Chicago media saw some ups and downs in 2024, but here's hoping its budget cuts and other issues won't spill into 2025.

Why it matters: This is a media town, live and local all the way.

Here are a few storylines to watch for 2025:

📺 Programming ups and downs

This week Block Club and WCIU-TV discontinued their "On the Block" collaboration 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 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 mitigate the bitter taste of "Chicago Tonight" cutbacks, and its teasing more "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 recent study, Illinois lost over 85% of local journalists since 2005.

Chicago Tribune journalists in 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 suggests 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.

🎤 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 tonight 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.

More media news

The Chicago Tribune published a story in November about a woman who witnessed a fight on the Red Line and quietly reported it using the CTA chatbot on her phone.

• Another passenger pressed the train's call button, antagonizing one of the people fighting.

Why it matters: According to CTA officials, neither of the passengers reacted appropriately, highlighting confusion over how to report issues while riding public transit.

State of play: A recent Tribune analysis suggests violent crime in the first half of 2024 (5.1 incidents per million rides) matched 2023 rates but had doubled since 2019.

What happening: We recently reached out to CTA spokesperson Maddie Kilgannon to learn the best ways to seek help:

CTA chatbot: Introduced last year on the CTA's website, this feature can be used to contact the CTA about "cleanliness, maintenance, ADA accommodations, safety & security, disruptive behavior, service disruptions and finding the next train/bus."

• If you use the chatbot to report smoking and include the line and car number, CTA officials can relay that info to the train operator.
• Yes, but: Don't use it for emergencies. "Customers should always call 911 if someone's safety is at risk," Kilgannon says.

Call button: This red-rimmed button on train cars contacts the train operator and can be used to tell them about a broken door or someone smoking on the train — if you want to be public about your complaint.

Keep reading

🛏️ Homelessness in Chicago, driven largely by migrant arrivals, tripled over 2023 numbers, according to city data. Nationally, it rose 18%. (Sun-Times)

⛪️ A church in Pilsen has moved its Spanish Sunday services online spurred by fears of mass deportations under incoming President Trump. (Block Club)

🏈 The Bears requested interviews with Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn for the team's head coaching vacancy. (CBS)

One or two alcoholic drinks a day may reduce the risk of dying more than completely abstaining, according to a review of existing research by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine.

Why it matters: The findings could help inform alcohol consumption guidance in the USDA's next round of Dietary Guidelines for Americans, expected later this year.

Yes but: These findings could be countered by a recent call from the U.S. Surgeon General to place cancer warning labels on alcohol products, similar to those on cigarettes.

What they found: The review, which was ordered by Congress, looked at multiple studies of light to moderate drinking, defined as two drinks a day for men and one for women.

• Moderate use of alcohol was associated with a lower risk of nonfatal heart attacks and strokes, as well as a lower overall risk of death, but increased risk of breast and colorectal cancer.

Go deeper

Happy New Year! Do you know where Justin is this week?

Here's a hint:

• A crowded spot towards the end of the year
• A great place to get your throwaway gear.
• An old-school spot keeping West Town gritty
• It's the original Party City.

Guess where Justin is here.