Horizon League Links

Butler
Detroit
Illinois-Chicago
Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Wright State
Youngstown State
Horizon Connection

Big Joe's Two Shots and the Ball - 12/15/03

12/15/03
by Joe Dlugosz
It happens to athletes, movie stars, Paris Hilton, and all sorts of other people, but one group that’s in the spotlight never has to deal with it. How many times have we as Loyola fans taunted and baited visiting players and coaches? How many times have Loyola students protested some political figure?

Yet one group that is constantly in the spotlight more than many other famous people is never put into the same meat grinder. This group has entire cable channels devoted to them talking incessantly about the same thing over and over. This group puts out two major daily publications in the city of Chicago alone. They have newspaper columns and magazines devoted to how they perform. Yet no one taunts these people when they walk down the street. No heckles these people when they’re trying to do their job. I’m talking about the news media.

Many of them are household names, just like any athlete or Hollywood star. In Chicago, more people buy a piece of paper with columnist Richard Roeper’s face on it than they do with Sammy Sosa’s face on it. Yet Sammy has to hear the taunts of steroid abuse, or lack of clutch hitting. No one walks up to Richard Roeper in his office screaming that he’s zero for his last three columns as he tries to churn out Thursday’s column. No one questions whether he’s using the much easier on the hands ergonomic keyboard or a regular keyboard. Who knows maybe that crazy space in the middle of those ergo keyboards gives him a competitive advantage. I’ve heard that you can churn out a column five percent faster with an ergo keyboard.

A lot of news people make a lot of money just like athletes and movie stars too, but they don’t get nearly the amount of daily criticism. Katie Couric reportedly makes in the range of $12 to $15 million a year, but how many times has someone on the street cursed her out for delivering the news poorly. I’d love to hear someone yell out at her that they should call the “Today” show the “You suck” show. Or how about Tom Brokaw, and his reported $8 million a year. I’d like to see someone yell at him that he couldn’t cover the news with a blanket. Or that Dominos Pizza does a better job of delivering in thirty minutes.

So next time you’re walking down the street remember that your local newsperson is a star just like anyone else. They’re on TV and they make good money and you know they like what they’re doing. And on top of that, you know there are people walking down the street whispering to themselves or pointing at the star of the evening news. So don’t just let them walk by. Let em’ have it.

If you see Antonio Mora or Diann Burns from Chicago’s Channel 2 news walking down the street don’t just point and look in awe. Scream out for everyone to hear that there they are the reason Channel 2 was third in the November sweeps.

Or if you see Walter Jacobsen out covering news as only Fox can, let him have it. Yell out; “Hey Walter way to not let the facts get in the way of your news reporting.” I think you’ll find that it is just as invigorating as going to a sporting event and trying to get under the skin of the visiting team.

I was at the Bears home opener in the new Soldier Field and gave it a try. There was a Channel 7 news truck sitting there with a couple of guys in their nice Channel 7 jackets just standing around. I yelled at them that I like the Channel 5 news better and that perhaps they may be slipping in the ratings because they are just standing around their truck instead of searching for that big story.

I had a laugh; the news guys had a laugh. I went home thinking maybe I got into that news guys head and that’s why the newscast that night had a little extra something to it.

Previous Columns:

Big Joe's Two Shots and the Ball - 12/08/03
Big Joe's Two Shots and the Ball - 12/01/03
Big Joe's Two Shots and the Ball - 11/24/03