Posted by Bud on December 30, 2009 at 08:59:38:
Sad news being reported by Robert Feder today in his latest blog. WTTW has said goodbye to Rich Samuels. Samuels is a veteran of Chicago TV news of well over three decades. He is a wealth of knowledge and a huge plus for any news oriented organization -- one of the best this town has ever had. I know times are tight for WTTW (and most every other station), but to lose a gem like this to try and save some money is foolish. It does not benefit the bottom line, it only cheapens the quality of the product.
Robert Feder also does not seem too pleased with what is happening at WTTW. You can read his thoughts on this latest loss to Channel 11 and about Rich Samuels' rich background.
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WTTW discards broadcast treasure Rich Samuels
He may be Chicago’s most literate and thoughtful broadcast journalist, but there’s no room anymore for Rich Samuels. After more than 35 years on local television news — including the last 18 on Window to the World Communications’ WTTW-Channel 11 — he’s out as a correspondent for “Chicago Tonight,” the public station’s flagship news program.
It’s another significant loss for Channel 11, which suffered setbacks earlier in the year with the death of longtime host and revered elder statesman John Callaway and the resignation of “Chicago Tonight” correspondent Christian Farr. Neither has been replaced.
Samuels was notified earlier this month that his contract would not be renewed when it expires this week because of what sources called a “seven-figure shortfall” in the station’s budget. Samuels, who made his last appearance on “Chicago Tonight” Dec. 23, has been on a previously scheduled vacation since then. Beyond confirming his departure, he declined to comment Tuesday.
Samuels, 68, joined Channel 11 in 1991 after 17 years as a reporter for NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5. His documentaries, investigative reporting and writing have won countless national and local honors, including 13 Emmys and six Peter Lisagor Awards. Ron Magers, the dean of Chicago news anchors, once called him “the best writer for television I’ve ever worked with.”
A North Shore native and Yale University magna cum laude graduate, Samuels earned a doctorate in Italian Renaissance history from the University of Chicago. He put his training as a historian to work as curator of a website he created “to preserve Chicago’s illustrious history as a broadcast center.” It includes a virtual tour of the former NBC studios in the Merchandise Mart exactly as they appeared when they opened in 1930.
In nominating Samuels for induction last year in the prestigious Silver Circle of the Chicago Television Academy, longtime colleagues Carol Marin and Danice Kern wrote:
“Talk to Rich once and you come away with two things: One, he’s some sort of genius. Two, he’s one of the shyest, most unassuming guys you’ll ever meet. Maybe it’s that crazy mix of intellect and modesty that makes him and his reporting so memorable. . . . He’s kind of a Dvorak or a Matisse or a Niels Bohr in the editing room — and, as anyone who’s worked with him knows, just as passionate and brilliant.”
Just the other day, Samuels posted a comment here on the ouster of Magers from his afternoon gig with Roe Conn on Citadel Broadcasting news/talk WLS-AM (890). “That was the part of the show I always tuned in for,” Samuels wrote. “But at age 68, I’m demographically irrelevant.”
No you’re not, Rich. It’s the television news business that’s becoming irrelevant.