The Passing of John Callaway

Chicago lost another legendary media personality last night. John Callaway passed away at age 72 from a heart that failed him. Ironically, he was known in the industry as having one of the biggest, kindest hearts around.

Many people know Mr. Callaway as that "interview man" from WTTW/Channel 11. He was so much more than that and for much longer than many people realize. He was a very important component to Chicago's media landscape. Chicago's radio & TV stations might be of a much lesser quality if not for this person.

John Callaway truly had news in his blood. His Father was a newspaper editor and he grew up in West Virginia with a strong interest in both media & current events. He started in Chicago as a radio reporter for WBBM, as well being a TV reporter. From here in Chicago in the mid-60's, he hosted the nationally broadcasted Nightline radio show, a precursor to the show now seen on ABC-TV at night. He became News Director at WBBM in 1968 and transformed the station to the all-news format it still is today. That success pleased CBS so much that he was then put in charge of making other CBS stations across the country into all-news formats. His talent & success had him moving up the company ladder at CBS and was sent to New York in the early 70's. He had come to love Chicago, though, and returned just a few years later to be a reporter for CBS2. In 1974, John Callaway was wooed over to WTTW to be the station's News Director. Because of his work, Channel 11 began airing award-winning local news programs he started like The Public Newscenter, Chicago Feedback, John Callaway Interviews and most famously, Chicago Tonight.

So many media people are honored to win one award in their career. John Callaway has won more than 100 awards, including a Peabody Award and a whopping 16 Emmy Awards. His 46 years of excellence in radio & TV journalism makes him one of the most important media figures in Chicago history.

Besides his impressive work in front of and behind the scenes in radio & television, he was also the founder of a broadcast journalism program at the University of Chicago. He has authored a book of essays, he has written and performed in two one-man live plays, and even sung with both the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He was a frequent lecturer and event emcee, a moderator, a teacher and a consultant. He has led an impressive, full professional life.

As impressive as his resume is, it is the sheer quality of his work that really stood out. He was widely regarded as one of the finest newsmen and interviewers around, not just in Chicago, but in America. He didn't often lob softball questions to his subjects, unless it was done so to set the stage for the more important questions to come. He didn't let his subjects get away from skirting away from a question. He verbally probed their minds liked a finely skilled surgeon. He didn't attack his subjects, he methodically conversed with them and he did so with a style & class that very few could match. When columnist Robert Feder retired from the Chicago Sun-Times, he shunned every request to talk about his exit from his long-time employer -- except one. Even Robert Feder trusted & respected the skills of John Callaway and agreed to be on Chicago Tonight's Friday Night with him for a half hour interview. Some of the biggest names in news & media, including other famous interviewers, who rarely would agree to do be interviewed, agreed to be on with John Callaway. That level of respect can not be measured.

You can ask, probe, Google, and look around for years, but you will not be able to find anybody who has a bad word to say about the man on a personal or professional level. It is not surprise that he was respectful to his interview subjects, since he was equally respectful to everybody he met.

I had the opportunity to have a private dinner with John Callaway at a relative's house, many years ago. In addition to being a kind, soft-spoken gentleman, there was a special air about him. He brought an energy to room that lit it up.

Of course his many talents will be missed with his sad passing. For those who had the opportunity to meet with him, work with him, be interviewed by him or simply spend some time with him, it is the man himself that will be missed much more. His body of work will live on for years to come. His way of touching so many others with his brain and with his heart will last with them for the rest of their lives. John Callaway may have left us physically, but he has also left behind an incredible legacy of professional & personal greatness. We are all the better for it.

