AndrewFinlayson's Blog

Our investigative team at Fox Chicago does some outstanding work.  I hope you have seen some of the most recent reports. 

We have looked at some of the most powerful institutions and figures and asked some tough questions.   

Some of the best ideas for these stories come from you.  We want to make sure you know how to reach our investigative team.

You can call the Fox Investigates Tip Line at (312) 565-8076.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Dominic Mancuso, 312-565-5557

KORI CHAMBERS JOINS “GOOD DAY CHICAGO”

CHICAGO – Kori Chambers is the newest member of the “Good Day Chicago” team, announced Patrick Mullen, the station’s Vice President and General Manager.  Chambers will handle a variety of reporting and anchoring responsibilities for the program. 

In making the announcement, Mullen stated, “We’re thrilled to have Kori join FOX Chicago as we expand “Good Day Chicago” into the 9:00 a.m. hour.  His strong broadcast experience and engaging personality makes him the ideal addition to our morning news team.”

Prior to joining WFLD-TV, Chambers served as an anchor and reporter for WDIV-TV in Detroit since May 2005.  Previously, he was a weekend morning anchor and reporter for KVBC-TV in Las Vegas and before that as a reporter for WGGB-TV in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Chambers added, “I’m excited to be working with the talented news team at FOX Chicago.  I look forward to contributing to the station and the community.”

An upstate New York native, Chambers graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism.  He has been recognized by the Detroit School Board for his weekly volunteer work in the classroom and in 2006 teamed up with Carver K-8 Learning Community to create and instruct a media course.  He is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists.

For more information, please visit www.myfoxchicago.com.

WFLD FOX Chicago is part of the Fox Television Stations, one of the nation's largest owned-and-operated network broadcast groups, comprising 35 stations in 26 markets, covering nearly 45% of U.S. television homes.  This includes six duopolies in the top 10 markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Washington D.C. and Houston; as well as duopolies in Minneapolis, Phoenix and Orlando.

# # #

Here's an interesting look behind the scenes.

News Corp, our parent company, has news people everywhere you can imagine. 

One part of the world wide operation is Sky News. 

In this report, one of our fellow correspondents gives us a look at how they are covering the news in the war zone. 

http://video.news.sky.com/skynews/video/?&videoSour
ceID=1319571&flashURL=/feeds/skynews/latest/flash/wilso
n_online_190608_1300.flv

My personal thanks to them for all they do in bringing us important news under difficult circumstances.

This last weekend we had severe weather in the Chicago area.  Our weather team had warned us about the possibility and had plans in place to cover the event.  When seven tornadoes struck Northern Illinois, we broke into programming seven times...including one extended cut in for the time the tornadoes were touching down in our area.

We are very thankful that these tornadoes did not kill anyone and the injuries and damage, while serious, could have been much worse. 

We want to thank everyone who called in with damage reports.  It was because of viewers calling our newsroom that we knew how serious the storms were.  We want to also thank everyone who e-mailed in pictures and video.   At one point we had some 2,500 people in our MyFoxChicago.com weather chat room at one time.  That was so impressive that two trade magazines, "TV Week" and "Broadcast and Cable", wrote stories about the on air and on line success of the station.

Amy Freeze has information in her blogs and weather section about the size and the intensity of the storm so I will refer you to her for more details on this historic event.   She is using new 3-d technology to analyze storms and I hope you had a chance to see this new way to look at storms.  She has shown some amazing images over the last couple of days as she examined what caused all the damage.

Last but not least, we also want those who called in with kind comments and e-mailed their thanks for the extended breaking weather coverage to know how much that meant to everyone here.   It is our job to alert you to severe weather like this but a big part of our "pay check" comes from knowing that we helped. 

As always, we welcome your feedback.

Andrew Finlayson

News Director

WFLD ADDS FIFTH HOUR TO “GOOD DAY CHICAGO”

FOX Chicago Continues to Produce the Most Local Weekday News Hours and Now the Market’s Only Local Newscast at 9:00 a.m.

CHICAGO – FOX Chicago will add a fifth hour to its morning news program, “Good Day Chicago,” announced Patrick Mullen, Vice President and General Manager, WFLD-TV.  Starting on Monday, July 7th, the extended program will be presented from 5:00 –10:00 a.m. (CT)

In making the announcement, Mullen stated, “This is a natural extension for FOX Chicago, as our station already leads the market in locally-produced weekday news hours.  The additional hour of “Good Day Chicago” well positions us to take advantage of a growing appetite for local news, weather and information during this time period.”

Mike Barz and Jan Jeffcoat will host the fifth hour, joined by reporters Pat Elwood and Nancy Loo, traffic reporter Sondra Solarte and meteorologist Tammie Souza.  Overseeing the extended program will be “Good Day Chicago” Executive Producer Melinda Tichelaar. 

Tichelaar added, “This extension will allow us to provide live coverage of news events throughout the morning, giving viewers the most up to the minute information about what’s going on around Chicago.”

