Between his column, his pop culture coverage, and his work for the blog Media Decoder, New York times columnist David Carr has become somewhat of an authority on the ever-evolving state of modern media. more ›

When the mists were still clearing over a still developing local online media landscape there arose a great battle between a onetime Chicagoist wordsmith by the name of Scott Smith and a local musician that had seen better days. more ›

The Tribune and Sun-Times have reached an agreement in which the Trib will begin printing the Sun-Times and seven sister publications in September. more ›

Looking good, Tribune! more ›

A tipster sent us a link to what appears to be a possible redesign for ChicagoNow. Keep in mind that, if this is the case, it's far from the finished design. more ›

Trust us, a redesign can be a bit cathartic. The Chicago Reader launches an all new redesign of its print edition, with several events across the city to celebrate the relaunch. It's a marked facelift from the tabloid format in which it's lingered in recent years. The glossy covers and stapled pages suggests more of a magazine than a newspaper, which Creative Loafing chief sales officer Alison Draper told Tribune media columnist Phil Rosenthal is intended to make the Reader less disposable than in the days where folks would pick up copies of "The Old Gray Doorstop" and pocket the music section as a reference guide. In addition to the redesign, including two glossy covers, column names have been dropped in favor of the columnists names and the music section, long one of the Reader's strengths, has been expanded and re-branded. Now known as the "B-Side," Editor Mara Shalhoup told us that the expanded music coverage is one of many links between the paper's past, present and future. more ›

Robert Feder hipped us to this re-edited version of WMAQ's new ad campaign - which tried to be a little more realistic. more ›

Today in "Extra Extra:" Quiet Derrick Rose to stump for President Obama later this week. more ›

Today in "Extra Extra:" the best skyline shot you'll see all day. more ›

News broke yesterday of the passing of Mesirow Financial and Sun-Times Media Group chairman James Tyree at the age of 53. Mr. Tyree had been battling stomach cancer for months. more ›

In "Extra Extra:" a legendary building is on the sales block. more ›

WCIU's Jeanne Sparrow led off our segment on You & Me This Morning with a report that voter turnout was projected to be around half of all registered voters in the city. It surprised the two of us, given the historical nature of this election. But low voter turnout seems to be bearing itself out, according to the Tribune and a handful of reader e-mails in my inbox. My personal experience heading to the polls this morning also would lend credence to the projections. At 7:45 a.m. I was the 26th voter at my precinct. You'd think in a neighborhood like Bridgeport, where there's no Daley on the mayoral ballot (an occurrence as rare as Halley's Comet passing the earth), voters would be lined up itching to get to the polls. Then again, no Daley on the ballot may be what's keeping voters away. more ›

Today in "Extra Extra:' A murder-suicide over a dog; Groupon is closer to planting stakes in China; the Cubs name an Opening Day Starter. more ›

Most of the forecasters around town are calling for a "wintry mix." The food writer in us reads that and thinks of hearty salad greens, but we're told to expect a mix of rain, freezing rain and snow today with a high temperature of 33 and hawkish winds off the lake gusting between 15-25 MPH. It's just the kind of weather the mayoral candidates should be suffering through on this penultimate day of campaigning before the polls open tomorrow. more ›

Today in "Extra Extra:" A couple of Gery Chico notes. more ›

Yesterday, Robert Feder broke the news that WLS-TV had settled on sports anchor Ryan Chiaverini and WGN Morning Show traffic reporter Valerie Warner would co-host a morning talk show to fill the 9 a.m. slot that was Oprah Winfrey's to claim since 1984. ABC7 confirmed that news, meaning Feder gets yet another feather in his career headdress. more ›

• James Beard Award semifinalists were announced this morning, along with the attendant hype from local food media. [The Stew/Tribune]
• Madison and State was reopened this afternoon after reports that glass was falling from the Sears store. [Tribune]
• Today in Stupid: three men pissed off at U.S. jobs going overseas decided to vandalize cars at the Auto Show. They were promptly arrested; four of the cars they targeted were built in the US or Canada. [Sun-Times]

Today in "Extra Extra:" An Indianapolis electronics retailer looks to make a splash here. Michael Vick cancels on "Oprah." more ›

Today in "Extra Extra:" The County is giving folks who showed up to work during the Blizzaster a little something something. more ›

Today in "Extra Extra:" with two mayoral forums in one night, can the candidates make both? more ›

Today in "Extra Extra:" we've got ourselves a serious wind chill advisory tonight. more ›

• Super Bowl XLV was viewed by a record 111 million viewers. [Variety]
• Rob Feder remembers Eddie Schwartz, the king of late-night radio. [Feder/TOC]
• Christopher Guest — Nigel Tufnel himself — directed those Groupon ads. [AV Club Chicago]

Today in "Extra Extra:" we can't get away from snow news. more ›

• The Tribune joins the Sun-Times in endorsing Rahm Emanuel for Mayor. [Tribune]
• Whitney Young's boy's high school basketball coach was suspended and the team put on probation for holding a practice at a suburban middle school. [Sun-Times]
• Any surprise a report shows Rahm Emanuel, Gery Chico and Carol Moseley Braun have a tendency to gloss over their records in the mayor's race? [Tribune]

Today in "Extra Extra:" where does all the snow go? Also, own the ultimate tailgating machine. more ›

Today in "Extra Extra:" CPS students' Blizzaster vacation ends today. more ›

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Today in "Extra Extra:" The Sun-Times endorses a mayoral candidate. more ›

Today in "Extra Extra:" The Cubs narrow down the field to replace Ron Santo, and cigarettes for $2.70 per pack in Skokie (there's a catch). more ›

From around the -ists: DCist got Thundersnow and Ice Cream man photoshops, Gothamist's year of monster snow continued, Shanghaiist peeked at Beijing's oldest bathhouse, Bostonist was amazed that a man with a machete stole $54 from a kid shoveling snow and more. more ›