Results tagged “journalists”

A fight broke out at a convention minority journalists here in Chicago. The topic: Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade, who was speaking at the convention.

The male bowerbird is one ugly dude, but he makes up for his drab plummage by building elaborate, intricate nests with unusual materials like insect skeletons and bits of colorful garbage. Like their namesake, Raleigh, NC's Bowerbirds build a rather glorious abode out of simple, majestic, and formidable storytelling to house their comparatively modest, unassuming image. Chicagoist first basked in the group's aural light back in August, amidst a mellow crowd at Schubas that had to be comprised of at least one-third journalists. At one point, a member of the audience approached our camera- and notebook-wielding contingent to ask what all the fuss was about this humble, soft-spoken freaky-folk trio, and we're pretty sure they had their answer by the end of the evening. Chief songwriter Phil Moore weaved fantastical tales over an acoustic guitar and a hi-hat/tambourine contraption, while the supporting cast of Beth Tacular and Marc Paulson shifted easily between a marching band bass drum, violin, and accordion. Much of the buzz surrounding Bowerbirds can be attributed to the staunch support of Mountain Goats' John Darnielle, who has called the group "my favorite new band in forever."

We once dreamed of free municipal WiFi. Now, we'll settle for cheap WiMax, the new standard that will offer WiFi-like speeds but with about ten times the range, which cuts down on the number of towers needed in a coverage area. Tech website Ars Technica was on the Chicago River earlier this week for Sprint's demonstration of its new XOHM WiMax service. The testers were given laptops with XOHM plug-in cards and Motorola cell phones hooked up to the network.

Here are some things in the news while we do spit takes at the ticket prices for the upcoming Van Halen tour. A $300-a-year parking permit created for realtors, home health care providers, and social workers to plug a $2.4 million hole in the city's 2007 budget only generated $15,900 in revenue. Facing increasing criticism in allowing BP to increase the amount of pollution it can discharge into Lake Michigan, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels...

NBC 5 reporter Amy Jacobson (pictured, right, with NBC 5 weekend anchor Anna Davlantes), who's been covering the story of missing Plainfield woman Lisa Stebic, was caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place over the weekend. Video footage surfaced of Jacobson in a bikini at the home of Craig Stebic, Lisa's estranged husband, on her day off. Before we go any further, kudos to the headline writer at the Tribune for not stooping...

Once again, the Museum of Science and Industry will prey upon the city's nocturnal procrastinators and stay open around the clock for the last weekend of the BODY WORLDS 2 exhibit. Starting this Friday at 9:30 a.m. you can see the exhibit straight through until 9 p.m. on Sunday.

We often fall back on really out-of-date stereotypes, like that the majority of all journalists are men, or that Tom Cruise is a good actor. One of them — that, unless it's spring break, airline passengers are primarily businessmen — is being directly challenged by American Airlines.

Lots of our friends are jealous that we're going to see Klaxons play a sold-out show at Schuba's next Monday. We feel badly that our friends feel that way, but, dude, they should have bought tickets beforehand since it was pretty obvious that shit was going to sell out right quick!

Over the weekend, Chicagoist first mentioned Rebecca Klein. At that time, the 32-year-old Villa Park woman had been missing since Friday, and her family had created a blog in hopes that someone out on the internets had information about her disappearance.

Ah, SXSW. Yup, it's the time of year when industry flacks, up-and-coming bands, under-the-radar hopefuls, and drunken journalists all descend upon Austin, Texas, for a few days of shmoozing, boozing, and live-music grooving. Chicago bands are being well represented this year, and a few of them are even traveling in style after Hideout's fundraiser last weekend. (We were told that the event raised over $10,000 in donations to send the sixteen bands that participated down to Austin. That's a lot of Shiner Bock!) And of course there's the great day parties thrown by local venues down there like Metro, Schuba's and Bloodshot Records.

Who's this Conrad Black, and why is he on trial again? The local media is cranking up its hype machine for a trial that has people around the world excited, but leaves many Chicagoans scratching their heads and saying, "Lord Who?"

We always thought the making of a chef started in a kitchen, and progressed from there. Anyway, as part of their "Traffic Jam" series, Steppenwolf Theatre is hosting a discussion this Sunday between Alinea owner/chef Grant Achatz and author Michael Ruhlman. The discussion, called "The Making of a Chef," will cover the "hypermodern" culinary movement of which Achatz is largely considered the herald, the place of the "celebrity" chef in America, and what defines excellence in an industry as increasingly PR-driven as the five-star dining concept. It should be an interesting conversation between two intelligent and passionate men; although Ruhlman's a skeptic of the science food movement, he sings the praises of Achatz. It seems to be a running theme among critics who regard molecular gastronomy as smoke and mirrors, but allow that Achatz is the exception to the rule.

Mainstream media journalism can be a fickle mistress. Company turnovers, budget crises, and lessening readership has thrown newspapers into a panic recently. It's no surprise to lay off a few reporters here and there. But when you're a foreign correspondent and your adopted country tells you to get out ... that hurts.

