Two Ends With No Center
Michael Smerconish, a radio host and newspaper columnist in Philadelphia, has an op-ed in the Washington Post today about how the political center doesn't have a voice in daily American media -- at least on the 24-hour TV news networks and talk radio. It's a point...
A Column And More!
A new sandwich place opened near me recently, but I haven't been in, and probably won't anytime soon, for two reasons: 1) it's in the same strip mall as a Jimmie John's outlet, and I love their sandwiches; and 2) the shop's name, Sandwiches And More, brings back...
Save It For The Show
I've done hundreds of interviews in the course of my radio career. Only a small percentage have included a guest in the studio with me. The far larger majority were on the phone and, in most cases, that was a better working arrangement. If I'm talking with someone who...
Senator S-Bomb
While on KTRS today, I played the audio of Sen. Carl Levin going after a Goldman Sachs executive in a Senate committee hearing yesterday. At one point, Levin read from a GS internal memo that referred to a deal as "shitty." Levin used that word over and over -- 11...
Talk Like A Person
"Motorists use caution." I've heard that phrase come out of the mouths of traffic reporters for years, and winced every time -- because that's not how real people speak. No one says, "The motorist next to me didn't use his turn signal and then almost hit my vehicle!"...
Media Wrapup 2009
On WLS/Chicago this morning, I talked with Chicago Tribune media columnist Phil Rosenthal about some of the stories that made big news this year on his beat, from Oprah announcing she'll give up her syndicated TV show to Comcast's purchase of NBC to the death of Paul...
Odd Politics Followup
Yesterday, I blogged about the bizarre and offensive campaign commercial being run in Illinois by a no-chance candidate for the US Senate seat once held by Barack Obama. Today on WLS/Chicago, I explored the story a little further with Sun-Times political reporter...
Odd Politics
This morning as I was filling in on WLS/Chicago, a commercial played for a Republican candidate for Senate named Andy Martin. In the ad, he questioned whether Congressman Mark Kirk (the GOP front-runner) is gay. Martin based his claim on a "solid rumor," quoting two...