Veteran journalist Gilbert Bailon will join WBEZ as the newsroom’s executive editor, the station announced Friday.
Bailon will oversee the organization’s growing news operation, both online and on air. He will also lead the station’s partnership with the Chicago Sun-Times, which Chicago Public Media acquired in 2022.
“It’s really a very unusual, if not unique opportunity for a big market to have radio, digital and print all balled into one big operation that can collaborate, share content and reach new audiences,” Bailon said.
Chicago Public Media’s Chief Content Officer Tracy Brown said Bailon’s decades of experience leading newsrooms in places like Dallas and St. Louis make him well positioned to do “transformational work” in Chicago.
“I am thrilled to have Gilbert join the WBEZ newsroom as our executive editor,” Brown said in a statement. “He is an astute editor with vast experience and a deep commitment to local journalism. He has navigated through disruption in the industry with a focus on producing diverse coverage that serves and engages the community.”
Chicago Public Media CEO Matt Moog added that Bailon’s appointment is “an important milestone” in the newsroom’s mission to “strengthen and transform local journalism in Chicago and the region.”
“It’s inspiring and exciting to have such a strong and experienced newsroom leader join our team, who cares passionately about local journalism and its role in fostering a strong democracy, civic engagement and participation, and connected communities,” Moog said in a statement.
Bailon was most recently the executive editor at KERA, Dallas’s NPR affiliate. He departed that position in May after 14 months on the job — calling it “an issue of fit.”
Before KERA, Bailon spent nearly 15 years at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, including as editor-in-chief for a decade. During his tenure, he oversaw the newspaper’s coverage of the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and subsequent social unrest. The Post-Dispatch won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize in breaking news photography and was a Pulitzer finalist for editorial writing related to Ferguson.
Earlier in his career, Bailon was the executive editor of the Dallas Morning News, where he launched Al Día, a Spanish-language newspaper. He is also a past president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
“I’m super excited to work with Gilbert, who brings a wealth of experience at esteemed newspapers and, most recently, in public radio,” Jennifer Kho, the executive editor of the Chicago Sun-Times, said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to collaborating closely to make the most of all the talent across both the WBEZ and the Sun-Times newsrooms to better serve Chicago area communities through excellent journalism.”
Bailon said he has focused on reaching new audiences throughout his career, which is among his priorities in Chicago.
“There are new ways to tell stories, to reach people — younger diverse audiences, also people who just may not be public media consumers at this point, who can become so by reaching them in a different way,” he said.
In addition to thinking about expanding WBEZ’s audience and continuing to grow the newsroom’s collaboration with the Sun-Times, Bailon said his immediate priority is to get to know the city as a new Chicagoan.
“I think an important part of being an editor and journalist is that you’re very curious about whatever community you’re in and you listen to people. Good, bad, whatever it may be, you’re connected to people, because ultimately that’s who you’re trying to serve,” he said. “I enjoy that aspect of it, so I look forward to doing that and engaging in some different communities.”
Originally from Arizona, Bailon has a BA in journalism from the University of Arizona and a master’s in history from the University of Texas at Arlington.
He will begin at Chicago Public Media in October.
