Rich Egger

Jerel Jones is Macomb's new police chief. He was sworn into office this week. He replaced Curt Barker, who retired after a lengthy career with the department.

The student newspaper at Illinois State University has printed its final edition. The Vidette is switching to a digital format. Shop Talk's Will Buss is familiar with that transition because the Western Courier made the switch a bit more than a year ago.

Reporters Without Borders has released its latest World Press Freedom Index. The group called journalism the main vaccine against misinformation. However, that vaccine is not getting through in many parts of the world.

On April 26, 2011, Pat Quinn was Illinois' governor and Al Goldfarb was president of Western Illinois University. And on that date, they were joined by others for a groundbreaking ceremony for a performing arts center on WIU's Macomb campus.

Bill Maakestad of Macomb said that while visiting the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis, TN, a few years ago, he was struck by the influence country music had on soul singers.

Western Illinois University is planning to return to business as usual in a few months.

Journalist Abigail Higgins wrote a piece for Business Insider under the headline, "The FBI used my journalism to charge a January 6 insurrectionist. I have complicated feelings about that."

One Human Family Macomb is asking people to participate in a survey as the group decides on a direction for the next year.

RTDNA ran a piece a few weeks ago about a study conducted by the Center for Media Engagement. The Center looked at the content of nightly network news broadcasts on ABC, CBS, and NBC and of primetime cable news network shows on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC between January, 2020 and June, 2020.

Poynter is holding a series of seminars about the future of the newsroom. Poynter, which bills itself as the world’s leading instructor, innovator, convener, and resource for anyone who aspires to engage and inform citizens, is examining what we’ve lost and learned in a year of remote journalism.

Editor & Publisher magazine reported the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill includes funding for economically disrupted industries to help keep their retirement plans solvent. Those disrupted industries include America's community newspapers, which Editor & Publisher said are weighed down by underfunded pension liabilities.

The BBC reported that a few months ago, millions of TV viewers across South Korea were watching the MBN channel to catch the latest news. At the top of the hour, regular news anchor Kim Joo-Ha started to go through the day's headlines. It was a relatively normal list of stories for late 2020. Yet, the BBC said, this particular update was far from normal.

News Leaders Association – formerly known as the American Society of News Editors – has designated March 14-20, 2021 to be Sunshine Week. The group said they started marking Sunshine Week in 2005.