We Make WBEZ + Vocalo

We stand in solidarity with our union siblings at @CSTGuild as our organization enters a critical week.👇

Audio producer: Ethan Schwabe Video producer:  Sofie Hernandez-Simeonidis Photos courtesy of Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times and Jessica Alvarado Gamez. Music courtesy of Blue Dot Sessions. 5/5

"Audio brings forward those authentic voices and helps us connect to the past and present." 4/x

This Valentine's Day, the @WBEZUnion sent a Love Letter to Audio to Chicago Public Media's management and board about why audio storytelling is the bedrock of the work we do @WBEZ. Take a listen to this thread to hear why audio deserves investment 💌 1/x

We encourage CPM management to consider other avenues to save costs and avoid deep cuts to staff that will hurt our ability to continue serving Chicago. chicago.suntimes.com/chicago/2025/0…

Cutting staff amid rising executive pay underscores our demands for more financial transparency. Our listeners and donors deserve to know their financial support is going toward expanding our journalism first and foremost. chicago.suntimes.com/chicago/2025/0…

We stand in solidarity with our colleagues at the @CSTGuild. We are disappointed to see Chicago Public Media resort to buyouts at the Sun-Times and for WBEZ’s non-newsroom employees. 🧵 chicago.suntimes.com/chicago/2025/0…

It was standing room only at Chicago Public Media's monthly board meeting today. Union members filed in to remind our board we are paying attention to decisions they make about our organization's future. Public comment wasn't permitted, but we left notes to make our voices heard.

We are encouraged by the news that our board has moved to hire a new CEO. We look forward to a new era of transparency in management and to working with Melissa Bell to ensure the future of audio journalism at WBEZ.

Our full statement and more details regarding our vote of no confidence in Chicago Public Media CEO Matt Moog here:

We want to be clear: Our members are still optimistic and hopeful that the Sun-Times and WBEZ merger can be a success. We're proud of our journalism and grateful for the support of our funders. We owe it to them, to our readers and listeners and to ourselves to get this right.

We've lost expert staff and seen revenue decline under Mr. Moog, stunting sustainability efforts despite generous foundation support that should fuel growth. A lack of transparency and accountability has led to mistrust and unnecessarily combative relationships with our unions.

But we feel all avenues toward a healthy relationship with Mr. Moog have been exhausted, and the boards haven't listened to our concerns. We feel an urgency to protect the organization from further damage until Mr. Moog, who resigned in December, is replaced by a new CEO.

WBEZ's union and the @CSTGuild have approved votes of no confidence in Matt Moog as Chicago Public Media CEO, Chicago Sun-Times president and a Chicago Sun-Times Media board member: 86% of members took part in the vote, and 96% of those members, or 114, voted no confidence.

This is a significant step to take. We did not take it lightly. We have spent the past two years seeking partnership in planning the future of this organization with Mr. Moog and the two boards of directors. We still ask that of the boards.

1/3 The union for WBEZ staffers files its first unfair-labor-practice charge against the radio station's nonprofit parent, alleging the organization "refused to provide information" the union needs to represent its members and enforce the union contract. chicagobusiness.com/marketing-medi…

WBEZ union files unfair labor charge against Chicago Public Media #Echobox=1717460684" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">chicagobusiness.com/marketing-medi…

“It just is so disappointing to have that annual meeting moved online. To me, that’s not what public media should be about,” @MaryLDixon said. chicagotribune.com/2024/06/04/wbe…