Chicago Media Talks

You could trace the evolution of the news business through Jim DeRogatis’ career arc over the last 35 years—as he’s moved from print to broadcast to online and podcasting, and from employer-supported to audience-funded journalism. And along the way, he broke one of the biggest stories in music history.

He joins hosts Sheila Solomon and Charlie Meyerson for the Chicago Public Square / Rivet360 podcast, Chicago Media Talks—to discuss his career, the R. Kelly story and the state of the media in the 21st century.

Streetwise magazine has been a Chicago publication for almost 30 years. Before COVID 19, its vendors were ubiquitous on our streets. What happened to them when we were all forced to shelter in place? Executive Director Julie Youngquist talks about how Streetwise -- which is so much more than a magazine -- found the resources that kept the vendors and the magazine going until it was OK to be back on the streets.

Publisher and creative director Dave Hamilton and Rivet360 producer Jesse Betend tell about last year's partnership between the two organizations on the podcast Where I Stay. They join host Sheila Solomon for another edition of the Rivet360 podcast, Chicago Media Talks.

Columnist Eric Zorn started at the Tribune in 1980; cultural critic Steve Johnson started six years later. Now, they’re among the more than three dozen editorial staffers who’ve left—taking buyouts offered under the Tribune’s new ownership. They join hosts Sheila Solomon and Charlie Meyerson for another edition of Chicago Media Talks.

Jamie Kalven—journalist, human rights activist and founder of one of Chicago’s newest Pulitzer Prize winners, the Invisible Institute—says he has “deep sympathy for those who wagered their lives and their careers on the stability of legacy media,” but he says “some of the new forms that are evolving … may actually ultimately produce a healthier diet for consumers of the news.”

He joins hosts Sheila Solomon and Charlie Meyerson to talk about journalism’s brave new world and about his work to help citizens hold public institutions—especially the police—accountable.

Karen Hawkins—self-described “recovering mainstream media reporter and editor”— is doing a terrible job of recovering: She’s now co-publisher of the Chicago Reader, the founder of Rebellious Magazine, and a leader of the upstart Chicago Independent Media Alliance. She joins hosts Sheila Solomon and Charlie Meyerson to survey Chicago’s 21st-century media landscape.

Pulliam Professor of Journalism at DePauw University and former Sun-Times editor and columnist Deborah Douglas joins host Charlie Meyerson and co-host Sheila Solomon to launch the new “Chicago Media Talks” podcast with a discussion of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s decision to limit her anniversary interviews to journalists of color.

With Chicago media changing so quickly, Rivet360 and Chicago Public Square are teaming up for a weekly show about what it all means. And we’re inviting you to participate LIVE through the Clubhouse app. I’m Charlie Meyerson, sign up now at rivet360.com/talk