Robert Feder Leaving Vocalo Blog
CHICAGO (CBS) - Local television and radio critic and longtime Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Feder has decided to quit writing a blog for WBEZ-Chicago Public Media's Vocalo site.
In a posting on his WBEZ webpage Tuesday morning, Feder said, "the recent redesign of the Vocalo blogs and their move to a new site at wbez.org; I have decided it's time for me to leave Chicago Public Media."
Feder did not specify any further reasons for leaving. He thanked his colleagues at WBEZ and Vocalo, and the readers who had made his blog a "daily destination."
"From the announcement of Oprah's departure to (CBS 2's) Bill (Kurtis) and Walter (Jacobson)'s reunion, and from Roger Ebert's television comeback to the meltdown at Tribune Co. and WGN Radio, it's been an unforgettable 12 months on the media beat," he wrote.
But Feder says he won't be gone long.
"I won't be leaving the daily media beat," he wrote. "I expect to make an announcement about my new online home soon."
Feder was the media columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times for 28 years, beginning as a legman to columnist Gary Deeb in 1980, and taking over the beat when Deeb left the paper.
In 2008, he took a buyout package, when employees with greater than 25 years' seniority were given the opportunity to step down with a year's pay and benefits.
Feder is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He is also known for starting the first and only fan club for CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite at the age of 14.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