James VanOsdol's New Book Project

One of Chicago's finest rock jocks, who sadly is not on the air right now, was James VanOsdol. One of the factors that made him so good was that he knew the music he played inside & out. He was also quite the aficionado of local Chicago artists, from those who where performing their craft in smokey bars at nights to those who made it the national stages. For the last few years, JVO has been writing a book about the Chicago music scene of the 1990's. This town was the epicenter of a great amount of fantastic music during the early 90's. Many artists, such as Smashing Pumpkins, Ministry, Urge Overkill, Material Issue, Liz Phair and Veruca Salt made a national splash, while a lot of artists like the Bad Examples, Red Red Meat, Hello Dave and Cathy Richardson never quite broke the barrier. Regardless, the 90's was the most vibrant time in Chicago rock history since the 60's. JVO's book, which has the working title of "CHICAGO ROCKED! 1990-1999" is almost finished, but does not have a publishing deal. He is hoping to independently publish the book and is currently seeking donations to make that hope a reality. To find out more about the book, and/or make a donation to help this book be published soon, go to this link HERE. The website has only been up for a few days now, but has already gained 13 donations by people wanting to back the book. Best of luck to James on this project of his!

ChicagoSportsWebio.com's Meltdown

This evening, Crain's Ed Sherman reported that ChicagoSportsWebio's CEO had been bouncing checks this week. That CEO then fired Mike North, North's wife BeBe and Jeff Schwartz from the company. This is a HUGE story for a Friday night (or any night for that matter). As Mike North would say: "Whoooooah!

Right away, I have to say, big-time kudos to Ed Sherman. He has been doing a tremendous job that has been largely unnoticed by the general population, since he is blogging on the Crain's website, which doesn't get a lot of traffic. He has been breaking stories and uncovering information about sports & sports media the past few weeks that has not been covered anywhere else. He was the first to announce the bizarre situation melting down at ChicagoSportsWebio, too. He deserves a lot of credit for his work this spring & summer.

Now for the big story: ChicagoSportsWebio.com. Many negative naysayers said it wouldn't work -- largely because of their dislike of Mike North, a very polarizing media figure. CSW (It takes too long to type that name out. It's getting abbreviated for the rest of this rant.) should work and could work. It is the future of radio and the ideas, goals & efforts put into it were all pointing it in the right directions. This week, all of CSW's upward momentum crashed to the ground like a Wiley Coyote-built flying machine.

As much as the negative naysayers are probably high-fiving themselves over a beer tonight, cheering a Mike North firing, it was not Mike North that messed up CSW. It is now publicly clear that the fault lies with David Hernandez. It was not Mike North who mismanaged funds, bounced checks and caused an uproar at CSW. It was Hernandez's end of the bargain at CSW that was dropped. As CEO, the blame falls squarely on his shoulders. Today, the funds were not the only thing he mismanaged. He mismanaged the most important people in the company in Mike North & Jeff Schwartz. North was the gasoline in the engine that kept it chuggin' along at a great pace. He was the main figurehead & voice. Most of all, he was the station's biggest & best pitchman. Say what you want about Mike North's sports personality persona, but you cannot take away the man's selling skills. North could sell water to a drowning man. The other secret superhero behind CSW is/was Jeff Schwartz. David Hernandez did not assemble that team of personalities, reporters, producers & staff. "Spaceball" had his hand in all of that, along with the selling of the concept to numerous advertisers. The messed-up ego of David Hernandez may not see it this way, but CSW WAS Mike North & Jeff Schwartz. Firing those two is like firing Mick Jagger & Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones.

So is CSW dead? Not yet, but it suddenly has gone from perfect health to critical condition. In addition to losing it's best parts, it now has to deal with a great amount of fallout from today's explosions. Many of the people there -- I could probably say MOST of the people there -- are loyal & friendly to Mike North & Jeff Schwartz. They are not loyal to David Hernandez, especially if their paychecks with his signature on them just bounced. Will they stay with the station now? Will they walk out? Will advertisers stay now? Are the plans for AM radio simulcasting now dead?

And there are the inevitable lawsuits... Yes, plural. The Norths will sue. Schwartz will sue. Staffers may sue. Advertisers may sue. Creditors & investors may sue. Mark my words, this will get a whole lot uglier before it gets better.

The end result will be one of these three outcomes:
- North & Schwartz will end up with controlling interest in CSW in the next month or so,
- Hernandez will come to his senses, kiss & make up with everybody at CSW,
- CSW will disappear from the virtual landscape, as North & Schwartz start up their own, better version of it.

One more thing about Mike North... what ever he is involved with is NEVER boring. The events of tonight prove that once again.