14 illinoisentertainer . com may 2023
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ANDREA ’ S ILLINI CALLING
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fter decades of working at WGN Radio and WGN Television , Andrea Darlas has fond memories of her time there . “ I loved all the people I worked with at WGN . Working with Spike O ’ Dell was a joy . He was a legend . Being his news anchor for five years is probably the highlight of my career . I also look back at some of the stories I got to cover , and it was amazing . I got to cover the 2016 election from start to finish , from the Iowa Caucuses to the very end , election night in New York . Plus , I got to work at WGN-TV , which was a great opportunity . I began by voicing packages for CLTV and the web and various other synergy projects . Andrea Darlas Then I freelanced at CLTV . In 2010 , I started doing it for WGN-TV as a weekend reporter , and I loved doing that .”
But now she has found a new calling . “ I work in public affairs for the chancellor ( Dr . Robert Jones ) of the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana . We have almost 300,000 alums living in Chicago , so it ’ s important to keep a presence here . I love my job . I ’ m a U of I graduate , and my career has come full circle . My boss now at U of I , Robin Kaler , was my first news director in radio . We kept in touch all these years .”
And though the job is different , there are also a lot of similarities . “ I help organize the chancellor ’ s media appearances in Chicago , which is obviously something I know how to do . When COVID hit , my role expanded . I started to tap into our great array of professors who are experts in various fields and place them in media availabilities here . If there ’ s an expert needed about , say , Ukraine , or NATO , or the COVID vaccine , or whatever is needed , I help with that . The first saliva COVID test came from us and became the gold standard , so it was really natural to have the people who created it on the air in Chicago .”
She has been in the job now for more than three years , but she has managed to keep a toe in the water when it comes to radio .“ I left fulltime radio in 2019 when Nexstar came in at WGN . Roe and Cochran and Nick DiGilio and Bill & Wendy and others left then too . Stephanie Tichenor was my intern at one time at WGN , and she is now the program director at WLS . She asked me to contribute on a freelance basis , and because WLS is also the Illini station , my bosses at U of I encouraged me to do it . It ’ s sort of like a WGN reunion over there these days . Pete McMurray , Steve Cochran , Nick DiGilio does movie reviews , all super talented guys .”
Andrea ’ s main contribution is a podcast , which is repurposed in a few different ways . “ The call letters WLS are legendary , and it ’ s very conservative between 9 am and 5 pm and then later in the evening . The mornings and
By Rick Kaempfer
afternoons are a little less so , more mainstream , middle-of-the-road for a wider audience , and my stuff fits more into that category . My podcast is more entertainment based . Arts , theater , culture , museums , whatever is happening . I love doing it . I just did my 50th episode , and I ’ m really loving it . We do four interviews a week , and now it ’ s also a Saturday show from Noon-1 pm and a Sunday show from 5-6 pm . It ’ s called Show and Tell with Andrea Darlas . The podcast is on the WLS website .”
As much as she loves doing the podcast , she also enjoys staying in the radio world . “ I
record most of my interviews from home , but I do like to go into the station once a week or so , seeing my friends at the station . Plus , Stephanie has a bunch of really talented young producers and talent , and it ’ s been fun watching them learn and grow and offer a new perspective on things . They have brought everyone there into the world of YouTube and TikTok . There ’ s a producer named Rachel Woodall , who was another intern at WGN and is now John Howell ’ s producer . Kim Gordon is his news anchor , and I worked with her in the WGN newsroom too . Tom Hush was Landecker ’ s producer at WGN , and he ’ s now working with Steve Cochran .”
A few months ago , the 2023 inductees into the Illini Media Hall of Fame were announced . The class included print media alumni from the Daily Illini who are now journalism icons , and radio alumni from WPGU who went on to radio stardom , like former WXRT DJ Wendy Rice . The 2023 class also included Andrea Darlas “ I had agreed to emcee their event this year , but I got a call later , and they said , ‘ You are being inducted , how do you feel about that .” I thought they were misunderstanding what was going on . I said , “ No , you don ’ t understand . I nominated Mary Van de Velde from WGN .” I was told , “ No , you don ’ t understand . You ’ ve been nominated , and you ’ re going into the Hall this year . So , I am an emcee and inductee , which is a little odd . I was completely blown away and honored . I never , ever , ever thought I ’ d be inducted . That was my first job , working at WPGU Radio . It ’ s come full circle here too .” The induction ceremonies took place on April 29 .