![\"Political](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CTC-L-OPC-ceremony-3-52.jpg\")
Political commentator Adam Mockler, center, attends the Obama Presidential Center dedication ceremony on June 18, 2026, in Chicago. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\nAdam Mockler, a progressive Chicago-based Gen Z political commentator with 2.13 million YouTube followers and a regular seat at the table on CNN\u2019s primetime roundtable shouting matches, knows how to debate \u2014 and get under his opponent\u2019s skin.<\/p>\n
During an April 30 appearance on \u201cCNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip,\u201d Mockler so rattled Scott Jennings during a discussion about the war in Iran that the network\u2019s seemingly unflappable resident conservative commentator blew up and unleashed on-air profanity at his young foil.<\/p>\n
The incident went viral, boosting Mockler\u2019s social media following and his progressive pundit street cred, helping the 23-year-old to launch his own weekly debate series on YouTube.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been working on this debate show for two years,\u201d Mockler said. \u201cBut now it\u2019s really just manifesting, and we\u2019re using the momentum of the Scott Jennings thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Valparaiso native, Mockler launched his media empire in May 2023 while on summer break from Indiana University Northwest in Gary. He recruited a cameraman and traveled to Iowa to cover a Trump campaign rally, debating the president\u2019s supporters in a quirky and well-produced video that built a grassroots following on YouTube.<\/p>\n
Mockler, who transferred to DePaul, left school in January 2024 to devote himself full time to his nascent enterprise. Mockler Media, which now includes several full-time staffers and a PR firm, is still based out of his Chicago apartment\/studio.<\/p>\n
In May 2024, Mockler was platformed by MeidasTouch, a progressive online news network. That led to regular cable appearances on Newsmax, Chicago-based NewsNation and CNN.<\/p>\n
A well-prepared Mockler came out blazing during his first appearance on \u201cCNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip\u201d in July 2025, more than holding his own against \u201cShark Tank\u201d celebrity investor Kevin O\u2019Leary in a debate over Trump\u2019s tariffs.<\/p>\n
Since then, he has matched wits several times with Jennings, a conservative senior political commentator on CNN. Things came to a head during the April broadcast, when Mockler hammered Jennings on the Trump administration\u2019s shifting timeline on the Iran war.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet your (expletive) hand out of my face,\u201d Jennings snapped at his adjacent panelist on live TV, before Phillip stepped in as ringmaster to calm things down.<\/p>\n
Mockler said he was \u201cgesticulating\u201d but did not invade Jennings\u2019 physical space. Instead, Mockler believes it was his argument that caused Jennings to lose his composure.<\/p>\n
Political commentator Adam Mockler, center, attends the Obama Presidential Center dedication ceremony on June 18, 2026, in Chicago. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n
\u201cHe blew up on me, but the reality is he backed himself into a corner with an indefensible position, and the timeline of the Iran war was not working out,\u201d Mockler said.<\/p>\n
While both Jennings and Mockler continue to appear on CNN, they haven\u2019t been on the same panel together since the on-air incident.<\/p>\n
The viral kerfuffle nonetheless raised Mockler\u2019s profile as a progressive pundit.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt solidified me as a voice, for sure,\u201d Mockler said. \u201cIt feels like it set me apart, which is overall a net positive. That is how it works.\u201d<\/p>\n
It also provided a catalyst for Mockler to launch his own debate show on YouTube, with the goal of fostering \u201cmeaningful political dialogue.\u201d The first episode<\/a>, posted June 17, featured Mockler and Brady Cupples, the 26-year-old co-chair of the McLean County Young Republicans.<\/p>\n The show, which covered tariffs and alleged corruption in the Trump administration, generated more than 200,000 views in the first five days.<\/p>\n Mockler said keeping the talent pipeline filled for the weekly debate show will be difficult, but that his \u201csmall and scrappy team\u201d is up to the challenge. As to whether his CNN nemesis Jennings will ever be invited to join an upcoming episode, Mockler said to stay tuned.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a few years,\u201d Mockler said. \u201cGive it a few years.\u201d<\/p>\n ABC 7 seeks viewer support in FCC battle<\/p>\n ABC launched an unusual on-air campaign Monday asking viewers to weigh in on a battle with the Federal Communications Commission over a Trump-directed license review of the network\u2019s eight owned-and-operated TV stations, including ABC 7 Chicago.<\/p>\n The campaign also tackles a separate matter before the FCC over whether ABC daytime talk show \u201cThe View\u201d is properly classified as a news show and exempt from equal time requirements.<\/p>\n \u201cChicago, use your voice,\u201d the 30-second Chicago spot implores. \u201cThe FCC is questioning our commitment to the community. Show your support for WLS-Ch. 7\u201d<\/p>\n Trump called for an early FCC review of the ABC-owned station licenses in April, the day after he demanded the network fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over an on-air joke about first lady Melania Trump. ABC 7 Chicago\u2019s license was originally scheduled for renewal in August 2029.<\/p>\n The FCC under Brendan Carr is also challenging the longstanding status of \u201cThe View\u201d as a \u201cbona fide\u201d news program, which enables the show to book guests as it chooses rather than provide equal time to opposing political candidates.