Chicago Radio: Public Media's CEO Matt Moog Resigns

The top executive of the nonprofit that controls WBEZ, the Chicago Sun-Times and Vocalo announced his surprise resignation Monday from his post of three years, saying he intended to “return to my roots as a technology entrepreneur.”

The departure of Matt Moog, Chicago Public Media’s chief executive officer, came as unions representing WBEZ and the Sun-Times disclosed to their membership “hostile work environment” allegations against what leaders in one of the labor groups characterized as a “Chicago Public Media executive.”

Matt Moog

Representatives for the Chicago News Guild and SAG-AFTRA did not divulge the exact details of the “serious and sensitive” allegations, identify how many accusers there were or disclose the identity of the media organization executive allegedly involved.

They did not identify Moog as the accused or link his departure with the allegations against the unnamed executive. A spokeswoman for Chicago Public Media did not respond to a question about any association between the two developments that came only hours apart.

The spokeswoman declined to answer repeated questions about the unions’ inquiry or WBEZ’s request to interview Moog, who was paid $533,620 in salary and benefits in 2021, according to the organization’s most recent tax filing.

But the spokeswoman emphasized the news organization’s “positive” work environment.

Moog’s departure sent shockwaves across the entire nonprofit news organization, which he had a keen hand in shaping since overseeing the $61 million acquisition of the Sun-Times. The acquisition put two of the city’s best-known media nameplates and their respective resources under one roof to create the largest nonprofit news organization in the country.