During the 9:00 hour, viewers can expect to see more in-depth coverage of breaking news and weather.  Regular features will include discussion of hot topics and news of the day along with a variety of local commentators, as well as health reports and results of topical text and phone surveys. 

For more information, please visit www.myfoxchicago.com. 

WFLD FOX Chicago is part of the Fox Television Stations, one of the nation's largest owned-and-operated network broadcast groups, comprising 35 stations in 26 markets, covering nearly 45% of U.S. television homes.  This includes six duopolies in the top 10 markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Washington D.C. and Houston; as well as duopolies in Minneapolis, Phoenix and Orlando.

The above is the press release by the station.  My personal thanks to the entire AM team that does such a great job day after day.  The newscast keeps getting better and now more people will get to see it. 

Andrew Finlayson

While we did not win the Eppy Award, we were in great company for the awards given out last Thursday.

Here is a list of the winners.

One of the reasons why Fox Chicago is considered to have one of the best local television websites in the country is our track record of innovation. 

Besides our Obamatracker.com, GreatChicagoDeals.com, and LivenewsCameras.com...we have a new project that is getting international attention.

AirFoxLIve

It is a website that lets you see where AirFox is flying with live pictures from the helicopter.  It is a virtual way to ride along with the helicopter and see flight data.

Please try it weekday mornings between 5:30 am and 8:00 am CST or during breaking news.   A great job by our web team lead by Steve Baron to get this all up and operational.

Andrew Finlayson

Some of you may have seen our website www.livenewscameras.com 

We continue to see great interest in this experiment in journalism.  

Here is a feature that was just done about this website by the G4 network.

http://www.g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/videos/21561/Web_T
ools_Live_News_Camerascom.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jessica Moss, 212-301-3817

THE FOX CHICAGO SCHOOL CHALLENGE GOES BIG FOR ST. BALDRICKS

WFLD Raises More Than $1,000,000 for Cancer Research

with Help of 3,800 Chicago-area Students

CHICAGO -- FOX Chicago helped raise $1,000,000 to benefit the St. Baldrick’s foundation, announced Patrick Mullen, the station’s Vice President and General Manager.  The funds raised by the station’s efforts, led by anchor Patrick Elwood, will benefit cancer hospitals across the country including eight in the Chicago area.

In making the announcement, Mullen stated, “This is an enormous undertaking and we truly appreciate Patrick’s hard work and dedication, as well as the support of staff members who participated in the St. Baldrick’s Day event.”    

As part of the FOX Chicago’s involvement, Elwood challenged area students to participate in St. Baldrick’s Day activities.  More than 3,800 students from 44 schools answered the call by agreeing to have students get pledges and shave their heads to help raise money. 

Elwood added, “I’m so proud of all the students across the city that went bald for this great cause.  Our work together shows you’re never too young to make a difference.”

St. Baldrick's is the world's largest volunteer-driven fundraising event for childhood cancer research.  Thousands of volunteers shave their heads in solidarity of children with cancer, while requesting donations of support from friends and family.  This is the fourth year that FOX Chicago has been involved with the organization. 

More information on The St. Baldrick’s Foundation can be found at http://www.stbaldricks.org.  For further details on “The FOX Chicago School Challenge,” please visit http://www.gobaldchicago.com or www.myfoxchicago.com.

WFLD FOX Chicago is part of the Fox Television Stations group, one of the nation's largest owned-and-operated network broadcast groups, comprises 35 stations in 26 markets, covering nearly 45% of U.S. television homes.  This includes six duopolies in the top 10 markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, and Washington D.C. and Houston; as well as duopolies in Minneapolis, Phoenix and Orlando.

On a personal note, Patrick and his wife both gave an extraordinary amount of their own time to do this effort.  While many of our staff participated, raising money and even shaving their heads to draw attention to this, Patrick was the heart of this effort at Fox Chicago.  Thank you!

Andrew Finlayson

We have been notified that we are among four finalists for the Editor and Publisher's Eppy Awards.  We are very honored to be considered one of the best websites in the country. 

The team effort that puts together MyFoxChicago.com and the related websites is something the entire Fox News Chicago team can be proud of.  As we have noted in this blog, this year Fox Chicago has been recognized with an Emmy for best news operation in the Midwest and the two top awards from the AP for outstanding news operation and best newscast in our state.  This nomination as one of the best local websites in the country proves that our team on air and on line is your best source for local news and information.

We welcome your suggestions on how we can improve our website.

You can write me at andrew.finlayson@foxchicago.com

Andrew Finlayson

VP News Director

Every day, a new social media platform is coming full circle as part-time, volunteer and citizen journalists emerge. They’re gaining momentum in the media community and changing the way news is reported and delivered, as well as how community members view the world around them. People are practicing journalism through blogs, Web site production and interaction with sites maintained by mainstream news organizations. They are contributing to the world’s 24/7 news cycle, making it easy and accessible for more of us to be in the know. The Society of Professional Journalists believes the world benefits from more news coverage, not less.

