"I still can't believe it myself," says veteran KGW-TV news anchor Joe Donlon of his upcoming move to WGN-TV in Chicago. Donlon's shift to the third-biggest market in the country is also big news for viewers of Portland's KGW, where Donlon has been a high-profile presence as a news anchor and reporter since he first joined the station in 1997.

Donlon took to his lively Facebook page on Tuesday morning to announce his departure from KGW and new job with the Chicago local news powerhouse.

"It has been an amazing run," Donlon wrote. "To be honest, I thought it would end here. But after 20 years in Portland, I'm leaving."

In a phone conversation Tuesday afternoon, Donlon shared more details about why anchoring the news at WGN is a "dream job" for him.

"Chicago is a market anyone in broadcast dreams of going to," says Donlon. "The history and the legacy and the broadcasting hall of fame in that city is unrivaled. It's a unique city in a lot of ways. It's almost sort of a throwback to the glory days of local news. People there are engaged, they care, and they watch."

Donlon became one of the most recognizable faces on local TV once he came to KGW, after having previously worked at stations in Corpus Christi, Texas, and Tucson, Arizona.

At KGW, Donlon is an anchor with Tracy Barry for the 5 and 6 p.m. weeknight news, and also anchors KGW News at 10 on CW 32 and KGW News at 11, with Laural Porter.

During his two decades at the NBC affiliate, Donlon has covered national news, and anchored coverage of such sporting events as the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Rose Bowl games and Oregon Ducks National Championship football games.

Amid the serious news, Donlon has also shown a lighter side in his "Cup of Joe" segments, where, for example, he playfully recreated a scene from "Jaws" with now-retired Portland Timbers player Nat Borchers.

Donlon says that going to WGN represents a return to his Midwestern roots at a time when he and his wife Kathy's children are also congregating in the region.

Donlon was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

"Our middle daughter just graduated from Gonzaga, and got a job in Chicago," Donlon says. "Our oldest has recently moved to St. Louis for a job, and our youngest was just accepted at Notre Dame and Georgetown."

Donlon says he had generally accepted that his career would likely end at KGW. "As I wrote in my Facebook post," Donlon says, "I never had stars in my eyes," and "in the last four or five years, I've had to sort of come to grips with the fact that this is where it was going to end for me. And I was OK with that."

But at the same time, Donlon says, an ambitious part of him was wondering, "Could I have done more? Is there another challenge for me out there?"

The WGN job came about, Donlon says, after he reached out to a WGN staffer who had announced his retirement in August. "I heard about it in the middle of November," Donlon recalls, "so I called and left him a message to say, congratulations, I'm really happy for you, let's catch up."

The next day, Donlon says, he had a message from the retiring WGN staffer who said, "You might want to send your reel in here. They're still looking" for a replacement.

"So," Donlon recalls, "I thought, why not?"

Donlon sent in his reel, and a couple of days later, he says, "they reached out, and said, 'When can you get here and audition?' I was there Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 for the audition, and then it was just kind of a waiting game. I'm sure they had a lot of candidates coming through. As I told them when I was there, I was thrilled to just even be in the mix."

It was especially rewarding to get the job at WGN, the 55-year-old Donlon says, "at this age, and this stage of my career. The business is changing so much, most stations are looking for 35-year-old YouTube stars."

At WGN, Donlon will anchor the 5, 6, 9 and 10 p.m. news, for a total of three-and-a-half hours. "WGN runs the Bulls, the Blackhawks, the Cubs, and the White Sox, so the news schedule in the evenings especially is built around a lot of those games."

In its press release announcing Donlon's hiring, WGN-TV says he'll debut on the station in mid-April, joining the evening/late news team of Micah Materre, Ben Bradley and Lourdes Duarte.

In the press release, WGN news director Jennifer Lyons says, "Joe is the perfect person for the position. He is a heavy hitter when it comes to news."

Lyons also says Donlon is "an incredible writer and I look forward to his stories as a working journalist in our news room. His knowledge, personality and quick wit will be an asset to WGN's unique vision for storytelling in the Chicago news market."

Donlon says, "It's a dream job for me, to be in one of the greatest cities in the world. I'm a bit nervous and overwhelmed, but I think that's natural and healthy. I haven't been nervous in a long time, and that nervous energy is good for me."

As for when Donlon will make his final appearance on KGW, he says, "We're still talking about my departure date," adding "once the Olympics are over, and the February ratings period is over, I'd love to get on the road, to spend some time in St. Louis with my family" and get to Chicago to begin familiarizing himself with the city.

Donlon will miss KGW and the Portland area, he says. "When I think about it, it's been almost half of my adult life working at KGW. We've raised our kids here, and we've loved every minute. I've had the good fortune of sitting next to two amazing co-anchors in Tracy and Laural, and this is a building full of outstanding journalists. I will miss them a great deal. At the same time, I know I'm walking into an incredible shop."

In an email, KGW News Director Rick Jacobs writes, "Joe Donlon's been a huge part of KGW's success for almost 21 years. He's an outstanding journalist and a terrific writer whose passion for this business is unmatched. Joe's a class act with a great sense of humor. He'll be sorely missed by all of us who work with him and by our audiences on air and on digital. Portland's loss is Chicago's gain. And while Joe's irreplaceable in so many ways, I've already begun searching for a new anchor."

Donlon says he's proud of "what we've done at KGW. It's a strong brand, and I think we've been able to continue building that brand, and I feel like I'm leaving it in good hands."

As for the emotions that come with leaving KGW, Donlon says it's been "very humbling" to see the responses his Facebook announcement has been receiving. "It's just been great to read all the comments, and know that I've had an impact on so many peoples' lives," he says. "It means the world to me."

The fact that "people rely on us has never been lost on me," Donlon says. "And now, more than ever, it's important to have a source of information that you know and trust."

-- Kristi Turnquist



kturnquist@oregonian.com

503-221-8227

@Kristiturnquist