RAHMWATCH: And will Amy change her name to 'Eleanor' as part of the Rahm makeover?.... Rahm to spend April 21, 2015 in Washington, D.C. to do a 'fireside chat' (with 'no media availability') while two out-of-town CPS officials go before Chicago's federal grand jury...

The Rahmnews today is that Rahm's doing a fireside chat in D.C. while two of the top education officials hired by his school board go before a federal grand jury... Those of us who love . . .

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Rahm tells the public school teachers, parents, and children of Chicago what he thinks of us.

MEDIA WATCH: Does Tribune story on school newspapers distort and oversimplify a reality?.. Why should students 'fundraise' to have a newspaper? Steinmetz Alumnus Hugh Hefner 'added that he hoped alumni of other high school papers across the country would be inspired to help their former schools...'

It was a pleasant surprise to turn to the front page of the April 14, 2015 Chicago Tribune and discover not only that the Tribune was covering the Steinmetz Star newspaper (of which I am . . .

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One of the things Steinmetz High School had to note for the Chicago Tribune was that the Steinmetz Star has been published continuously for 80 years, in print, and was coming out (printed at the school) even before alumnus Hugh Hefner gave the school his generous grant to improve the Star's print edition. Above, the Star's traditions are exemplified by 1978 editor-in-chief Teresa Potasiak (shown at typewriter), who went on to a career in journalism, including time working at the Chicago Tribune. Star photo.

MEDIA WATCH: How The New York Times censors critical comments about its corporate ed reform propagandists

Ohanian Comment: On October 29, 2014, The New York Times published an opinion column by Frank Bruni, repeating most of the old and some of the new propaganda claims from corporate education reformers. The New . . .

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New York Times propagandist for corporate

MEDIA WATCH: Tribune's editorial on Karen Lewis showed class

One of the more interesting things about recent political events in Chicago has been an editorial comment published in the October 10, 2014 Chicago Tribune regarding Karen's health -- and then breaking with the Tribune's . . .

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Chicago Tribune Editorial Board member Bruce Dold (above) introduced the discussion between CPS CEO Jean-Claude Brizard and CTU President Karen Lewis one year before the famous Chicago Teachers Strike of 2012. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.

MEDIA WATCH: Another Chicago fraud exposed, as New London, Connecticut, rejects Terrence Carter's bid to become New London schools superintendent following expose on false claims to be 'Doctor Carter'

Connecticut continued its record for rejecting Chicago's fraudulent education exports on August 28, 2014 when the New London Board of Education rejected the attempt by former Chicago AUSL leader Terrence Carter to become the New . . .

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Former AUSL executive Terrence Carter had been telling people that he was

MEDIA WATCH: 'Rookie mistakes...' can't become a habit when the whole world will be watching... Sun-Times swipe at Karen Lewis isn't a cheap shot... Fact checking, copy editing and proofreading are all available to CTU president in upcoming mayor's race

The Chicago Sun-Times had been arriving at the homes of subscribers for only a few hours when Substance began hearing from readers and others about the Sneed column on August 22, 2014. Karen Lewis, the . . .

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The biggest story in the few news pages in the August 22, 2014 Chicago Sun-Times came when Michael Sneed challenged the

MEDIA WATCH: Sun-Times hatchet jobs against Karen Lewis bounce back against Rahm's buddy's newspaper... over and over and over... Ferro publishes a 'dot.com' property to make Zoe Barnes proud...

The puerile attempt by the Chicago Sun-Times to do an "expose" on the finances of Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis backfired as soon as readers had the time to read, digest, and think about . . .

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The Chicago Sun-Times 'expos�' against CTU President Karen Lewis actually shows that Lewis has been an intelligent middle class citizen of Chicago. Like many Chicagoans, Lewis and her husband John own a vacation home in Hawaii. Lewis also shares ownership with her sister on a home purchased years ago, when the market was favorable, in Union Pier Michigan. The Sun-Times article, ordered up by the newspaper's current owners, screams as if Lewis's pay and financial situation were comparable to that of a multi-millionaire who used his clout to make $18 million during three years on Wall Street and who was part of the real estate bubble and collapse as a director of AIG.

New York Times spins the 'news' on NEA's call for Duncan to resign... Headline doesn't even mention that Arne Duncan is the U.S. Secretary of Education picked by the President of the United States

[Editor's Note: As some readers have heard, the National Education Association voted at its Represenative Assembly (RA) to call for the resignation of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. A fuller report is at the . . .

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President Barack Obama and his pick for U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in their younger days. By the time the NEA voted its

MEDIA WATCH: Sun-Times gives voice to Blaine principal, echoing the fearful hundreds of principals who so far have only spoken out from the shadows or who stand on stage with Rahm Emanuel as extras in just one more publicity stunt for the Mayor Of Chicagoland

One of the most significant pieces of education writing in recent Chicago memory burst forth on Page 11 of the print edition of the Chicago Sun-Times (strangely still calling itself CHICAGO SUN-TIMES.com) greeted readers on . . .

