A New Reporter I'd Love to Work With

Damon Weaver has interviewed politicians and celebrities alike, yet is only 11 years old. Dubbed the "Future of Journalism", Weaver has become a viral superstar for the interviews he conducted for his elementary school's station, KEC-TV. His fame has already landed him a college scholarship and appearances on CNN, FOX and MSNBC.

Recently, he sat down with President Obama. When asked by Time Magazine about his expereince with the President, he remarked:

He was a very nice, tall guy. And he gives very good details. I liked interviewing him. He's just like a normal person.

You can check out the interview in its entirety here.

What's your public radio name?

As a huge NPR/WBEZ fan, I always wanted a public radio-worthy name, like Sylvia Poggioli or Kai Ryssdal or local favorites Amad Omarr or Rob Wildeboer.

Luckily some Twitter buzz led me Tumblr blogger Liana Maeby's excellent system:

You take your middle initial and insert it somewhere into your first name. Then you add on the smallest foreign town you’ve ever visited.

Yes! I am now Ahugh Samet. What's your NPR name?

A surefire way to get cameras to your press conference

Bring a baby leaf monkey, obvs:



I mean, I know it is really cute and everything, but does The Media really need one hundred cameras taking one hundred photos per second? Imagine if he also tried to sell a Senate seat...

HBO's "No. 1 Ladies" in Chicago

A lot of folks don't know that Valerie Denney Communications does press outreach for some of HBO's midwest screenings, which can be a fun change of pace for us. Last week we got some buzz going about the new series "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency," a fun story set in Botswana that made its local premiere at the DuSable Museum. Costar Anika Noni Rose came to Chicago to promote the film and appeared in Redeye and on ABC 7. It was great hearing Anika's stories about Botswana and its people and feeling the excitement of the crowd who made it to the screening.

You can read about our work promoting "No. 1 Ladies" and other past projects with HBO at our website.

Super Mario takes on Chicago

This is a really fun video of Super Mario making his way through Chicago:

Warp Whistle
by MatthewDominick

At first it looks almost like a video promoting Chicago tourism or something - then the ending makes me think it was funded by White Castle, unless the creators were just looking for a castle to end the "level." In that case, they could have also used Binny's Beverage Depot.

(via Boing Boing)