Live and local: The future of Chicago media in 2025

Here are a few storylines to watch in local media for 2025:

Programming ups and downs

Unfortunately, the year already claimed its first local news program. Block Club and WCIU-TV ended "On the Block" after nearly three years. The public affairs program was heralded as a new way to tell Chicago stories, but its demise is in line with last year's trends on both television and radio.

Who will step in and create more local programming? How about Chicago's public media companies. This could be a big year for WBEZ and WTTW. Both cut back programming in 2024, but WBEZ hired former Vox Media star Melissa Bell as its new leader.

• It will be intriguing to see what Bell will bring to the station, which suffered poor ratings in 2024.

WTTW produced new Chicago history programming last year that helped viewers lose the bitter taste of "Chicago Tonight" cutbacks.

• The network teased more episodes of "Chicago Stories" in 2025.

Bumpy road for print

Six Illinois newspapers closed in the last 18 months, which continues a dire trend of losing local voices. According to a new study, Illinois lost over 85% of local journalists since 2005.

Chicago Tribune journalists (the Chicago News Guild) finally secured a contract with owners Alden Global. The two-year deal was the first for the union, which formed in 2018.

Reality check: It's great for the journalists at the paper, but recent history reveals that contracts don't necessarily protect unions from layoffs. The guild says 30%-40% of staff were cut during the negotiations alone.

• The Sun-Times saw layoffs as well in 2024, but as part of its ownership deal with Chicago Public Media, it has a philanthropic runway that lasts until 2027.

Tracy Baim is back. Baim, who made a name for herself running Windy City Times and then the Chicago Reader, has taken over the Chicago Community Trust's new local news project, Press Forward Chicago.

• The initiative is designed to provide grants and opportunities for newsrooms and journalists to become sustainable. This could have a huge impact on smaller local media companies trying to stay afloat.

All hail the Onion. After its recent (stalled) purchase of Alex Jones' "InfoWars" at auction, the Onion reminded the world it is a satirical force. The brand underwent an ownership change in 2024, bringing it closer to its roots.

• Now the Chicago-based company seems ready to take back its rightful throne as the king of satire.

Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!

If you are looking for a nostalgic trip to when Chicago was atop the media mountain, check out Netflix's new documentary called "Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action."

State of play: The two-part documentary debuts Tuesday night and will delve into Springer's "trash talk" legacy. For locals, it harkens back to a time when his show was part of a slew of syndicated daytime talk shows with hosts including Oprah, Phil Donahue and Jenny Jones.

• Those shows (and those studios) are long gone. There are no daytime talk shows in production here.

The intrigue: Look for retired media columnist Robert Feder to make an appearance in the documentary.