Chicago Tribune names new top editor as newsroom leader resigns

A summer of transition for the Chicago Tribune under new hedge fund ownership continued with the announcement Tuesday of a change at the top of the masthead.

Colin McMahon is stepping down as editor-in-chief after a challenging 18 months at the helm of Chicago-based Tribune Publishing’s flagship newspaper. The last day for the longtime Tribune reporter, editor and executive, who also serves as chief content officer for Tribune Publishing, will be Aug. 20.

Succeeding McMahon will be Mitch Pugh, who has been named executive editor of the Chicago Tribune after eight years in the same role at The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina. His first day will be Aug. 30.

“The search for a new editor included a diverse group of candidates both inside and outside of Tribune Publishing,” Chicago Tribune General Manager Par Ridder said in a memo to employees. “Ultimately, it was decided that Mitch was the right person for the role given his significant journalistic achievements, leadership skills and experience driving digital subscriber growth.”

Chrissy Taylor will continue to serve as managing editor, reporting to Pugh.

Pugh, 47, a native of tiny Riverton in central Illinois near Springfield, grew up with a Chicago Tribune mailbox at the end of his driveway. A graduate of the University of Illinois Springfield, Pugh started his journalism career as a part-time sports reporter at The State Journal-Register while completing his degree.

After two years as a reporter with the now defunct Crystal Lake Sun in northwest suburban Chicago, Pugh transitioned to editing at newspapers in Colorado and Missouri before becoming editor of the Sioux City Journal in Iowa in 2007.

Pugh has been executive editor of the family-owned Post and Courier since 2013, overseeing a 90-person newsroom with responsibility for the digital subscription team as well. Under his leadership, the newspaper won a 2015 Pulitzer Prize for public service journalism and was a finalist for four other Pulitzer Prizes.

Moving to the Chicago Tribune is an “awesome responsibility,” Pugh said, and he plans to follow a similar playbook to his time in South Carolina.

“For me, watchdog and accountability journalism has to be at the heart of everything we do every day,” Pugh said. “And that’ll be where we start.”

Pugh arrives at the Chicago Tribune during a tumultuous time for the 174-year-old newspaper in the wake of hedge fund Alden Global Capital’s $633 million acquisition of Tribune Publishing in late May. More than 40 Chicago Tribune journalists, including many high-profile reporters and editors, accepted a voluntary buyout, leading to a shuffling of talent to fill key vacancies.

McMahon, 58, a Cleveland native and graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, joined the Chicago Tribune in 1987 as a copy editor after working for several Ohio newspapers.

A former foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, McMahon became national content editor in 2009, overseeing nonlocal coverage for Tribune Publishing newspapers. He was named editor-in-chief of the Chicago Tribune in February 2020, replacing Bruce Dold.

His tenure as editor-in-chief required navigating a global pandemic, the acquisition by Alden and a major talent exodus in the newsroom, while keeping the newspaper on mission.

”After a dozen years in leadership roles throwing myself at this goal — including the last 18 months of unprecedented challenges — I feel it’s time to move on,” McMahon told employees in a memo Tuesday. “As we enter a new era at Tribune, I believe the newsroom will benefit from an injection of new energy and commitment.”

McMahon has not revealed his future plans.

”I’m looking forward to the next chapter,” McMahon said, declining to comment further.

In addition to the Chicago Tribune, Tribune Publishing owns The Baltimore Sun; the Hartford Courant; the Orlando (Florida) Sentinel; the South Florida Sun Sentinel; the New York Daily News; the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland; The Morning Call in Allentown, Pennsylvania; the Daily Press in Newport News, Virginia; and The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Virginia.