Chicago Tonight; Welfare Reform: Illinois

WTTW (Television station : Chicago, Ill.) · December 4, 1996

This episode is "Welfare Reform" as described above. Phil Ponce hosts this episode, which begins with a report from Elizabeth Brackett, who interviews Larry Jankowski and Jean Rogers from the Wisconsin Dept. of Workforce Development; welfare applicant Fashawn Brown; welfare recipient Joy Mane; Wisconsin state senator Gwen Moore; Milwaukee County employee Pamela Bergen; and Gerald Miller of Lockheed Martin. Next, Ponce is joined in the studio by panelists Beverly J. Walker, assistant to Governor Edgar; Joseph Morris, president of the United Republican Fund of Illinois; Nicholas Theodore, project director and the Research and Planning Department at the Chicago Urban League; and Douglas Dobmeyer, publisher of Poverty Issues Dateline Illinois, a monthly newsletter. "'Chicago Tonight is to local broadcast news what "Nightline" is to the evening network newscasts-- a show that picks up where the headlines stop.' --The Daily Herald. "For more than a dozen years now, Chicago area viewers have turned to Chicago Tonight for in-depth reporting. One of the very few prime time news analysis programs in the country, Chicago Tonight regularly tackles the kind of news that television increasingly avoids. Politics, the economy, urban planning, and the arts are among the bread-and-butter issues that Chicago Tonight regularly devotes a full half-hour to four nights a week. "With a small staff, tight budget and shot deadlines, Chicago Tonight consistently goes after complex stories and succeeds in producing balanced, compelling, intelligent television. "Our entry includes a brief summary of the 203 programs produced last year, as well as tapes of five programs that demonstrate the quality and range of the series. 'Interest Rates' looks at the impact of a recent Federal Reserve Board decision to hold the line on interest rates. 'Civility and Political Correctness' is a good-humored examination of the state of our moral compass in the wake of the Roberto Alomar spitting incident. 'Gary Sinise' is a different kind of celebrity interview. 'Welfare Reform' assesses the state of welfare reform in Illinois. 'Property Transfer Tax' chronicles a local tax revolt brought on by attempts to push through a record-breaking increase."--1996 Peabody Awards entry form.