahl and others falling victim to it, are just upset that they never had that many people listening to them in the first place. The silly excuse about the economy going bad makes no sense. Radio is FREE to listen to right? If anything there listenership should have gone up, and iTune sales would have gone down, but nope. If your show sucks, you literally can’t even give it away for free. CBS is actually willing to pay Dahl a million dollars or more to stay off the air, because they make more money by playing music! All the old media dinosaurs are blaming the economy for their failures but the ultimate truth is that all these old egos are busted because NO ONE WAS LISTENING.
How about when I saw Warner Saunders as a judge, at the first annual ‘Pizza Fest Chicago’ in 2007?! That probably just missed your Top 10.
I, too, was hoping to see a reference to Warner Saunders and his tirade attack on my favorite local media columnist turned blogger. Oh well. I certainly do not miss him on TV. Best wishes for a happy new year, Robert!
Deek, I believe ‘the Saunders affair’ was alluded to in ‘Old media vs. New media’in Rob’s Top Ten.
It’s a sad state off affairs when Oprah is even mentioned as a factor in getting a President elected. President Obama may have used her as a marketing tool to reach more people, but that is just his use of the media, not of any importance of Oprah. I never watch her. She was and still is the host of junk TV. It’s people like her that have dragged TV down to what it is now. She is only in it for herself, not for any altuistic reasons. Please go away now Oprah. Don’t make us wait until 2011.
What a great article!!
And the responses (so far…) are fantastic, too!
(I didn’t realize there were so many people out there who had these feelings about Oprah, the PPM, etc.)
Intriguing if not ironic that two major Chicago personalities helped to elect two high profile Presidents. Da Mare and JFK and Oprah & Obama. Ironic because now a media darling pulls more clout than any politician including Da Mare’s son. Makes you wonder about this country’s future.
While PPM may be a truer measurement of radio listenership (anything had to be an improvement over that archaic paper diary), it has significant shortcomings. Passive listening now rules to the extent of gutting “pure talk” personality radio. Survivors/thrivers like Drex and Eric & Kathy include some music in their programs which should aid their numbers. I’m not saying Johnny B, Kevin Mathews and Eddie & JoBo weren’t getting long in tooth but PPM also whacked Steve Dahl who was an evolving radio creature, morphing from one of the original bad boys into those he ridiculed in the early years. That’s not a criticism since most of us are changing in many ways as well. But the real crime is that no one is motivated to bring in new personalities or readdress FM talk at this point.
I read with interest your tweet early this morning regarding the top 10 media events of the last decade. I tried to send you a direct message on this subject, but realized that you are not following me and therefore could not be harassed with my commentary.
Now that I have returned from the unemployment office, I have had a chance to read your post. It would be an understatement to say that I am disappointed that while you did mention the Arbitron PPM, you neglected to mention the devastation incurred upon the citizenry of Chicago when the eminently talented Melissa Foreman was removed from her perch atop the mighty WLIT. Forget Steve Dahl, Kathy and Judy, and the rest of them. The singular most horrid departure of the last decade was that of the semi-lovely Ms. Foreman.
Perhaps like me, you’re not fully prepared to deal with the loss of the great Melissa Foreman, and I feel your pain. Please know that while it did not appear in your very comprehensive blog entry today, I will know in my heart of hearts that you miss Melissa just as much as I do.
I can’t tell you how good it is to have you back in the saddle, and I’m enjoying your daily posts. I’m sorry you are not my friend on Facebook. However, I am proud to say, Melissa Foreman IS a friend of mine on the beloved Facebook. And someday she will return to conquer the Chicagoland airwaves. Oh yes.
what about the rev. pat?
