Newspaper Columnist
"She was brainy and earnest, and even then, I was drawn to that type of woman." Then, almost as an afterthought: "The attraction of opposites, I suppose." As in that example, self-deprecation has long enlivened the newspaper columns of Bill McClellan — but such humor notwithstanding, he can play hardball with the best, as a recent piece on Ballpark Village attested. This year marks his 25th anniversary as a Post-Dispatch columnist — cause for celebration. So sláinte, Bill! stltoday.com
Radio Station
The tagline of KDHX-FM 88.1 is "Your community. Your media." And nothing could be more quintessentially St. Louis than a station that moves through ska, New Orleans klezmer, Ireland in America, Radio Rio, blues, politics, Americana, poetry, Latin music and global folk — and tops it all off with St. Louis Brain Sandwich. Who wants all rock all the time? The world's too big. And KDHX is the gateway. 3504 Magnolia, office 314-664-3955, listener line 314-664-3688, kdhx.org
Vodcaster
Apolitical? Fine. Can't stand our mayor? No worries. There's still a good reason to visit mayorslay.com: "St. Louis Traffic," the ongoing video series from 27-year-old Carson Minow, whom the mayor's people hired to make and post short videos about the city's goings-on. What she films is entirely her decision (smokers talking about smoke-free bars; behind-the-scenes at Gus' Pretzels; remembering bluesman Bennie Smith), and while she's expected to show the city in a positive light, she's not charged with doing so for Francis Slay — he's really only there in the URL. "I've tried to keep it pretty politically neutral," the Webster University grad says. She has, and visitors seem to like it: There were 11,000 "screenings" of Minow's work during the last year. mayorslay.com/stlouistraffic
Blogger
No one but urban gadfly Steve Patterson could write 50-plus blog posts about the McDonald's on Grand, much less make said posts so completely compelling that we've clicked through them for hours on end (in our spare time, of course). The real-estate guru of Urban Review STL has written volumes about everything from farmers' markets to building permits, scooters to city politics, averaging 28 posts per month across his blog's 56 categories — and scarcely slowing down to acknowledge his disabling stroke this February. Honestly, we're in awe. urbanreviewstl.com
Investigative Reporter
Investigative reporting is a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" job: Hound a source for a scoop, and you're liable to get your mic slapped out of your hand — or be called a "f---ing clown." Dial down the badger tactics, and you're branded a hack with weak reporting skills. Somehow KMOV's Steve Chamraz gets the goods without going too far, whether he's digging up dirt on escort services or how the police deal with animal abuse — and that's the kind of reportorial hounding we like. kmov.com
Lifestyle Reporter
We want our morning reportage a little like we want our breakfast: light and not too filling. (Yeah, yeah, "most important meal of the day" and all of that, but an early heaping helping puts us to sleep.) KSDK's Heidi Glaus isn't out to expose corruption in city hall, but that's not why we watch her. The Show Me St. Louis alum is the go-anywhere-do-anything foil to Art Holliday and Jennifer Blome — and for our money, a bagel goes better with a botched attempt at Irish dancing than a four-alarm fire. ksdk.com
Local TV Show
Each Monday and Tuesday at 7 p.m., KETC Channel 9 presents a blissful broadcast Baedeker of the everyday: Living St. Louis. On the Emmy Award–winning half-hour program, producers Patrick Murphy, Ruth Ezell, Jim Kirchherr and Anne-Marie Berger (above, left to right) focus enlighteningly yet entertainingly on topics ranging from belly dancing to gospel aerobics, from Kate Chopin to Laurell K. Hamilton — and they make it all look so easy! Frankly, we at St. Louis Magazine are tempted to start cribbing from them. ketc.org
