Paul Huebl to be interviewed by Big John Howell and Amy Jacobson Tuesday Morning

Chicago, IL—Morning drive time is a great spot to be on Chicago’s radio. Big John Howell and Amy Jacobson are talk radio hosts in the Windy City are always looking for thought provoking topics and guests for their show on WIND-AM 560.

They’ve asked me to join them to talk about the sudden death at age 43 of Conservative blogger and frequent Obama critic Andrew Breitbart. They want my take on the possibility of this being murder.

Call in with your questions!

Tune in Tuesday morning 24 April @ 8:00 A.M Chicago time. If you’re outside the broadcast area you can listen to the shows live stream right here:

http://den-a.plr.liquidcompass.net/player/flash/audio_player.php?id=WINDAM&uid=179&mode=live

Drew Peterson Grilled by Amy Jacobson, Geoff Pinkus and The Public

Chicago, IL—Amy Jacobson once again proved her mettle as an investigative reporter when she went face to face with Drew Peterson last night. It was on Geoff Pinkus’ Livin’ Large Radio Show that Derw Peterson and his lawyer, Joel Brodsky answered those biting questions so many inquiring minds wanted answered.

Jacobson never missed a chance to hit Peterson with a skillfully crafted questions and great follow-ups. On the other side was an experienced professional cop/witness/suspect with 30 years of police work on his resume. I don’t know if Jacobson exposed any information that would solve the mystery but she followed the first rule of every investigator, she kept the suspect talking.

As for the interview in general it was timely, interesting and informative. It was great radio that showcased an obvious resurrection of news reporter, Amy Jacobson.

It was the strikingly similar case of Lisa Stebic, the wife of a private investigator, Craig Stebic in another Chicago area probe by Jacobson that sidelined her career. Jacobson caught some unjustified flack for her courageous effort to solve that case.

…And as for the, Will County State's Attorney… When Drew Peterson is answering questions, their investigators are always listening. A few wrong words and a criminal court jury may hear a recording of this and other interviews. Peterson is either very crazy or very innocent.

WIND Radio and Geoff Pinkus deserve a salute for giving their listeners a great show.

Podcast recordings of this “pinker’s” show of 3/15/09 show can be found here.

WBBM-TV Must Face The Music, Judge Rules

Chicago, IL— Cook County Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Budzinski has ruled that former WMAQ-TV reporter Amy Jacobson’s lawsuit against CBS owned WBBM-TV and others will go forward to a jury.

In any civil lawsuit the most difficult part is getting past the Summary Judgment phase to enable a trial. CBS and the related defendants in this case are represented by the biggest of law firms that crush ordinary plaintiff’s claims every day. This time however, the CBS lawyers was unable to stop Jacobson or sweep this tawdry hatchet job tale under the rug

Amy Jacobson is represented by an effective plaintiff’s lawyer, Kathleen Zellner. I contacted Zellner who likened Jacobson’s Summary Judgment victory to that story of that infamous David and Goliath duel. “This ruling vindicates Jacobson who was simply doing her job as the rival CBS defendants conspired to invade her privacy as they destroyed her career through a broadcast smear job.”

Amy Jacobson was an award winning reporter that was able to do what nobody else could do, keep Craig Stebic talking and answering questions. Jacobson was trying to learn about Stebic’s wife Lisa Stebic who vanished under suspicious circumstances. Stebic is the “person of interest”, which is a polite term for the usual suspect in law enforcement circles.

Stebic had invoked his right not to talk to police but was still talking to Jacobson. Whatever Stebic said to Jacobson could be used against him because the self-incrimination protections only apply against the police and government.

CBS not only destroyed Jacobson’s career, they also ended any hope of getting Craig Stebic to tell what he knows about his wife’s disappearance..

I see this Jacobson story very clearly. Jacobson was simply doing her job and CBS falsely portrayed her as an adulterous Mata Hari spy. The news value of exposing Jacobson’s investigation was dubious at best.

ultimately CBS managed to cost the reporter her job, house and marriage by their efforts. It’s fair to say now, that the media giant has figured out that the mess that made of Jacobson’s life has backfired in a big way.

Adding insult to injury CBS is suffering record revenue loss and the endless resources to decimate people in the courts are being stretched. I’d say it’s time for CBS to settle before a Cook County jury renders one of those record verdicts they’re so well known to deliver those big corporations. Jacobson’s lawyer, Kathleen Zellner knows firsthand about those generous verdicts.

The biggest question I have to ask is would CBS have done the same thing if Jacobson was a man? I think that answer is glaringly obvious

Someone Get This Lady Back On TV

Chicago, IL-I’ve written about this single mother of two children before. Amy Jacobson worked her way up in TV news as a star NBC5 reporter until one story went sideways. There was no Libel, no injuries and no disgrace to anyone over Jacobson’s work. Jacobson hit a huge speed bump in the road and her career got derailed.

Jacobson is not a cheat, liar or sinner. She’s good at what she does and is in her prime. The ordeal she was fired over made her even more interesting and people flat want here around because she’s got real spunk.

It turns out Jacobson is a great interviewer and may better suited to do a TV talk show or even host a local TV news magazine. This six-foot Amazon’s looks and voice is a real broadcaster’s moneymaker.

Like everywhere in the U.S., Chicago’s TV news has lost its luster. The industry has not changed the way they present news in six decades. They keep trying to do the same crap that once worked for Edward R. Murrow only in high definition color.

Jacobson is a hot commodity and some station manager needs to creatively use Jacobson to bring back viewers and more importantly sponsors. The right use of Jacobson with her even higher profile may be a new lucrative beginning for Jacobson and her new employer. Rather than charity for Jacobson I see this the other way around.

Amy Jacobson, WBBM-TV/CBS2 and That Nasty Lawsuit

Chicago, IL—This CBS owned and operated station just fired their general Manager, Joe Ahern. That not an unusual event in the volatile times of today’s television and news business.

Ahearn is a key player in that lawsuit brought by former WMAQ-TV reporter, Amy Jacobson. Jacobson became a sordid and unnecessary news story at CBS2 while she was doing a risky undercover assignment. That story involved the year-old Lisa Stebic missing person case Jacobson was doing at NBC5. CBS2 was out-of-bounds in their salacious report and ultimately it cost Jacobson her job, home and more.

CBS2 now needs Ahearn’s full cooperation to fight Jacobson’s litigation and now that appears doubtful. It’s anyone’s guess what’s next as this all falls into the hands of the new GM, Mark "Bruno" Cohen.

Jacobson who is an award winning reporter has her own fan base. Jacobson retained a big gun litigator, filed suit and has been trying to get her life back. The litigation can go on for years.

I have the solution, I think. CBS2 should bring Jacobson into their shop, give her a three year contract as a general assignment reporter and all parties can stop killing good trees making paper for this knockdown, drag out legal fight.

I talked with Jacobson recently and she simply wants to return to Chicago’s television news. Jacobson still has her talent, ability and can hold a television audience. I know she’d trade the lawsuit for a decent chance to return to doing what she loves.

Stranger things have happened in the TV news business. Perhaps some fence mending may save a lot of money in these cash strapped times for television news. Bringing Jacobson into CBS2 will probably also help their ratings.