Hi all, my name’s Eli!
My official job title at WGN is ‘Digital Supervising Producer,’ which essentially translates to me being a newsprint-style journalist who works for a television news station — meaning I write articles for WGN’s website and help get our news content out across social media, all of which I’ve done since joining the digital team in June 2022.
My primary focus involves writing breaking news articles on traditional news (crime, business, politics, etc.), but I also spend a significant amount of time on enterprise print reporting and longer-form writing that covers sports, food and entertainment across the Chicagoland area.
For example, I write a column every Tuesday during the NFL season following Chicago Bears games. You can find the latest one here.
Before joining WGN, I earned a Masters in Science of Journalism (MSJ) with a Sports Media specialization from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where I spent my time learning from renowned sports journalists like J.A. Adande and Melissa Isaacson.
Before Medill, I worked as an assignment editor, web producer and on-air talent at WOOD TV8 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where I helped produce breaking news content on-air and online after earning a B.S. in Multimedia Journalism from Grand Valley State University.
When it comes to where I call home, I refer to myself as a Chicago transplant who was born and raised in the south central Michigan town of Jackson, where the first 18 years of my life revolved almost exclusively around playing, watching, reading and studying the game of baseball.
If you’re interested in reading more of my work, or just want to shoot the breeze over Chicago sports, you can follow me on X where my handle is @ThePenOfEli, on Threads at @thepenofeli or like my journalism page on Facebook.
