By Steve Rhodes

Behind every good Chicago Mob Wife is a monster who did horrible deeds. We’ll let VH-1 describe the wife and we’ll describe the monster.
RENEE FECAROTTA RUSSO: Renee is a strong independent businesswoman who was raised by her uncle, “Big John” Fecarotta, following the death of her father. An alleged loan collector and hit man for The Outfit, Fecarotta was Renee’s mentor and best friend until being gunned down by fellow mobster Nick Calabrese. Fiercely loyal to his memory, Renee still abides by the “code”: never associate with rats . . . take it to the grave.
BIG JOHN FECAROTTA: Renee’s mentor and best friend knows something about graves – he was a suspect in at least two murders before biting the dust himself. “He was gunned down while being chased by at least two men through an alley on the Northwest Side,” according to Illinois Police and Sheriff’s News.

Read More

Posted on March 27, 2012

By Daniel Victor/ ProPublica

Every local broadcast station has a repository of documents about political advertising that you have a legal right to see but can do so only by going to the station and asking to see “the public file.”
These paper files contain detailed data on all political ads that run on the channel, such as when they aired, who bought the time and how much they paid. It’s a transparency gold mine, allowing the public to see how campaigns and outside groups are influencing elections.
But TV executives have been fighting a Federal Communications Commission proposal to make the data accessible online. They say making the files digital would be too burdensome – it “could well take hundreds of hours for a single station,” according to comments filed with the FCC by the National Association of Broadcasters.
Others have taken their case a step further. As reported by Bloomberg Government, Jerald Fritz, senior vice president of Allbritton Communications, said in an another FCC filing that online availability “would ultimately lead to a Soviet-style standardization of the way advertising should be sold as determined by the government.” (NPR’s On the Media did an excellent segment recently on broadcasters’ opposition to the proposal.)
We tend to like the idea of public data being online. Since TV stations won’t put it online themselves, we decided to do it ourselves – and we want your help.
Working with students at the Medill journalism school at Northwestern University, we looked at five local stations in the Chicago market.
You can explore the results yourself: Here are detailed breakdowns of when the ads aired, during which programs, and how much each spot cost.

Read More

Posted on March 20, 2012

A Taste Of Daily Life For Protesters And The Poor

“In the course of covering a news story about a child who was killed in a shooting Saturday night, a tense and sometimes hostile situation broke out between Chicago police and a collection of journalists outside the hospital where the little girl was taken,” WGN-TV reports.
“Officers say they were called to the scene by hospital security concerned about trespassers. As the situation escalated, two media members, including WGNTV’s Dan Ponce, ended up in handcuffs. The other media member detained was a channel 5 photographer.”
And here it is:

Read More

Posted on March 19, 2012

Supplies Lasted

“With its nationwide rollout of apple slices in Happy Meals recently completed, McDonald’s USA is touting the nutritional benefits with a new series of TV ads and a chef contest for children and parents,” The Packer reports.

–
FuzzyMemoriesTV just so happened to post a commercial to YouTube this week from June 23, 1979, that aired on Chicago TV introducing the Happy Meal “While supplies last.”

Read More

Posted on March 13, 2012

By The Cartoon Network

Speak Up, an original documentary from Cartoon Network, captures the authentic, everyday stories of America’s bullied kids and the youth who have helped them.
The half-hour film is an extension of the network’s nationally recognized and award-winning pro-social initiative Stop Bullying: Speak Up, which seeks to empower all kids to take part in the growing movement to help bring an end to bullying.
This moving, thoughtful and hopeful program consists of candid interviews with kids, mostly between the ages of 8- and 13-years-old, who either are or have been the target of bullies, bystanders in a bullying situation or even bullies themselves.

Read More

Posted on March 6, 2012

By The Beachwood Infomercial Affairs Desk

First, the pitch:
Dear Steve:
AJ Khubani has spent the past 29 years bringing the wackiest gadgets to consumers via direct TV. His “As Seen on TV” products have been seen in bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens and with your pets. Khubani has had his share of duds as well. Now he is on the hunt for the newest infomercial product.
You had us at “As Seen on TV.”

Read More

Posted on March 2, 2012