Allison Payne returning to WGN-TV, in limited form

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Posted by chicagomedia.org on January 10, 2009 at 07:16:00:

In Reply to: Allison Payne expected to return soon posted by chicagomedia.org on January 09, 2009 at 07:22:58:

Allison Payne returning to WGN-TV

Allison Payne, on leave from WGN-Ch. 9 since November, is set to return Monday as co-anchor of the station's 5:30 p.m. weekday newscast, the station said Friday.

"For the past several months, Allison Payne has been off the air rehabilitating from a series of mini-strokes," the station said on its Web site, indicating that returning to the early evening broadcast she helped launch last year and not the 9 p.m.newscast she has co-anchored since 1990 "will allow her to continue with her rehabilitation."

Payne previously was sidelined from January to April of last year and also took time off in September to undergo tests at Minnesota's Mayo Clinic. She said in an interview Friday she welcomed the opportunity to "ease back" into her Channel 9 duties.

"I'm really grateful for [news director Greg Caputo] because I can honestly say he cares about me," she said. "He and [WGN boss] Marty Wilke, they were just really good to me. So I know I have two really good people to go back to and to get better for and try to do the best that I can."

Payne said that, during this most recent time off the air, she also sought treatment for depression that became more acute as she dealt with the changes in her life over the previous year. The depression, she said, affected her work.

"It was brutal getting out of the house, I couldn't get out of bed," Payne said. "It was really bad. I would roll out of bed and into a blazer and over to [WGN]. ... I've been down before, but now I know what depression is."

In an August interview with the Chicago Tribune, Payne, 44, apologized to viewers for an unsteady on-air appearance, saying overwork compounded the effects of earlier mini-strokes.

"I don't want to play a violin, but I am still recovering," she said at the time. "It's a process. I have to ask people to be patient with that in terms of slurring and things."

WGN, like the Chicago Tribune, is owned by Tribune Co.

/Phil Rosenthal/Chicago Tribune/

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: Allison Payne returning to WGN-TV : : Allison Payne, on leave from WGN-Ch. 9 since November, is set to return Monday as co-anchor of the station's 5:30 p.m. weekday newscast, the station said Friday. : "For the past several months, Allison Payne has been off the air rehabilitating from a series of mini-strokes," the station said on its Web site, indicating that returning to the early evening broadcast she helped launch last year and not the 9 p.m.newscast she has co-anchored since 1990 "will allow her to continue with her rehabilitation." : Payne previously was sidelined from January to April of last year and also took time off in September to undergo tests at Minnesota's Mayo Clinic. She said in an interview Friday she welcomed the opportunity to "ease back" into her Channel 9 duties. : "I'm really grateful for [news director Greg Caputo] because I can honestly say he cares about me," she said. "He and [WGN boss] Marty Wilke, they were just really good to me. So I know I have two really good people to go back to and to get better for and try to do the best that I can." : Payne said that, during this most recent time off the air, she also sought treatment for depression that became more acute as she dealt with the changes in her life over the previous year. The depression, she said, affected her work. : "It was brutal getting out of the house, I couldn't get out of bed," Payne said. "It was really bad. I would roll out of bed and into a blazer and over to [WGN]. ... I've been down before, but now I know what depression is." : In an August interview with the Chicago Tribune, Payne, 44, apologized to viewers for an unsteady on-air appearance, saying overwork compounded the effects of earlier mini-strokes. : "I don't want to play a violin, but I am still recovering," she said at the time. "It's a process. I have to ask people to be patient with that in terms of slurring and things." : WGN, like the Chicago Tribune, is owned by Tribune Co. : : /Phil Rosenthal/Chicago Tribune/

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