WGN-TV to host town hall with Mayor Brandon Johnson

Announced after Nexstar ordered the station to run segments supporting media deregulation 

For the first time since he was elected mayor in 2023, Brandon Johnson is sitting down with a local television station to discuss issues facing the city. 

Titled A Town Hall Meeting With Mayor Brandon Johnson, the one-hour news special airs this Wednesday at 6 p.m. over Nexstar’s WGN-TV and WGN Radio and streamed online on their respective websites and on the WGN-TV app, available on most devices.

Moderated by news anchor Micah Materre and City Hall reporter Tahman Bradley, they will discuss pressing issues with Mayor Johnson, including public safety, housing, immigration, and life under the Trump administration. Also on hand are anchor Loudres Duarnte and WGN Radio’s Lisa Dent. Ironically, Paul Lisnek, who hosts a Sunday morning political news show on WGN-TV and appears on the station’s Friday night newscast, wasn’t listed in the press release, so it’s unknown if he’ll participate.

The town hall is at the station’s historic Studio 1, where Bozo was taped. A preselected studio audience will ask the mayor questions, and viewers can send in theirs via WGNTV.com/TownHall. 

This isn’t the first time a “town hall” meeting involved a Chicago mayor and a media property. In 2016, Mayor Rahm Emanuel was interviewed by Bill Kurtis and broadcast simultaneously across 47 radio stations in the Chicago area, produced by the Illinois Broadcasters Association and The Radio Broadcasters of Chicagoland. The radio roadblock was panned on social media but was praised by radio consultants. There were plans for a second edition, but it never materialized.

Outside of WTTW, neither former Mayor Lori Lightfoot nor Richard M. Daley held any “town hall” meetings broadcast by a media outlet. Johnson has appeared on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight. 

This comes a month after Nexstar ordered its stations to run a short segment urging viewers to send a message to the FCC, urging them to eliminate several rules that hamstring broadcasters, including eliminating the ownership rules. WGN posted a tweet on X urging viewers to sign the petition, but was blasted in the replies by Trump supporters and other conservatives, despite Nexstar Chairman Perry Sook cozying up to the Trump administration (keep in mind progressives have also blasted WGN in the past for different reasons). FCC Chairman Brendan Carr recently ramped up his attacks on the major broadcast networks for bias in news reporting and may go after licenses for “news distortion”.

It would be interesting to see what Mayor Johnson does in this setting, as he faces low approval ratings even as Trump is in the White House. It’ll also be interesting to see how WGN’s anchors question the mayor on pressing issues. No doubt viewers – and WGN’s and Johnson’s critics – will be watching.