CHICAGO — In between reporting on everything from contentious community meetings to swanky local Easter treats, DNAinfo Chicago staffers found time to dig into a few interesting stories circulating the Web. From Rahm Emanuel's past to "The Daily Show's" future, here are some reads worth bookmarking for your commute home (or a slow afternoon at your desk).
Cheap Digs: Senior Editor Justin Breen is somewhat surprised Chicago didn't find itself in the top 10 of this list, which shows the metro areas that pay the most percentage of income on rent. Los Angeles is No. 1 (48.2 percent), while San Francisco is second (44 percent). Chicago is out of the top 10 at 31.1 percent, according to Zillow.
Rahm the Activist: A blog post from the Chicago Reader about Mayor Rahm Emanuel as a young activist caught Mina Bloom's attention. Apparently, a young Emanuel demonstrated against a neo-Nazi rally with other activists in 1978. The author spotted the shirtless 18-year-old, who would later become our mayor, in the documentary short "Marquette Park II." He's only on camera for maybe five seconds, and doesn't say anything remarkable, but getting a glimpse into a public figure's past is always fascinating.
Wade Into the Wonk: "Basically, if you are in Chicago, your property is about to become more expensive," writes Kristi Culpepper in Medium on Chicago's municipal bonds. Probably the wonkiest thing you'll read all day, Culpepper explains in exhaustive (and exhausting) detail how the city started using borrowing to pay its basic expenses. Sam Cholke read the essay looking for a sense of what direction property taxes were going and instead found an argument that the city is headed toward bankruptcy, with little to show for all the borrowing.
'Daily Show' drama: Like many other millennials, reporter Ariel Cheung has been anxiously awaiting news of Jon Stewart's replacement on "The Daily Show." Soon after the announcement that young South African comedian Trevor Noah would take the reins, some news outlets started culling his tweets that some found to be sexist, racist or just, well, not funny. Chicago Tribune columnist Heidi Stevens (fresh from her hair critiquing kerfluffle) writes that Noah is turning out to be just like that guy you unfriend on Facebook.
No cables for cable: Senior editor Andrew Herrmann — an older, white man — might have been fascinated by the Nik Wallenda tightrope walk across the Chicago River in November, but it turns out that Discovery channel, which broadcast the event, wasn't. Evidently, it was part of the programming that attracted the wrong kind of viewers: older, white, less urban men. Or, as the new channel chief Rich Ross is quoted as saying in USA Today "not the most robust socioeconomic group."
Ross is "swearing off" such stunts as Nik Wallenda's walks in order to "reclaim the network's authenticity and return it to its natural history roots," the report says — and produce shows that might attract more females and family viewers. Another tweak: this year's Deadliest Catch will feature a female captain.
At a press event earlier this year, Ross told TV critics that Wallenda-style stunts "may have run their course" and while Discovery may still do live programming, "we don't have to make it as much of a sideshow event."
Photo by Patrick Gorski
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