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Blaine Elementary School principal Troy LaRaviere was selected by the Blaine Local School Council to be principal in 2011, a few months before Rahm Emanuel was inaugurated. Prior to becoming principal at Blaine, he taught at Social Justice High School and served as an assistant principal at Johnson

MEDIA WATCH: Rahm's Script for Noble January 31 'Groundbreaking' tells a lot about how managed news is supposed to get the so-called facts

The idea is pure Rahm Emanuel and pure charter schools. Do a carefully orchestrated and scripted media event, refuse to answer any questions from reporters, and get your "story" out in TV and radio without . . .

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MEDIA WATCH: Krugman misses union part of power relationships -- and sellout unions as part of the ruling class's power

[Editor's Note: There was some discussion on December 27, 2013 about Paul Krugman's New York Times column discussing whether "market forces" can actually describe, realistically, the relationship between a worker negotiating his individual "contract" and . . .

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Paul Krugman's lack of interest in unions as a solution to unemployment and poverty in the USA may have to do with Princeton University's aversion to the unionization of its clerical and custodial workers.

MEDIA WATCH: If you thought you missed some 'news' about resistance in the USA, you probably haven't been tuning in to Al Jazeera USA... Massive protests against 'Pension Reform' are rocking Puerto Rico (and setting a model for Illinois in February 2014)

While it's possible to get a tiny bit more news by reading The New York Times and Wall Street Journal every day in Chicago, most Chicagoans are still at the mercy of Rahm Emanuel's "Chicago . . .

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Teachers surround senators in San Juan to protest

MEDIA WATCH: Ignoring the murder of teachers in Honduras, The Wall Street Journal declares Mexican teachers union a terrorist threat, virtually a group of banditos who 'kidnap businessmen' (maybe)

Teachers may have been murdered by right wing death squads in the past year in Honduras, where one of the most corrupt elections in memory returned to power a government favored by the Obama administration, . . .

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Mexican teachers (right) were standing up against corporate

Of course a dogcatcher could beat Rahm... Dogcatchers spend their time in better company than Rahm and the billionaire boys clubs at which he lurks

A Saturday morning without the daily newspapers would be a typical Saturday morning in Chicago, but some days the Sun-Times or Tribune brings unexpected joy -- or at least a pleasant surprise. So it is . . .

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Lady was caught by the dog catcher...

MEDIA WATCH: Who's full of bullshit? Russo's 'District 299...' is usually irrelevant, but when a 'reporter' living in Brooklyn criticizes reporters in Chicago who are watching Safe Passage nonsense, he becomes the joke

Actually, Alexander Russo is the one who is full of shit about Safe Passage, but what can you expect from a guy who believe he can pontificate about Chicago's public schools from 800 miles east . . .

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Chicago Tribune

MEDIA WATCH: Sun-Times continues to show it has a crush on Rahm Emanuel with 'analysis' filled with silly metaphors and sophomoric pop psychology instead of facts... Even in supposed critique, the mayor's 'good intentions' trump his many nasty lies into 'lofty goals'...

Does the Chicago Sun-Times still have its schoolgirl crush on Chicago's mayor? That was an interesting question over Labor Day weekend. At first, the Sunday September 1, 2013 story about Mayor Rahm Emanuel's lies, half . . .

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One of the hundreds of pseudo-news photographs supplied to the media by the

MEDIA WATCH: New York Times offers Rahm's propaganda as front page 'news'

How much propaganda is coming out of America's most important "news" organizations in 2013? A current example, splashed to the world on the front page of "America's Newspaper of Record" (whose motto is "All The . . .

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MEDIA WATCH: Chicago taxpayers pay more than $2 million per year to provide daily propaganda on behalf of Rahm Emanuel... Synthetic News straight from City Hall, Chicago style

Once again, on August 1, 2013, the taxpayers of Chicago paid for a complete media package from the city's mayor, mediagenic Rahm Emanuel. Once again, at taxpayer expense, the mayor's media team issued a press . . .

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The photograph above was provided to Chicago media by the Mayor's Press Office, City of Chicago, on August 1 2013. It came complete with a caption and credit. The photo was supposed to be credited to Brook Collins, who works for Rahm Emanuel and follows him around every day as part of his

MEDIA WATCH: New York Times magazine publishes best refutation of the TIME magazine hagiographic cover story on Rahm Emanuel with a story on Chicago's anti-eviction activists who are moving 'home-less people into the people-less homes.'

[Editor's Note: There are times in reporting when the facts can obscure the truth, and other times when a good reporting of the facts can bring to light a "greater truth." In 2013, Chicago has . . .

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The demolition of the last buildings in the Stateway Gardens public housing projects along Chicago's State Street in April 2007 made it possible for those east of State to see U.S. Cellular Field, home of the Chicago White Sox, clearly for the first time. While the government was giving tax breaks to Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, it was refusing to continue to support public housing for poor black people. Substance photo, April 2007, by George N. Schmidt.

MEDIA WATCH: Rahm uses Golden Apple announcement for another publicity stunt as Lindblom teacher wins award

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel used the announcement of the annual Golden Apple awards to hold another school based publicity stunt and get his version of reality into the newspapers, sending out a press release from . . .

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The mayor's publicity stunt photograph depicting Rahm being nice to a teacher. The photo was provided to the press by the Mayor's Press Office on May 1, 2013.