After months of uncertainty and turmoil, Chicago Public Media has named a new CEO to guide its flagship radio station WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times.
Melissa Bell, 45, a digital journalism pioneer who co-founded online news site Vox.com, will take the helm of the Chicago NPR station and co-owned daily newspaper, which have struggled since merging under the same nonprofit banner in January 2022.
“There are challenges facing CPM, but they are not insurmountable,” Bell said in a news release Thursday. “In fact, there is so much potential that comes from the collaboration between WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times.”
There has been significant static recently at Chicago Public Media, starting with the December announcement that CEO Matt Moog would be stepping down two years after combining WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times, backed by $61 million in philanthropic support.
Facing declining revenue, Chicago Public Media implemented layoffs and buyouts in April, trimming the ranks by 17 employees, dramatically scaling back WBEZ’s podcasting unit and eliminating its urban alternative radio platform Vocalo
Earlier this month, the local unit of SAG-AFTRA, which represents more than 60 employees at WBEZ, filed an unfair labor practices complaint against Chicago Public Media. Unions representing both the Sun-Times and WBEZ subsequently announced an overwhelming vote of no confidence in Moog, who has been serving as interim CEO during the search for his successor.
The national CEO search, conducted by Koya Partners, reached out to 400 leaders, drawing 83 expressions of interest. After winnowing the field to four finalists earlier this month, the board landed on Bell.
“Melissa brings an incredible depth of experience as a media executive and publisher, a product leader and as a reporter,” Robert Pasin, board chair at Chicago Public Media, said in a news release. “With her proven, visionary leadership and collaborative approach, Melissa will bring tremendous expertise and a strong track record of success to help Chicago Public Media develop a sustainable model for high-quality local journalism in the digital age.”
Bell, a San Diego native who earned a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, was an architect of digital strategy at The Washington Post before co-founding Vox.com in 2014, an “explainer” news site that makes “complex ideas accessible,” according to its website.
In 2016, Bell became publisher of Vox’s parent company, Vox Media, overseeing a portfolio that grew substantially during her tenure, encompassing New York Magazine, The Verge, The Cut, Eater, Vulture and other media titles.
Vox Media was among several high-profile publishers to implement layoffs last year amid declining revenue, spurring backlash from the union representing its employees.
Bell stepped down as publisher at Vox Media in October. In January, she became 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.
Those lessons will likely come in handy in her new role at Chicago Public Media. Bell is set to take the reins on Sept. 3.
“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.”
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Moog, a Chicago tech entrepreneur, joined the Chicago Public Media board in 2010. He became interim CEO in October 2020 and was elevated to permanent CEO one year later, overseeing the merger of WBEZ-FM 91.5 with the Sun-Times in January 2022.
But in the two-and-a-half years since its consummation, the merger has also led to significant and abrupt leadership changes at Chicago Public Media, including Sun-Times CEO Nykia Wright stepping down in January 2023, putting Moog directly in charge of overseeing both the radio station and the newspaper.
Moog, who stepped down from the board in 2021, will relinquish his interim CEO role upon Bell’s arrival.
The hiring of Bell represents the latest change at the top of Chicago Public Media, which has named five CEOs in 10 years.
Digital media veteran Goli Sheikholeslami arrived in 2014 and expanded the WBEZ local news department, turning it into a consistent top-10 Chicago radio powerhouse before leaving for the same role at New York Public Radio five years later.
In 2019, Steve Edwards, then chief content officer for WBEZ, took on a dual role as interim CEO of Chicago Public Media. He wore the two hats a little longer than planned when incoming hire Andi McDaniel withdrew in September 2020 following an investigation into personnel issues at her former public radio station in Washington.
Moog was then installed as interim CEO and the board pledged to take a “fresh look” at the search process for a permanent CEO, ultimately selecting one of its own for the job.
As Moog’s eventful four-year tenure as CEO winds down, the board is still backing that decision, and the groundbreaking merger that will be his legacy — however it plays out.
“Under Matt’s leadership, Chicago Public Media has become a national model for the future of local news,” Pasin said.