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/blogshakalaka
the most important local media event of the decade was the creation of “barely today,” the 4:30 a.m. irreverent newscast that ncb5 honcho larry wert put on the air. the show lasted only 4 1/2 months, but anything that’s the least bit out of the mainstream in the local yokel market is difficult to sustain. as for all the other local newscasts, to borrow a phrase from the late and not lamented george wallace, “there’s not a dime’s worth of difference” between them.
in hindsight, of course, the death of bob collins was not as big as the media made it out to be because had there been people meters in the year 2000 we would have realized that no one was listening to him. had he lived, today he might be an inessential blogger.
the aforesaid warner saunders incident in which he read a manifesto complaining of robert feder’s alleged racism was one of the most important media events of the decade. a prominent chicagoan accuses another prominent chicagoan of being a racist, and it is not covered on chicago tv. and the little i heard of it on the radio didn’t explore the issue very well. what was the source of warner’s rage? where was the discussion? why is there so little diversity of thought among the chicago media?
I’m glad you are one of the few columnists who still report on Howard Stern for what he is, an influence on radio. It’s rare that anyone will admit that stations and formats collapsed after he left the airwaves for satellite.
Who cares about Bruce Wolf!
Bruce: Warner’s misplaced rage against Rob Feder was because Rob had the gall to print letters from his readers about once a month in his Sun-Times column.
And in every letters column was usually a comment or two about how Saunders made constant errors in his reading of the news script.
Saunders was at least 70 when the first letters appeared. It was obvious to anyone watching & listening that he had some sort of problem in reading. But for reasons of abject cowardice & fear of being attacked as racist, NBC refused to take him off the air.
So a foolish old man let his misplaced pride & anger take over & he attacked Feder instead of taking responsibility for his own physical & possible mental failings!
T-Bone: +1
One of the things I like about Bruce Wolf is that, when he wants to, he can butcher up the sacred cows and serve us up a platter of freshly cut prime steaks, that’s no bull.
LOL, good point on the PPM naysayers. For Dahl to say that the economy caused his show to fail is laughable. How much does it cost to listen to the radio? Exactly.
And to blame PPM is hilarious too. Advertisers are still willing to pay for Drex, Eric and Kathy , and Limbaugh personality radio as well as music based programming. Why? Because the accurate ratings now show people are actually tuned in to them.
Sorry Dahl, Johnny B and other Dinosaur DJ’s now on the beach, you just sort of started to suck. I remember Dahl putting down Kevin Matthews because he wet to Grand Rapids. Well now Dahl is broadcasting from his basement and Matthews is still going strong. I love karma.
How about a mention about the local media outlets ALL attempting to eliminate humans from their payrolls!
I prefer Bruce’s comments here to his blog posts.
What about how we, I mean NBC Universal, killed NABET and fired all of our best people only to replace them with idiots off the street for half the salary? It was a brilliant move on my their part. I love Comcast!!!!
Where the hell was Big Jim ? Remember the old TV show, Have Gun will travel.
Have Corporate Board Seat, Will Sign.
Rob:
Your comments about Roger Ebert were gracious and entirely on point. It is hard to believe that a man so insightful and with such a command of thought and language has become even more insightful with an even greater command of thought and language. I have read his articles, submissions, and books for years (a couple of the books are on my night stand), but they pale in comparison to his contributions since his surgery.
Keep up the great work.
Greg Adamski
And then there was the demise of WMAQ radio – July 31st, 2000 was the last full day of broadcasting and Larry Langford’s was the last voice heard for those calls on August 1st, 2000. 78 years on the air and it was over. Rich Samuels’ and Scott Childers’ Web sites are still up as tributes.
Bob, loved the column, but I’m curious why you refer to the Arbitron double digit lead Bob Collins held over his closest competitor then in the same article mention how PPMs replaced the long discredited paper diaries of Arbitron. If the paper diaries were flawed, then why state so proudly how high Bob’s ratings were. Most likely they were not that high as we now know.
Interesting how radio stations embraced ’streaming’ only to see it basically kill off the ‘old’ medium. Besides ‘BBM or WGN …when’s the last time you had an AM station on your dial? Thank goodness for NPR or the medium might vanish altogether.