Chip Brewster and Christine Flores
The busiest TV newsroom in Chicago just got busier.
In addition to broadcasting more than 72 hours of news each week on WGN-Channel 9, the Nexstar Media Group station just launched “WGN News Now,” newscasts produced exclusively for digital platforms, including WGNTV.com, the WGN News mobile app and social media.
News updates are presented at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. The 2 p.m. report is in Spanish — a first for "Chicago's Very Own" and a tacit recognition of the growing impact of Hispanic viewership in Chicago.
"'WGN News Now' was launched for our viewers who are looking for news when they are on the go," said Dominick Stasi, news director of WGN. "It provides them with expanded coverage of news and breaking events, especially between 1 and 4 p.m., when WGN News is not live on the air.
"With 'News Now' we will be able to cover breaking news and news conferences as needed, as well as allow stories to breathe and give them more time," he said.
Serving as digital hosts are newcomers Chip Brewster and Christine Flores.
Brewster, a northwest suburban native and graduate of Lake Zurich High School and Illinois State University, most recently worked as public relations coordinator for College of Lake County. Earlier he was a reporter for stations in Tampa, Houston, Milwaukee and Rockford. He began as a news writer for WGN.
Flores, who grew up in Reno and graduated from the University of Nevada, most recently was a bilingual reporter for the Weigel Broadcasting station in Milwaukee. Earlier she worked for stations in Huntsville, Alabama, and Reno.
If "WGN News Now" does cover breaking news events and news conferences live, as promised, it could deliver on the early potential of Chicagoland Television. From 1993 to 2019 CLTV served as a 24/7 cable news companion to WGN.
Wednesday's comment of the day: Dana Legg: Sorry, Joe [Walsh], but it was your rhetoric that helped prod the Republican Party to where they are today. It's nice that you've seen the light, no matter how slightly, but you can't put the toothpaste back in that tube.