Bozo’s Media Circus
Growing up Hachecristo, WGN Channel 9 in Chicago was a HUGE part of my life. The best of many regional interpretations of Bozo the Clown was Chicago’s Bozo’s Circus, running at noon every weekday. The “Grand March” ending the show was toddler Primo’s cue to march off to my nap. A troop of Hachecristos was in the Bozo studio audience for two magical birthdays of mine, the only times I saw the show in color.
I treasured my Bozo Souvenir Postcard
Grade school Primo would catch cartoons in the morning on The Ray Rayner Show or Garfield Goose & Friends, then rush home to watch reruns of The Flintstones or Gilligan’s Island. On Sunday afternoons, Family Classics with Frazier Thomas would play old movies. High school Primo would rush home to catch the end of the Cubs’ games on WGN. Grown-up Primo would have the WGN Morning News on while getting ready for work. Phil Donahue and Oprah both launched on WGN.
So, Marla Maples, you married a clown?
WGN Radio was a big part of my life, as well. Back in the days before Ronald Reagan, you could hear all sides on the 50,000-watt news and talk station, as well as every Cub game. It was always on in my Uncle Jimmy Bartsool Grobnik’s car – I think it was the only station he got. But Reagan murderlized the FCC’s Fairness Doctrine of honest, equitable, and balanced presentation of issues, and then we got Rush Limbaugh, and now we have Trump.
WGN’s call letters stand for “World’s Greatest Newspaper” aka the Chicago Tribune, the flagship and fountainhead of Tribune Media. Consistently conservative in its approach, nevertheless the Trib became the paper of record for la familia Hachecristo after a certain Aussie named Rupert Murdoch acquired the previously liberal Sun-Times, a harbinger of my next paragraph.
My literary godfather switched, so I switched.
Now the post-Reagan FCC is currently reviewing the application for Sinclair Broadcast Group to obtain Tribune Media. Sinclair is one of those quiet media conglomerates that goes along snapping up local stations and turning them into GOP-TV. You may have seen John Oliver’s takedown of this idea, because Sinclair has exhumed the FCC’s late Fairness Doctrine, driven a stake through its heart, cut off its head, burned its corpse and trampled on its ashes. Their news anchors are contractually forced to push the Trump Party Line. Sure, FOX has been doing that for decades, but that was voluntary-ish. Even if you HATE Trump, as a Sinclair anchor you MUST read the nice things their propagandists write about him, or else…
or else…what?
Sinclair’s acquisition of Tribune Media would not just ruin my childhood. It represents a danger to the public airwaves, as Sinclair would have a television station in 72% of our households. Trump’s FCC is exploiting the UHF broadcast (look it up, kids) loophole to do this (the currently allowed reach is 39%) and with the added reach of WGN America, the cable behemoth, Trump State TV will run virtually nationwide.
But there’s something YOU can still do. The FCC docket is still open on this acquisition, and the movement against it is gathering steam, even among other conservative media. You can publicly comment on how bad this idea is on their website, www.fcc.gov. Scroll down and click on “File a Public Comment” then scroll down on that screen until you find 17-179, then click on “Express Reply.” A form will come up for you to tell Trump’s FCC EXACTLY what you think about this bozo’s media circus.
Who needs a pie in da face? DIS CLOWN!
I tried following your directions, but when I clicked on “Continue” it sent me back to the same page, and my name had been deleted. I tried this 4 times. Could it be that they don’t want any negative comments?
1Not sure what happened there, maryelle. After including the link to here as part of my comment, I hit “continue to review screen” and then “submit” and it worked – did you fill all the *required* fields?
2Hey, remember. Little kids consider clowns scary. I think the short ones have the right idea.
3Done. I had to enter my name more than once and press Enter at the end of my name, but it did go through. Thanks!
4Great post Primo. I grew up watching Bozo Circus, Gilligan’s Island, Ray Rayner, and Family Classics also. Kids today don’t know what they are missing. The whole Sinclair business is truly frightening.
5One more example of the Repubs’ effort to eliminate any “fair & balanced” perspectives in our news media.
Meanwhile, thanks for the pic of Mike Royko — for decades, God’s gift to the Chicago newspaper reader. We miss him!
6Do you remember Princess Summer Fall Winter Spring?
7Loved Royko and hate the orange dump.
FCC
8Please, do NOT allow this acquisition!
Promo, thanks for the childhood memories, and if I may add Wally Phillip’s in the morning! Thanks also for the sad news concerning Sinclair media. I will certainly contact FCC. I can only imagine what Mike Royko would be writing today
9You are awesome. Gonna do it right now. I loved the Mike Royko photo so much.
10Fran: I’ve actually never even seen an episode of Howdy Doody!
Don: and Bill Berg in afternoon drive time! Fun fact: years later, I was on a softball team in Addison with Bill Berg.
Royko fans: His fictitious barroom buddy, Slats Grobnik, is the uncle of my fictitious uncle, Jimmy “Barstool” Grobnik, whose fritzy car Delco and bakelite kitchen Zenith played WGN from Wally Phillips thru Vince Lloyd and Lou Boudreau to Chicago Eddie Schwartz. Unlike Mike and his beloved 16-inch softball, I play 12-inch: fewer dislocations.
11Grew up at Kimball and Nort’. Riverview, the Armitage theater. Watched the same shows as well as Jerry G Bishop”s creature features on UHF 32. The real fun was at age 12, beginning to understand Ray Raynor’s adult driven asides to Chancellor at 7 in the morning.
12The elders at the WMDBS are fun! Unlike their snacilbupeR screaming “get off my lawn” counterparts who I swear were around before Plato was complaining about the younger generation. The snacilbupeR have earned the sobriquet: fossilized farts.
Primo Encarnación, I played baseball, HS and college. 16″ or 12″ softball is for women and it definitely proves they are NOT the “weaker” sex. Will never forget the first time I encountered a softball. There’s the pitch which looked like a grapefruit coming in high and over the plate ready to be swatted out of the park. I swung for the fences making solid contact with the ball only to promptly screw myself into the ground. Took several lessons from Jane to tame my swing and park that puppy over the fence.
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