Here in the land of journalism — take that how you will — there exist trials and tribulations among the benefits. None of us here at Chicagoist are safe from the slings and arrows of our readers (Helen Schiller, anyone?). Luckily, as we are an online medium, the most we usually have to suffer is an occasional tongue-thrashing and virtual mailboxes groaning at the seams with hate. Some journalists are not so passive in their...

In a follow-up to a story we ran yesterday, Toni Falvo, NBC-5’s Director of Research, Programming and Press says that she sees no impropriety in accepting free meals from the restaurants featured on the station’s “Good Eats” segments, though such a practice is outside of the journalistic standards used by other local food critics and reporters in both the print and broadcast media.

An on-air remark by NBC-5 reporter LeeAnn Trotter is leaving the station open to questions about the integrity of its feature reporting on food, three years after it fired its restaurant critic for violations of its ethics policy.

For this month’s Convince Us, we asked you — our darling readers — to provide us with a great biography. We chose Lords of the Levee by Lloyd Wendt and Herman Kogan. The book describes the rise and fall of “Bathhouse” John Coughlin and “Hinky Dink” Kenna, the kings of the 1st Ward — the vice district — at the turn of the century.

In a perfect world, this wouldn’t happen. A pro-child, pro-dog article running in the Sun Times as news?! How did we get to this place? Has the world gone to the dogs? Chicagoist thinks there is clearly some bias evident in this article. From the headline to the last sentence – this is purely pro-dog propaganda and we are putting the ST on notice. Until some cat is stolen out of the hands of a...

Dear Diann Burns:

Among the things we wish for at night, besides Heath Ledger telling us we are his only one, is the wish that we have changed the world, that we have had an impact, that we have taken our art to a higher form, and that we are appreciated for it.

This past Saturday the Gridiron Club, a group of Washington journalists, held its 121st annual dinner roasting politicians. Senator Barack Obama got in on the fun and sang a parody of “If I Only Had a Brain” with the refrain of “If I Only Had McCain,” a reference to his earlier ethics tiff with Republican Arizona Senator John McCain. Those attending seemed to be impressed by his “velvet voice.” Maybe he was just trying for...

The Full Impact of Falling Newspaper Circulation

We’re sure everyone is tired of hearing about James Frey, but it looks like there’s one more seat open on the truthiness bandwagon and we’re going back eighty years to fill it.

Back in Chicago by popular demand are two shows everyone raved about the first time around. Or more accurately, a show inspiring lots of people to geek out and a show perfect for sociology geeks.

In this morning's Chicago Tribune, the powers-that-be decided to run an opinion column in the Technology section titled "All about bloggers". Since we at Chicagoist are fond of blogs, we decided to give the column a read.

If you notice a bunch of gays and lesbians walking down Michigan Ave. this weekend with reporter notebook and pen in hand, they're here for the National Lesbian and Gay Journalist Association's 15th annual convention. Say hi. Okay, so they probably won't be walking down Michigan Ave. with reporter notebooks. They're likely at the Palmer House Hilton listening to such gay journalist luminaries like Chad Allen (yes, that Chad Allen) speak on topics like freelancing,...

Last month, Eric Zorn debuted a new Month in Review feature on his blog. He invited local bloggers and journalists to join him in discussing the month's hottest state and local news stories. This month Monsieur Zorn asked Chicagoist to participate. Below are our picks for July. Check Zorn's site tomorrow for his Monthly round up. Biggest Loser: Mayor Daley With the Feds coming in and busting up Chicago's political "boys club," Mayor Daley's approval...

Chicagoist's nominated token straight Boystown Mayor, Claire Zulkey is now the editor of Media Bistro's new blog MBToolbox. Billing itself as a "catch-all blog about freelance writing and useful resources for journalists," it looks as though the site just launched today.

It’s a slow day here at the Chicagoist offices and that inevitably leads to a lot of web-surfing and snarky comments. Today’s target of our ire: Tara Reid. We know it’s like shooting fish in a barrel (actually, it’s like shooting really large baby fish that don’t have the ability to move…in a barrel) but we can’t help ourselves. What set us off was this AP story posted on Metromix. It seems that Ms. Reid...

Governor Blagojevich officially launched the I-SaveRx prescription drug re-importation plan yesterday at a press conference. The plan allows consumers in Illinois and Wisconsin to enroll over the phone or at www.i-saverx.net and then compare pricing and buy drugs from a variety of state inspected and approved pharmacies in Canada, Ireland and the UK. Blagojevich has lobbied the FDA for a year for approval to import drugs from Canada, but has been denied. While in a sense I-SaveRx is quite an "eff you" to the FDA, Blagojevich mentioned that the FDA has not prosecuted states with web sites that connect citizens with pharmacies in Canada, which, in effect he says, gives his plan the go ahead.