Jun 1, 2006 10:45 pm US/Central
Bald Reporter Reacts To Mayor's 'Silly' Remark
Daley Singled Out Bald Reporter During Q&A
by Jon Duncanson
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Daley speaks on Wednesday.
CBS
You may have heard that "bald is beautiful."
Well, Mayor Daley has put a whole new spin on things with a bald – if not bold – statement.
CBS 2's Jon Duncanson reports the statement came as the mayor brushed aside a question he didn't want to answer.
This is a story that's much ado about no hair.
It's a story about the mayor, and it's a story about the bald guy the mayor singled out.
"It is silly. It's silly. Bald-headed! He's bald-headed! Is that silly? No. Come on!" the mayor said, avoiding questions about the ongoing federal patronage trial.
That bald-headed reporter was Matt Walberg, who works with Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass.
"It was kind of a silly thing that the mayor said," Walberg said.
At a news conference Wednesday, Mayor Daley was asked what he considered to be a silly question. Matt Walberg asked the question and received the aforementioned response.
The incident has thrust Walberg into a media storm. He appeared Thursday with Wolf Blitzer as the symbol of bald men under fire.
At the Tribune, e-mails from interested women are now flowing in.
"Apparently I'm some sort of sex symbol for bald men now," he said.
If you could fly high over the City of Chicago and look down, you'd find about 50 percent of men have hair loss.
Everyone we found was proud of it, but some had comebacks ready for the mayor in case they were put in the same spot as Walberg.
"I would say, 'Well, you have a big belly. I'd rather have a bald head than a big belly,'" one man said.
Matt Walberg is too polite for that. He knows Mr. Clean and Jack Brickhouse always took the high road.
In fact now he's a star – a bald one – with one man to credit.
"Thanks a lot, Mayor Daley. I really appreciate it," he said.
We did not contact the mayor for this story.
Matt Walberg really does take no offense. In fact, he looks forward to the next time he gets to ask the mayor a question in a crowed group of reporters.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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