<\/p>\n MS NOW scores big audience for Obama opening<\/p>\n MS NOW went all in for its coverage of the Obama Presidential Center<\/a> opening last week, with three remote studio shows and a primetime special. The effort paid off with big viewership numbers for the left-leaning cable news network.<\/p>\n The extended edition of \u201cOn the Line with Alicia Menendez,\u201d which broadcast live Thursday morning ahead of the opening ceremony, averaged 998,000 total viewers, up 102%, according to Nielsen. The primetime remote broadcasts Thursday also did well. \u201cThe Weeknight\u201d averaged 1,235,000 total viewers, up 21%, while \u201cThe Briefing with Jen Psaki\u201d averaged 1,386,000 total viewers, up 20%, according to Nielsen.<\/p>\n On Friday, MS NOW\u2019s primetime special, \u201cHope Comes Home: Inside the Obama Presidential Center,\u201d averaged 1,139,000 total viewers, up 31% among total viewers, according to Nielsen.<\/p>\n CNBC broadcasting live from Cboe<\/p>\n MS NOW is not the only national cable network to land in Chicago this month. CNBC, the co-owned business channel, will broadcast live Thursday from the trading floor of the Cboe.<\/p>\n Co-hosted by Kelly Evans and Brian Sullivan, the remote studio show, \u201cCNBC @ Cboe,\u201d will air from noon to 2 p.m., featuring interviews with Chicago business powerhouses such as John Rogers, chairman and co-CEO of Ariel Investments, Pat Ryan Jr., CEO of Ryan Sports Development, and Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee<\/a>.<\/p>\n Doing the midday studio show from the Cboe floor in Chicago is driven in part by the network\u2019s renewed focus on options trading, according to CNBC Editor-in-Chief David Cho. But the program will cover all things Chicago business as well.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ll have a whole host of guests, but obviously having Cboe in the background will be a great setting to talk about trading and options,\u201d Cho said. \u201cAll that will sort of come together in those two hours.\u201d<\/p>\n CNBC regularly takes its studio shows on the road, broadcasting everywhere from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to most recently the Senate Banking Committee hearing room on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n But Thursday\u2019s remote studio broadcast will be the first from Chicago in several years, Cho said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been too long,\u201d Cho said. \u201cWe\u2019re glad to be out there.\u201d<\/p>\n WXRT and WTMX mix it up in May radio ratings<\/p>\n Chicago Finest Rock, WXRT-FM 93.1, remained atop the radio ratings for a third straight month in May, but this time shared the No. 1 ranking with WTMX-FM 101.9, The Mix.<\/p>\n Audacy-owned WXRT and Hubbard\u2019s adult contemporary WTMX, tied for the top spot with a 5.6 share among listeners 6+ in the latest ratings from Nielsen.<\/p>\n WBBM-AM 780 & 105.9 FM, Chicago\u2019s all-news combo and longtime CBS network affiliate, dropped to third with a 5.5 share. The Audacy-owned combo flipped the switch<\/a> May 21 to ABC, just ahead of the demise of CBS News Radio.<\/p>\n Rounding out the Top 10 stations are classic rock WDRV-FM 97.1; adult contemporary WLIT-FM 93.9; country WUSN-FM 99.5; urban adult contemporary WVAZ-FM 102.7; contemporary hit WKSC-FM 103.5; news\/talk WGN-AM 720 and NPR station WBEZ-91.5 FM<\/p>\n Sylvia Perez signs off at Fox 32<\/p>\n Sylvia Perez signed off June 12 at Fox 32 after nearly four decades on the air in Chicago.<\/p>\n \u201cEver since I was a little girl, I wanted to be a journalist,\u201d Perez told viewers. \u201cWhat I never could have imagined was how rewarding that journey would be. So today, after almost 10 years here at Fox 32 and a lifetime of storytelling in Chicago, I\u2019ve decided it\u2019s time for a new chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n A University of Oklahoma journalism graduate, Perez had a 24-year run at WLS-Ch.7, much of it paired with Linda Yu as co-anchor of the 11 a.m. weekday newscast. In 2013, the newscast was bumped for locally produced talk show \u201cWindy City Live.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2016, Perez changed channels to Fox 32, where she went on to anchor the noon and 4 p.m. newscasts for the station. Earlier this month, Fox 32 replaced the noon newscast with a new 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. show called \u201cThe Loop.\u201d Terrence Lee and Lauren Scafidi are now co-anchoring both \u201cThe Loop\u201d and 4 p.m. newscasts.<\/p>\n Perez is the most recent prominent exit at Fox 32. In April, lead political correspondent Paris Schutz<\/a> left Fox 32 to join NBC 5. \u00a0 Fox 32 sports anchor Lou Canellis joined NBC 5 in January. Cassie Carlson<\/a> was named to replace Canellis as lead sports anchor at Fox 32 in April.<\/p>\n Chicago Tribune reporter Gregory Royal Pratt, who was part of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize for coverage of Operation Midway Blitz, has added a TV gig.<\/p>\n Launched June 1, Pratt has signed on as a regular guest every Monday at 10 p.m. on Fox 32\u2019s \u201cThe Chicago Report,\u201d the station\u2019s nightly deep dive into political and topical stories. The in-studio segment gives Pratt an on-air platform to discuss his work and provide analysis.<\/p>\n Pratt, who grew up in Little Village, is a 13-year veteran at the Tribune and the author of \u201cThe City is Up for Grabs,\u201d a book on former Mayor Lori Lightfoot.<\/p>\n![\"MS](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CTC-L-obama-center-msnow-05.jpg\")
MS NOW anchor Alicia Menendez reports from the Obama Presidential Center dedication ceremony on June 18, 2026, in Chicago. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n![\"Sylvia](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CTC-L-CHICAGO-MEDIA-REPORT-0624-01.jpg\")
Sylvia Perez signed off June 12 at Fox 32 after nearly four decades on the air in Chicago. (Fox 32)
\nTribune reporter adds weekly Fox 32 gig<\/p>\n