CityRoom video: Staking out Blagojevich’s house

CityRoom video: Staking out Blagojevich’s house
CityRoom video: Staking out Blagojevich’s house

CityRoom video: Staking out Blagojevich’s house

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As former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich counts down the days until he begins serving his 14-year prison sentence, the Chicago media is left looking for new story leads. I think we’re unlikely to come up with anything as compelling and unpredictable as this story has been in the three years since Blagojevich was first arrested.

Yesterday WBEZ reporter Alex Keefe and I spent two hours staking out the Blagojevich residence in the Ravenswood Manor neighorhood of Chicago. It felt like a long time, but paled in comparison to the 12 hours some of the television news crews spent there by the time it was all done.

I’ve been in the thick of it on many of the craziest days in the saga. Yesterday Justin Kaufmann posted every video we’ve made over the past three years that relate to Blagojevich.

The residential stake-out is a lot different than the scene at the courthouse during the verdicts. In general there was more camaraderie and good-will between media competitors than I’d previously experienced. It may have been the cold weather, but I think it had something to do with this long saga finally coming to a close.