Media Void

TV news expert Mike McGuff steps away from his blog with a Dominique Sachsegoodbye

Dominique Sachse
Photo by © Michelle Watson/CatchLightGroup.com
Mike McGuff has covered Houston television media news for almost seven year
Photo via MikeMcGuffblog.spot.com
McGuff in action at Houston protests during the recent Egyptian revolution.
Photo via Mike McGuff/Facebook

Award-winning blogger Mike McGuff, who has been covering Houston's television and radio market for upwards of seven years, is putting his popular website on hiatus.

"After writing the blog since 2005, I feel like taking time off to do other things," McGuff told CultureMap in an email, saying that he hopes to maintain his passion for the city's media world by focusing on a series of new projects.

"Even though I won't be focusing on the blog 100 percent," McGuff noted, "there still will be some posts here and there, but not everyday."

The longtime reporter — who won the 2009 Houston Press Readers' Choice award for Best Twitterer — said he will shift his attention towards video marketing productions, like this recent piece for Houston non-profit Home Run Hitters International, in addition to his already established online consulting work.

McGuff said he also plans to finish a documentary project he started in 2010 on the former Rock 101 KLOL, the storied radio station fondly remembered by Houstonians during its heyday in the '70s and '80s.

While his website may not get as much updating as it has in the past seven years, the blogger is encouraging his fans to stay tuned via Twitter and a Facebook fan page.

"Even though I won't be focusing on the blog 100 percent," he noted in the email, "there still will be some posts here and there, but not everyday."

For now McGuff decided to go out in a burst in Internet hits, posting a quick story on KPRC anchor Dominique Sachse "just because I get such a spike in readership every time she is mentioned."

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”