One year after the Chicago Sun-Times joined WBEZ to become a nonprofit newspaper under Chicago Public Media, its CEO, Nykia Wright, is stepping down.
The announcement follows a leave of absence by Wright this month that generated speculation of her impending departure, reports The Chicago Tribune.
Chicago Public Media CEO Matt Moog will “work directly” with Sun-Times management to oversee day-to-day operations going forward, according to a news release.
“I’m very grateful for Nykia’s leadership, especially as we brought together two outstanding and beloved news organizations, the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ Chicago, under the Chicago Public Media umbrella,” Moog said. “I wish her all the very best in her next chapter.”
Wright had helmed the Sun-Times in its waning days as a struggling for-profit newspaper and remained CEO after its merger with public radio station WBEZ-FM 91.5 was finalized Jan. 31 of last year. But she had been on leave for several weeks, according to Chicago Public Media spokeswoman Betsy Berger.
Wright started as chief operating officer at the Sun-Times in 2017 and was named CEO the following year, guiding the newspaper through the pandemic and the brink of “extinction,” she told the Tribune during a 2020 interview.
She made the transition to a nonprofit CEO during the groundbreaking merger that put the venerable daily tabloid — long Chicago’s No. 2 newspaper — and WBEZ, an NPR station that reinvented itself a local news powerhouse, together under the banner of Chicago Public Media.
The newspaper and radio station operate separate newsrooms but share content and resources.
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