Chicago media shifts as personalities leave TV, radio and print
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
The month of August was hard for fans of local journalists.
Here are some well-known names that have left Chicago media:
Laurence Holmes: The popular sports talk host is still on the radio, but his Bears post-game show is not returning to television. Holmes led the NBC Sports Chicago program "Football Aftershow." The panel included former Bears players like Lance Briggs, Matt Forte and Alex Brown.
- NBC Sports Chicago is shutting down after the baseball season.
Natalie Moore: The WBEZ reporter, host and editor signed off before the holiday weekend. The broadcaster and author is leaving the station to teach journalism at Northwestern University.
- Moore will continue to occasionally write columns for the Sun-Times.
Mary Mitchell: Longtime Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell wrote her last column (for real) at the end of last week. She wrote about Chicago and race for nearly 35 years.
Danny Parkins: The co-host of the afternoon the juggernaut "Parkins & Spiegel Show" abruptly exited the sports talker to take his talents to the national network, FS1. Parkins had been at WSCR-AM for over seven years.
- He is being replaced by a rotation of co-hosts next to Matt Spiegel, but the Sun-Times reported that former Score host Jason Goff is a possibility to permanently replace Parkins.
Brad Edwards: Channel 2 has seen a few shake-ups this summer, including program director Jennifer Lyons receiving a regional promotion.
- Ryan Baker left mornings to return to the evening sports desk, but anchor and former investigative reporter Brad Edwards has been missing from the airwaves all month. The station has refused to comment on Edwards' employment status.
Joe Brand: The WGN Radio host for Blackhawks broadcasts is heading east to Pittsburgh. He'll be the radio play-by-play announcer for the Penguins.
Paul Rennie: The longtime exec at WGN-TV announced his retirement last week. Rennie has led the station since 2016 and was a big part of steering WGN-TV after the Cubs left.
- Also, WGN-TV reporters Gaynor Hall and Glen Marshall exited in August.
Jack Conaty: The former Fox Chicago political reporter covered the news for over 20 years in town before calling it a career in 2009. He died this past week in Tucson, Arizona, from complications from cancer. He was 77.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include Paul Rennie's retirement from WGN-TV.