KYW's Mike Dunn to leave station

After 12 years as City Hall bureau chief for KYW Newsradio, Mike Dunn said Friday he is leaving the station. His distinctive baritone voice has been a feature of Philadelphia's radio landscape since his hiring in 1990.

Longtime KYW reporter Pat Loeb will replace Dunn at City Hall. The bureau chief is the third high-profile radio personality to leave the station in the past year, amid a broader reshuffling of staffers.

However, Dunn said leaving was solely his decision, describing his relationship with station managers as "very amicable."

"It's still a challenge to be here and cover City Council, it's still fascinating and it's satisfying. I just felt ready to find something new," Dunn said in a phone interview Friday. "Honestly I don't know what I'm going to do next, but I do know that I'm ready."

Initially hired by the news station at 1060-AM 25 years ago, Dunn has reported on City Hall policy and politics since 1996.

Along with numerous mayoral campaigns over the years, Dunn covered the fiscal crises of the Rendell administration, the FBI bugging of former Mayor Street's office, and was drafted by the station to cover the 9/11 attacks in New York City.

He rose to bureau chief after former head Tony Romeo left to follow Ed Rendell's career as governor in Harrisburg.

Of the often strange and melodramatic world of Philadelphia politics, Dunn said he most recalled the suicide scare of former Councilman Rick Mariano. Mariano was facing a potential indictment and went to City Hall's observation deck, where some colleagues feared he might attempt suicide.

"That broke late in the day. City Hall went into a lockdown and you had folks who do not work here, like Bob Brady, coming in to deal personally with Mariano," Dunn said. "That day, those few hours, that was surreal."

Dunn, who lives in Mount Airy with his wife and daughter, said that over his career, he had watched the world of local journalism evolve in positive ways, citing the rise of new mediums for news, like blogs and Twitter.

But he said not all changes had been for the better.

"Over the decades, the number of full-time reporters here has dwindled, and that's a shame," Dunn said. "A century ago, the administration and City Hall faced a couple dozen reporters. … I wish we had more of that."