WGN to host statewide virtual town hall Thursday with Durbin, Duckworth

Illinois Town Hall

WGN-Channel 9 will originate a live virtual town on the coronavirus pandemic from 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday — to be simulcast on news/talk WGN 720-AM and eight other Nexstar Media Group stations, covering all 102 counties in Illinois.

“Illinois Town Hall: Responding to COVID-19” will be hosted by WGN news anchors Tahman Bradley and Julie Unruh along with political analyst Paul Lisnek.

Guests will include the two U.S. senators from Illinois, Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, and mayors from towns across the state.

Viewers are invited to submit questions via social media using the hashtag #ILTownHall or online at WGNTV.com/TownHall.

“Illinois residents interested in hearing about the impact of the pandemic and who want to express their concerns and ask questions regarding the re-opening of the state’s economy can rely on Nexstar’s dedication to local content to provide them the latest news and a connection to their government and community leaders,” Tim Busch, president of Nexstar Broadcasting, said in a statement.

Nexstar Media Group

“We are proud to have all of our local stations across the Land of Lincoln bring millions of viewers together to speak directly to their government leaders about the re-opening process.”

Nexstar has been hosting similar statewide virtual town hall events throughout the country, underscoring the vast reach of the company's station group. On September 1, Nexstar plans to launch "News Nation," a three-hour primetime national newscast from WGN America, originating at WGN studios.

Other Nexstar stations participating in the simulcast Thursday include WCIA in Champaign, WCIX in Springfield-Decatur, WHBF in Rock Island-Moline, WMBD in Peoria-Bloomington, WTVO in Rockford, KPLR in St. Louis, Missouri, WEHT in Evansville, Indiana, and WTWO in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Tuesday’s comment of the day: Mary Wisniewski O'Malley: Both Brett Chase and Elvia Malagón are terrific journalists and colleagues — I worked with Brett at Bloomberg and Elvia at the Tribune. She's a tremendous loss for us, and a tremendous gain for the Bright One. It's a different world — it used to be the path from the Sun-Times to the Tribune always ran in the Tribune's direction. Reporters were seeking better pay and more readers at the bigger paper. Now it has started to run back to the Sun-Times. That's the impact of Alden.