Through its Citizen Journalism Academy, which takes place May 17 in Chicago at DePaul University's Lincoln Park campus, SPJ seeks to help everyone wanting to practice journalism to do so accurately, ethically and fairly. The Society aims to help participants understand how responsible practices could increase their reach and help them have strong journalistic reputations within their communities and around the world. Among the topics this daylong workshop will explore: — Journalism ethics. The new-media landscape is rife with dilemmas for anyone wanting to report accurately, fairly and outside the bounds of special interests. — The basics of media law. The same longstanding laws concerning libel, slander and access to people and information apply to 21st-century news-gatherers. — Access to pubic records and meetings. Public information can add substance and value to every news story. But knowing where to look for it can be tough. — Standard and responsible reporting practices. With media ethics and law in mind, how else should news-gatherers approach sources. — Tips on smart writing. SPJ instructors want to help ensure your voice is clearly understood. — The use of technology. We'll show you an array of tools you could start using — or continue using even more effectively.

The cost to attend the Citizen Journalism Academy is $25, which includes lunch and course materials. For more information about this program or to register, visit SPJ's Citizen Journalism Academy page. Please note, the registration deadline is May 3 and seating is limited. Funding for this program is provided by the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation, a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) public foundation organized for the purpose of supporting the educational programs of the Society of Professional Journalists and to serve the professional needs of journalists and students pursuing careers in journalism.

I like to share good news about awards, particularly when it is one of our own that is being honored by the RTNDA.  It has been announced that Mark Saxenmeyer and his team have won another award!  Here are the details from RTNDA.org about this prestigious honor:

If you are looking for live news as it happens, you might want to check out www.livenewscameras.com.

It is an experiment we are trying out here at Fox Chicago but it is not a Fox focused website.  Every day we add more live feeds and it seems like every minute now there is something interesting and important that you can watch on this website.

Today, two of the key people working on this website were on public radio.

http://www.publicradio.org/columns/futuretense/

It is a great introduction to what this website is and what it could become.  Video on the internet is exploding and I'm proud of the efforts by Kat and Steve to help us be a leader in this area.

Andrew Finlayson

I couldn't be prouder of our news team here at Fox Chicago.  Our team regularly breaks stories and this morning it was another story of national importance.

AP-IL--ATA Bankruptcy,0138

ATA Airlines discontinues all flights, files for bankruptcy

Eds: APNewsNow

CHICAGO (AP) -- Customers of ATA Airlines are turning up at

Chicago's Midway Airport only to find the airline has discontinued

all fights and filed for bankruptcy.

It appears that not only passengers are flabbergasted. Workers

for the Indianapolis-based airline showed up for work, only to find

out their services weren't needed.

ATA says in a statement on its Web site that it became

impossible to continue operations after it lost a key contract for

its military charter business.

ATA announced last month that it would leave its hub at Midway

Airport. The airline had flights from Midway to Dallas/Fort Worth

and Oakland, California. It also had flights to Hawaii from

Oakland, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas.

A message left for an ATA spokeswoman Thursday was not

immediately returned.

(Thanks Lisa Sharmat, WFLD-Chicago)

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Lisa is on our desk and she came in early to check our sources.  Her extra hard work resulted in our being aware of this story before any other news source.  She is one example of the team effort that makes Fox Chicago the most powerful name in local news.

Thanks Lisa and the AM team who work so hard every night and morning!

Andrew Finlayson

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Dominic Mancuso, 312-565-5557

FOX CHICAGO ANNOUNCES “FINAL WORD” CONTRIBUTORS FOR BASEBALL SEASON

AJ Pierzynski and Ryan Dempster to Make Bi-Weekly Appearances on WFLD

CHICAGO – FOX Chicago has added White Sox catcher AJ Pierzynski and Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster as baseball season contributors to the “Final Word,” announced Patrick Mullen, the station’s Vice President and General Manager.  The sports wrap-up program is presented weekly on Sundays from 10:00-10:35 p.m. (CT)

In making the announcement, Mullen stated, “Baseball has a rich tradition in our city and FOX Chicago is committed to giving viewers the most complete local team coverage as we look towards another exciting season.”

Starting on April 6th, Pierzynski and Dempster will join FOX Chicago Sportscasters Corey McPherrin and Tom Waddle on alternating weeks.  They’ll provide expert analysis and real-time insight in to what’s going on with their respective teams as well as around the National and American Leagues. 

For more information, please visit www.myfoxchicago.com. 

WFLD FOX Chicago is part of the Fox Television Stations, one of the nation's largest owned-and-operated network broadcast groups, comprises 35 stations in 26 markets, covering nearly 45% of U.S. television homes.  This includes six duopolies in the top 10 markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, and Washington D.C. and Houston; as well as duopolies in Minneapolis, Phoenix and Orlando.