Political Quotes

“today I want to say a few words about a Chicago icon--and one of the most admired journalists on television-- Joel Weisman. This Friday will be the 40th anniversary of WTTW-Channel 11's longest running show, ``Chicago Tonight: The Week in Review,'' and it will be Joel's farewell broadcast. Since 1978, Joel has beamed into Chicago's living rooms to help us all digest the news of the week. Throughout the series' four decades, Joel was there every step of the way: Joel has been with WTTW since 1973, starting as its political editor and commentator on ``The Public News Center.'' A lifelong Chicagoan and graduate of the University of Illinois and Chicago-Kent College of Law, Joel has dedicated his career to informing the people of Chicago. Every Friday night, Joel has welcomed fellow journalists to a roundtable discussion on the critical topics of the week. Oftentimes with humor, Joel has been Chicago's self-described ``reporter, editor, traffic cop, and referee.'' He just has one simple rule: The panelists have to be nonpartisan and diverse. Today, unfortunately, this is hard to find on television, but as he said in his retirement announcement, ``No one in journalism has been given the trust and editorial control of a show for that length of time.'' There is a reason he has been in that chair for 40 years. Joel Weisman has class and is a man of integrity. He insists the show represents just that. Well, I am here today to say, it absolutely does.…”