Kup's Chicago - Irv Kupcinet [54]
Granted, the Chicago dailies no longer express as wide a diversity of political viewpoint as they did when there were twice as many being published. But this is true of the surviving dailies everywhere.
And of course the big downtown dailies are not the only papers that serve the Chicago area.
There is the Chicago Daily Defender, the Negro daily published by John Sengstacke, the descendant of a pioneer newspaper family. The successor of a chain of smaller weeklies, it had a top circulation of 230,000 even before World War I. The Defender each year stages one of the largest newspaper-sponsored events anywhere – the annual Bud Billiken Day festival for underprivileged South Side children. More than 250,000 persons take part.
And here you will also find one of the strongest neighborhood newspaper complexes in the country, led by young Bruce Sagan of the South Side’s Hyde Park Herald, the South Town, and the Southeast Economist, and Leo Lerner of the North Side Newspapers. Lerner, a noted liberal and author of the recent The Italics Are Mine and other books, was a founder of the Independent Voters of Illinois, one of the largest branches of the Americans for Democratic Action.
And besides these giants you will find dozens of weekly suburban papers and seven foreign-language dailies.
But let’s get back to the downtown dailies. And, specifically, let’s talk about my talented colleagues, the men and women who make up Chicago’s working press today.
There is the accomplished Daily News contingent, headed by such veterans as editor Tom Collins, managing editor John Stanton, sports editor John P. Carmichael, literary critic Van Allen Bradley, and columnists Tony Weitzel, Terry (TV) Turner, John Justin Smith, and Sydney J. Harris, whose “Strictly Personal” has, through syndication, become one of the most widely read and quoted columns in America. Harris is also drama critic for the News. One of Chicago’s most popular lecturers, he delights in choosing such provocative subjects as “Are Women People?” and “Great Books and Small Minds.” And movie critic Sam Lesner enjoys an enviable reputation, as does medico-science expert Art Snider.
Another prominent Chicago newspaperman, Herman Kogan, joined the Daily News staff just recently, in an executive capacity. Kogan is not only an excellent reporter, he is also an author of considerable repute. His finest works were written in collaboration with Lloyd Wendt, who was once his co-worker on the Tribune and is now editor of Chicago’s American.
On the Tribune, redheaded Claudia Cassidy probably wields more power over the cultural life of Chicago than any other individual. Claudia, who formerly worked for the old Journal of Commerce and the Sun, covers both music and drama for the Tribune.
As a critic, her barbs can be devastating. She must be credited or blamed – depending on your point of view – for having provoked the dismissal of two conductors of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra: Desiré Defauw and Rafael Kubelik. She is also one of the severest critics of Carol Fox, general manager of the Lyric Opera. And there are a number of Broadway producers who swear that they will never bring another show into Chicago, for fear of Miss Cassidy’s devastating remarks.
But stinging as her scorn can be, Claudia can be generous in her praise when the occasion warrants. Her standards for artistic performances are high. They are so high, indeed, that some of her critics maintain that she has “ruined” the theater in Chicago. But I feel,