Nesxtar lays off WGN-TV news personnel in a round of cuts (updated)
Sean Lewis and Ray Cortopassi among those cut on the same day four Black lawmakers announced their opposition to Tegna deal
Editor’s Note: This story was updated on February 24 at 11:10 a.m.
Nexstar-owned WGN-TV announced Monday night it has laid off nine on-air anchors and reporters from its Bradley Place headquarters.
The biggest name laid off was WGN evening news co-anchor Ray Cortopassi, who appeared on the 5,6, 9, and 10 p.m. newscasts.
Another was anchor/reporter Sean Lewis.
“This afternoon, I filed my last report for WGN on the noon show,” Lewis told the Tribune, who’s been with the station for over a decade, recently anchoring WGN’s weekend morning newscasts. “A lot of really good people lost their jobs today, and it’s a shame.”
Others who were let go were sports anchor Chris Boden; entertainment reporter Dean Richards (who also lost his WGN Radio show); political reporter Paul Lisnek (whose Sunday morning WGN-TV Political Report was recently canceled); meteorologist Mike Janssen, (whose contract wasn’t renewed last Friday); and reporters Julian Crews, Bronagh Tumulty, and Judy Wang.
Nexstar isn’t commenting. “Nexstar does not comment on personnel issues, but the company is taking steps necessary to compete effectively in this period of unprecedented change,” Nexstar spokesperson Gary Weitman said in a statement Monday.
WGN has the largest newsroom in the city and produces more hours of news per week than any other local station in Chicago, thanks to its large morning, midday, and evening news blocks. WGN recently hired Akemi Harrison from NBC-owned WMAQ-TV/NBC 5 to replace now-retired Dom Stasi as news director.
This comes as Nexstar is in the process of purchasing rival broadcaster Tegna for $6.8 billion – a deal that was recently blessed by President Donald Trump and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, paving the way for its completion, barring any lawsuits. The deal would give Nexstar 80 percent coverage of the United States, far above the 39 percent cap the law allows – one that will likely be eliminated either through the FCC or Congress. The FCC’s Media Bureau could also grant a waiver in every TV market where Tegna owns a station.
WGN-TV recently added a nightly fifteen-minute political show The Point last month, but canceled the Sunday morning WGN-TV Political Report with Paul Lisnek.
Nexstar acquired WGN-TV, WGN Radio, and the rest of Tribune Media in 2019, and reunited with The CW in 2024, two years after Nexstar purchased a 75 percent share of the network and eight years after the station dropped it.
The layoffs come as four Black Democratic lawmakers in the House released a statement Monday stating the Nexstar-Tegna deal would raise cable and satellite bills by $135 million, hollow out newsrooms, and have a disproportionate effect on Black and minority viewers.
“When ownership is concentrated in fewer hands, local newsrooms are often downsized or eliminated altogether, resulting in job losses. Reporters who know their communities, cover city halls and school boards, and hold local institutions accountable are replaced with centralized programming that does not reflect local needs or [perspectives],” according to a statement published by The Desk.
One of those lawmakers is Rep. Robin Kelly, who currently represents the 2nd Congressional District on the city’s South Side and south suburbs, where a vast number of the Chicago media market’s Black population resides. Kelly is one of three running for Dick Durbin’s Senate seat, as he announced he is not seeking re-election. Kelly appeared in a debate with the other two on WGN-TV last week.
The letter would further say: “When local voices are silenced and newsrooms shrink, it limits civic engagement, reduces representation, and narrows opportunities for journalists of color in an already-constrained labor market.”
And that’s exactly what happened Monday at WGN, and more layoffs at other Nexstar stations could be on the way – before and after the Tegna deal closes.
This is pretty crappy that you would lay off so many great people necessary that make the news more interesting. They all have given so much to make each newscast worthwhile. I have watched WGN for over 45 years and am very disappointed in these cuts.
