The ongoing drama surrounding the future of Chicago Public Media and its day-to-day leadership has entered its next chapter, as outgoing CEO Matt Moog‘s replacement has been revealed by the owner of the largest NPR Member station in the nation’s No. 3 market.
Taking the role is a former Publisher of Vox Media.
Melissa Bell is poised to assume the role of CEO for Chicago Public Media, the non-profit owner of WBEZ-FM in Chicago and the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper.
Bell is known for her role as a co-founder of Vox.com, home of such blogs and lifestyle news hubs including Eater and The Verge, and spent nine years there. She has also worked on digital strategy for The Washington Post, from 2013-2014. More recently, Bell has been a visiting fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University, where she studied the impact of news avoidance on local journalism in the United States.
Bell takes on her new role September 3. Will that quiet angst among CPM staff?
It was just one week ago that journalists at WBEZ called for Moog’s immediate removal as CEO, in response to the dismissal by CPM of 14 employees in April. Moog defended the CPM board’s decision due to falling revenues, and this prompted the vote of no confidence.
“It is an honor to take on this role, where there is both a massive opportunity and an urgent necessity to strengthen the role of public media in our local communities,” Bell said. “There is a declining trust, and more worrisome, a declining interest in news at a critical time in Chicago and for our country There are challenges facing CPM, but they are not insurmountable. In fact, there is so much potential that comes from the collaboration between WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times. I’m excited to return to Chicago to work alongside the many talented, passionate journalists and staff to build sustainable and scalable solutions for producing quality, accessible local news.”
