CBS Chicago lays off veteran reporter, two members of morning team

By MixDex Article may include affiliate links

As part of a restructuring effort that was fueled, in part, by coronavirus, CBS owned WBBM in Chicago saw some on air cuts.

Pam Zekman, a Pulitzer winning investigative reporter, is reportedly among the on air names sent packing in late May 2020.

Zekman had been with the station for over 40 years, having also worked at the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune, where her work resulted in a total of three finalists for the Pulitzer and two wins.

Also gone are morning co-anchor Erin Kennedy, morning meteorologist Megan Glaros, sports anchor Megan Mawicke and reporters Mike Puccinelli and Mai Martinez, according to a report from Robert Feder.

The cuts bring more turmoil to an already low rated news station that has had its share of on air shuffles in the past year or so.

Kennedy and Glaros’ departures now mean that the entire core morning team will have turned over in a little over a year.

Kennedy survived a surprise cut of her co-anchor Marissa Bailey in March 2019, who departed at the same time main evening co-anchor Rob Johnson was let go.

Bailey was temporarily replaced by Puccinelli, who then returned to reporting, mostly on the morning shift, before being cut this week.

Ryan Baker, who had been a sports anchor at the station, was eventually named the new morning co-anchor alongside Kennedy.

Traffic anchor Derrick Young was cut in the fall of 2019 and replaced with Yasmeen Hassan, who remains.

May 28, 2020, saw breaking news anchor Audrina Bigos in Kennedy’s spot alongside Kennedy and Ed Curran in Glaros’ role.

There are also reports that other on air positions as well as off camera staffers have been affected, though it is not immediately clear how many.