New thoughts,
news for a long time -- including more than 10 years at the city's legendary progressive rock station, WXRT-FM 93.1; almost nine years at pioneering "smooth jazz" station WNUA-FM 95.5; almost 13 years at Tribune Co., as senior producer and Daywatch columnist at chicagotribune.com and then as news director at Chicago's premiere news/talk station, WGN-AM 720. After a year as Chicago bureau chief for the short-lived (but fun) FM News Chicago and New York -- covering government, politics, culture and technology -- Meyerson is now the principal at Meyerson Strategy, a content strategy and media consulting practice; and adjunct professor of journalism at Roosevelt University.Meyerson, winner of dozens of journalism awards -- including a national UPI award for investigative reporting -- is NOT picking his nose in the photo above.
Chronology
Jan. 7, 2013
'Kudos to veteran Chicago newsman Charlie Meyerson ...' by Robert Feder:
"It's an ideal match for WBEZ and Meyerson, who pioneered the format as senior producer and Daywatch columnist for chicagotribune.com."July 18, 2012
Inside the Merlin staff meeting by Ed Ryan:
"We are better positioned, with stronger, sharper skills than any of us had a year ago to go on and create something new again, somewhere else."June 28, 2011
Merlin Media Quickly Hires Meyerson by Tom Benson:
"Charlie Meyerson has quickly landed a new gig."June 19, 2011
Charlie Meyerson Says Goodbye To WGN & Tribune by Larz:
"We moved the news team from its home of a quarter-century on the 1st floor of Tribune Tower to the 4th floor, integrating it more tightly with the Chicago Tribune and WGN-TV news teams. We launched aggressive email and text alert services for our listeners. We overhauled and improved WGNradio.com several times. We aired some of Chicago's smartest radio news reporting and analysis -- on technology, the weather, the environment, politics, civic affairs and more. And the WGN Radio News team's hard work has been recognized with several significant awards this year: The AP/Illinois prizes for Outstanding News Operation and Best Newscast; the Chicago Headline Club Lisagor Award for Best Newscast; and a contributing role in the Illinois Broadcasters Association Silver Dome awards for Station of the Year and Best Station Website.."July 29, 2009
WGN-AM names Chicago Tribune Daywatch columnist Charlie Meyerson news director by Phil Rosenthal:
"His return to broadcasting, announced Wednesday and effective Aug. 6, comes about 11 years after Meyerson left the business and joined the Tribune to help develop its then-nascent digital presence and strategy."May 14, 2008
The Power of Connections: Media Meets Mission, panel discussion at The Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management:
"You don't need a broadcast license, you don't need to own a huge antenna, you don't need to have a TV studio, you don't need to suck up to someone who owns giant printing presses, you know, all you need is a computer or a library card that will get you access to a computer, and ... you have the potential to connect to an unlimited audience."November 2007
Advancing the Story, by Debora Halpern Wenger and Deborah Potter:
"None of this should be cause for despair among journalists who fear becoming slaves to public opinion, reporting only what an audience wants instead of what they think it needs. ... Journalists who want to sail an audience in a specific direction need not be slaves to the winds of audience preferences. But, like a good sailor, they can navigate more successfully if they perceive which way those winds are blowing."Feb. 18, 2007
Rick Kaempfer's Chicago Radio Spotlight blog:
"This is the best time in history to become a journalist."July/August 2004
Illinois Alumni magazine:
"The WPGU reunion, held in Champaign in April in honor of the student-run radio station's 50 years of existence, lured Chicago radio news veteran Charlie Meyerson '77 COM, MS '78 COM, back to campus for the first time since 1987."March 14, 2002
Online Journalism Review -- Martha Stone:
"Charlie Meyerson, a chicagotribune.com staff reporter who was a news radio veteran before he became an Internet reporter, informally trains colleagues in broadcast basics in the online newsroom. In addition to his text news updating and reporting duties online, including an early-morning, e-mailed update newsletter to [60,000+] subscribers [as of 2006], he gives an 8 a.m. radio broadcast on WGN-AM, a Tribune Company station."January/February 2000
American Journalism Review -- Kelly Heyboer:
"Meyerson and his afternoon counterpart, Joyce Garcia, update the information several times a day, taking feeds from the Tribune's staff of a half-dozen online reporters and occasionally from the paper's print reporters. Their goal is nothing less than their slogan--'Instant Chicago.'"October 1999
Radio-Television News Directors Association magazine, The Communicator -- Aaron Barnhart, "News Revolution: Join In or Get Left Behind":
"Three years ago, Charlie Meyerson, the news director at WNUA-FM in Chicago, sent a memo to his new bosses at Chancellor Media Corporation, urging them to embrace the Internet."April 7, 1999
Editor & Publisher online columnist Steve Outing:
"Daywatch columnist Charlie Meyerson, a 20-year radio news and newspaper veteran who recently joined the Tribune breaking news operation, says he won't be surprised to see some of his old radio listeners become readers of his Web content."Oct. 11, 1998
Chicago Tribune -- Jim Kirk's MediaTalk column:
"Meyerson ... [is] taking his time before deciding what his next move will be, and it may not be back to the radio airwaves. He says that whatever happens, the Internet is bound to create more opportunities for journalists who know how to make news compelling: "The one thing that won't change is the ability to tell a story, and tell it well."Sept. 2, 1998
Newcity -- Sam Weller's 411:
"Longtime WNUA-FM 95.5 news director Charlie Meyerson has parted ways with his former employers. ... The award-winning journalist would like to stay in radio, but sees the Internet as an option as well."Dec. 5, 1990
Chicago Tribune -- Inc. column:
"He's in a helicopter covering a story about an oil tanker on the Chicago River (hey, this is fantasy, folks) and gets attacked by a giant flying monster ..."
From the audio archives (mp3 files):
Note: Because these are archival files, some e-mail addresses and other details may no longer be accurate.
(Originally broadcast on WNUA-FM 95.5 in Chicago, Aug. 9, 1998)
(Originally broadcast on WNUA-FM 95.5 in Chicago, Dec. 7, 1997)
(Originally broadcast on WNUA-FM 95.5 in Chicago, Sept. 14, 1997)
(Originally broadcast on WNUA-FM 95.5 in Chicago, Sept. 21, 1997)
Available here for the first time in a decade:
A Guide to Interview Techniques
Presented -- naturally -- in a question-and-answer format.
Reprinted by popular demand
(OK, one person asked politely):
Daddy and the Santa Claus dilemma
"When the fateful question emerged, I panicked."
