Blogger Robert Feder Moving

Robert Feder, the former Chicago Sun-Times columnist whose local media coverage and criticism gave Chicago Public Media's Vocalo both an identity and much of its Web traffic, announced last week on his blog he is leaving the site he joined only last fall.

Phil Rosenthal at The Chicago Tribune's Tower Ticker writes:

Although he will resume the blog eventually in one forum or another, surely no later than early next year, Feder did not say in the post when and/or where he eventually will move his blog, which also can be reached through robertfeder.com. The blog has been largely idle for the past month, ostensibly while Vocalo relocated its Vocalo blogs to the wbez.org site aligned with its flagship radio station, WBEZ-FM 91.5.

That move by CPM -- puzzling for its urgency and lack of necessity, and snarled in technical difficulties -- gave Feder an out and some other entity an opportunity to snag him.

"With the recent redesign of the Vocalo blogs and their move to a new site at wbez.org, I have decided it’s time for me to leave Chicago Public Media," Feder wrote. "But let me assure you, I won't be leaving the daily media beat. I expect to make an announcement about my new online home soon."

In a memo alerting staff to the departure late Monday, Steve Edwards, Chicago Public Media's content development director, called Feder "a vital part of our team during the last year, helping make the Vocalo blog network a 'must read' for so many people in Chicago and beyond" and thanked him for his  work, wishing him well in his next endeavor.

Even with only one fresh post between Oct. 25 and Tuesday's announcement -- a Nov. 12 door slam for exiting WGN-AM 720 Program Director Kevin Metheny and weeknight host Jim Laski, frequent targets of Feder's wrath -- his blog remained among the top Web draws for Chicago Public Media.

Read more here.