Jennifer Lyons, the former WGN-TV news director who most recently helped launch the NewsNation cable news network, is taking the reins at CBS 2 Chicago as president and general manager.
The announcement Thursday fills a void at CBS 2 Chicago after general manager Derek Dalton was ousted last month following an investigation into an allegedly hostile work environment at the CBS-owned station.
“We feel extremely fortunate to have someone like Jennifer, who has a proven track record of success in Chicago, joining as the leader of our team, products and platforms at CBS 2,” Wendy McMahon, president and co-head of CBS News and Stations, said in a news release.
The move adds a respected Chicago TV news veteran in Lyons, who spent most of her 27-year career at WGN-TV, where she worked her way up to news director in 2014. She was promoted last year to oversee the transformation of WGN America into NewsNation under Dallas-based owner Nexstar Media Group, which bought the cable network in 2019 as part of its $4.1 billion acquisition of Chicago-based Tribune Media
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Lyons recruited the air talent, assembled 150 newsroom staffers and coordinated the NewsNation launch in September 2020. She resigned from the struggling cable news network in March amid shrinking ratings and growing criticism that its programming was drifting to the right of the political spectrum, reneging on a pledge to deliver unbiased reporting.
At CBS 2, Lyons inherits a station embroiled in its own turmoil. Last month, Dalton and Jay Howell, general manager of KCBS-TV in Los Angeles, were ousted after a six-month investigation into an allegedly hostile work environment at the CBS network’s group of 28 TV stations.
The Los Angeles general manager position remains vacant, CBS spokesman Mike Nelson said Thursday.
The investigation followed a January story by the Los Angeles Times about alleged racist and abusive behavior at CBS-owned stations under Peter Dunn, the former president of the network’s TV station group. Dunn, who became president of the CBS station group in 2009, allegedly cultivated a hostile work environment that included “bullying female managers and blocking efforts to hire and retain Black journalists,” the Times reported.
Dunn was forced out in April, along with David Friend, CBS’ senior vice president of news.
A Chicago native, Lyons, 53, began her TV career as a photographer, live truck operator and producer for KWQC-TV and WHO-TV in Iowa after graduating from Iowa State University. She joined WGN-TV in 1993, rising from executive producer of the morning and midday newscasts to assistant news director in 2008. Lyons became news director in 2014, overseeing a significant expansion of WGN’s daily news programming.
“I am deeply honored for the tremendous opportunity to join CBS 2 Chicago, especially at a time when it is poised to grow on all platforms, including broadcast, streaming and digital,” Lyons said in the news release.