IRN Staff

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Chris Krug
Publisher and General Manager

Chris Krug is the Publisher and General Manager of the Illinois Radio Network. Krug brings to the Illinois Radio Network more than 25 years of experience in the media industry. He is the former publisher of the suburban Chicago Pioneer Press newspaper chain.
 
Prior to his tenure as a vice president at Sun-Times Media Network and oversight of Pioneer, he was responsible for all news operations and managed properties in the suburbs as a vice president for Shaw Suburban Media. During that time, he worked directly with teams at the Northwest Herald, Kane County Chronicle, DeKalb Daily-Chronicle, the Lake County Journals, and the bilingual El Conquistador. Krug has also served as a deputy editor at the Denver Post.
 
In 2008, the Local Media Association honored Krug as national editor of the year. Krug also is the former president of the Illinois Associated Press Editors Association. Presstime named Krug a 40 under 40 in 2008.

Michael Demkovich
News Director & Director of Digital Strategy

Michael Demkovich is the News Director & Director of Digital Strategy at the Illinois Radio Network. In this capacity, he coordinates with our reporters to deliver the news and develops and executes a digital marketing plan for IRN and oversees publication, dissemination and measurement of paid and owned digital media.

A graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he has previously worked in a variety of digital marketing capacities with various non-profit, private sector and media organizations in his career. If you’d like to get in his good graces, say something nice to him about the Chicago Blackhawks or Chicago Cubs.

Jason Goch
Sports Director

Jason is a graduate of Northwestern University and began his career at WGN Radio in Chicago. He joined IRN in 2003, and was promoted to sports director in 2005. Additionally, Jason works as a host for Yahoo! Sports Radio (previously Sporting News Radio), and has been a national sports talk show host since 2006. Jason can also be seen as a recurring guest on Comcast SportsNet Chicago’s Sports Talk Live TV program.

​Jason has reported from numerous events including the Super Bowl, World Series, Stanley Cup Finals, MLB playoffs, NBA Playoffs, and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. He also co-hosted a sports talk show in Chicago with former Bears fullback Jason McKie; that program aired on WLS 890 AM and The Game 87.7 FM. Jason has also performed play-by- play duties for various college sports. Jason is a Chicago-area native who credits his parents, Alan Goch and the late Janice Goch, for giving him the encouragement and confidence to succeed in the competitive world of sports broadcasting.

Greg Bishop
​Statehouse Reporter

With years of award winning broadcast experience in the Springfield market, Greg Bishop now reports on Illinois government and other statewide issues for the Illinois Radio Network.

​Bishop is a graduate in communication and political studies from the University of Illinois-Springfield. He got his start in radio with his public affairs program “The Council Roundup,” a review of Springfield City Council Meetings. He now also hosts “Bishop On Air,” a weekday morning-drive current events talk show on News/Talk 94.7 FM and 970 AM WMAY in Springfield.
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Bishop lives just south of the Capital City with his wife Meghan where they garden, train for long-distance races, and travel across the Midwest attending various concerts.

Cole Lauterbach
Statewide Reporter

A graduate of Columbia College Chicago and Clifton, Illinois native, Cole spent several years managing and producing news/talk radio stations in Bloomington/Normal and Peoria before moving to Chicagoland to create award-winning programs for Comcast SportsNet Chicago.
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He and his wife, Sarah, reside in Aurora with their daughter Madeline.

John Spataro
Affiliate Relations Coordinator

John serves as the Illinois Radio Network's Affiliate Relations Coordinator, and serves as the primary point of contact for communications between IRN and it's affiliates.

John joined IRN from DuPage Radio, where he was the operations manager. In that role, he oversaw the day-to-day at WCKG-AM, managed the station’s board operators, handled programming and was responsible for creating operational improvements.  

John is a native Illinoisan, and has worked at a number of Illinois radio stations, both on-air and in business operations.

Brendan Hartsell
Media Business Coordinator

Brendan Hartsell is the Media Business Coordinator at the Illinois Radio Network. In this capacity he maintains the website, delivers content, and does other administrative work for IRN.

​Prior to joining IRN, Brendan was an English teacher in Shenzhen, China. Brendan graduated from Washington and Lee University in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in European history.