NO DEAN RICHARDS? SOME TALENT , LISNAK
DONT LIKE TRUMP YOU LOSING
YOUR JOB? WHAT A JOKE! MESSING WITH A GOOD THING YOU FOOLS!
STAY PRAYERFUL!
That’s their purpose, to shut out the voices of reporters, on air personalities who are knowledgeable about their home towns. No dissent, just right wing lackies who have roots here, don’t know the city, cannot even pronounce the street names. Pitiful!
I am both disappointed and disgusted with the recent layoffs and non-renewal of contracts for several WGN-TV news employees. Many of them had been with the station for a very long time, and viewers have grown to welcome them into their homes each time any WGN News program is watched. What Nexstar has done is ripped apart whatever trust viewers have had with Chicago’s Very Own by downsizing the newsroom. I had thought all these hours of local news each day on Channel 9 were meant to be cost effective programming in place of more expensive syndicated shows. How can gutting WGN’s newsroom really help Nexstar fund its Tegna deal. I am now more convinced that big media companies are bad for the country. We need locally owned media that recognize and respect their viewers and communities. It has been clear that big media companies care only about themselves, their chief executives and their shareholders. The rest of us are left out in the cold. We have seen these same moves time and again at newspapers within Chicago. All these cutbacks have done is to show us that Bozo and his fellow clowns are alive and well as they have now taken over WGN-TV’s executive offices.
With the Sanctuary Cities and States being what they are and The Progressive Denial Mindset of All Is Well and Good it’s Disingenuous to say the very least !
RCJLEO 🦁♌
You know their parent company has ties to the Trump Administration, right?
Did a little quick math, and they represented 166 years of combined experience at WGN/CLTV, never mind years spent at other Chicago stations, like in Boden’s case.
I’m often torn about WGN, I love the channel & all of the Anchors & Reporters. BUT I can’t stand Nexstar & their politics. Congress needs to step in and stop this Tegna deal. We have a Constitution, why doesnt anyone respect it anymore?
One of the first goals of authoritarian governments is to control the media….this article says that Nexstar is trying to gain 80% coverage of the United States.
Dean Richards is a Chicago icon. To summarily fire him from the TV and radio side of WGN? Time to boycott. Nexstar is anti-free speech and anti-newsroom. Now with the new fascist leaning head of the FCC, it seems we’ll have more centralized, “patriotic” news shoved down our throats.
I will stop watching WGN now!!’
WGN doesn’t seem to be as much as Chicago’s Very Own now that this has happened. Chicagoans are not the ones to gain from the Nexstar-Tegna deal, so why should our TV station be made to suffer! This does remind me that years ago TV stations mostly had solo news anchors for their newscasts. However, back in those days, there were not endless hours of news that was mostly repeating the same stories over and over. Times have certainly not changed for the better!
Very sad to see this cutting. Who will we trust in the future? FOX? Ben Johnson?
Lots more opinions and data out there, much less analysis and fact checking.
The firing of Dean Richards is a huge mistake. This is an on air talent of tremendous vision and energy that gave lively , informative and intellegent shows and insights on many topics. this is such a mistake.
This is very disturbing news. They are making a grave mistake getting rid of good people who speak truth in news. I wont be referring this station to friends and family across the country.
The ones who were a pleasure to watch and listen to are gone. And they kept Micah Materre? Who can’t turn her frown upside down if the weather isn’t above 70? She’d be happier in a warmer climate. The bring back the others.
I’m in TOTAL shock that these 9 people were let go. Dean Richards has been a staple on WGN for 35 years. Paul Lisnek 16 year. Mike Janssen 15 years. Judy Wang 17 years. Where is the loyalty to workers that make your product more enjoyable to watch???? I have been a loyal WGN viewer for many, many years but these cuts are hard to swallow and make it hard to still enjoy watching WGN. VERY DISAPPOINTED. The decision makers should be ashamed of themselves.