News & Notes

The alternative title is being used to describe today’s News & Notes, as there is sad news to report: – Chicago Defender sports journalist Larry Gross passed away Wednesday at the age of 59 due to complications from lung cancer. Gross covered mostly local sports for the paper, including Chicago Public School Prep action. The wake will be held Feb. […]

So, why do you live here?

The Chicago Tribune asked this question regarding Chicago’s frigid weather in January – a really, really, really stupid question…. And boy, did yours truly ever respond: This article is one of the most insipid pieces of crap I’ve ever read on the Tribune’s website. It’s January. It’s supposed to be cold! Big deal! Why is this a story? Does The […]

T Dog’s Groovy Grab Bag

A new size for the Trib; A new FCC Chairman (hooray!); Stargate Atlantis exits with a bang; Fox cancels Prison Break. – One advantage the Chicago Sun-Times had over the Trib was its tabloid-like size and the ease of reading it on the bus or on the “L”. Now, that’s gone. Oh-oh… Chicago Tribune introduces a new size: The paper […]

2008’s Toilet 10

I’ve noticed that hardly anyone has come up with a worst TV show list for 2008 (too easy, perhaps?) Maybe the economy was bad enough not to talk about any bad TV… Anyhoo, here are the worst, the inane, the horrible, horrible, stench of what was left behind in 2008 in terms of media – and remember, we’re not just […]

2008’s Excellent 10

Happy New Year, everyone! Instead of listing just TV shows, yours truly has decided to include items other than TV shows in the annual Excellent 10 and Toilet 10 lists across this year. Two history-making events happening in 2008 – Michael Phelps’ Olympic Gold Medal run and Barack Obama’s acceptance speech here in Chicago after becoming the first African-American President […]

Detroit’s papers to cut back on delivery

Detroit’s two main newspapers (The Free Press and News) are scaling back their delivery due to the worsening economic conditions. Beginning in March, both papers will be delivering to homes only three days a week, while being exclusively on newsstands and retail outlets the other four in a slimmed-down version. Both papers are refocusing on their respective online sites, with […]

The 2008 T Dog Blog Turkey Awards

Well, it’s that time of year again… It’s Thanksgiving… and it’s time for the third annual T Dog Media Blog Turkey Awards, celebrating the worst in media. Gobble, gobble… – Media Rights Capital’s Sunday lineup on CW. The network leases its Sunday lineup to MRC, and programs it with junk like Valentine and Easy Money. The results? CW’s ratings go […]

Feder’s final column

Ladies and Gentlemen, Robert Feder’s final column. And in the words of one of his idols, Walter Cronkite: And that’s the way it is. And it most certainly is, Mr. Feder. Thank you for everything.

T Dog’s Four on the Floor – Edition 7

Yes, the four feature is back! But with a new name. The feature that was Who’s in your four is now the much-catchier T Dog’s Four on the Floor. Why the name change? Because the previous one no longer made sense (and T-Mobile has scaled back national advertising, meaning no more “who’s in your five” spots.) And it’s not original. […]

New Tribune design brings yawns

The Chicago Tribune redesigned its paper yesterday, and it brought about as much excitement as another Oakland Raiders coaching change.According to ChicagoBusiness.com, 72 percent of those polled by the site did not like the new look of the Tribune, while 81 percent said the new redesign made it no easier to find stories. (The comments section of the linked story […]

More on Feder’s departure

– In today’s column, Feder posts the letters reacting to his departure. Among those paying their tributes include Jay Marvin, former Chicago newsman Jim Ruddle, Sun-Times and Electronic Media (now TV Week) alumnus P.J. Bednarski, and former WBBM-FM radio personality Terry Foxx. – Larz has a very thoughtful tribute to Feder on his Chicagoland Radio and Media blog. A very […]

Robert Feder to step down (updated)

I was stunned and a bit saddened when I read that Robert Feder was stepping down from his longtime position on the TV/Radio beat after 28 years at the Chicago Sun-Times to take a buyout. The Sun-Times offered employees who worked there more than 25 years a full year of pay and benefits and Feder took them up on the […]

Who’s in your four, Edition 6

This is retroactive to last week (I’ll post this week’s edition on Friday), so here it goes: T Dog’s Fabulous Four – The Insider cans Pat O’Brien. He was fired after sending e-mails to staffers at the show and Entertainment Tonight, criticizing the programs. O’ Brien, who was demoted to special correspondent for this season after a stint in rehab […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: Good riddance, loser

The first word and the last laugh: Au revoir, patsy… If Jay Mariotti was a TV character, he would rank up there with J.R. Ewing, Alexis Carrington, Johnny Fairplay, “Q” from Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Vince McMahon – as the most loathsome people to ever grace the tube. So it comes as no surprise when he resigned as […]

The rat speaks

My Think Tank on Mariotti is coming sometime this week (tougher to write than I thought), but in the meantime, let’s analyze what the backstabbing sellout had to say Friday in Phil Rosenthal’s column in the Trib: – Referring to the Sun-Times’ reaction of Mariotti leaving, Gerald Minkkinen of the Chicago Newspaer Guild union said: “I looked at the newspaper […]