By admin 
WGN 9 is no tiny TV network as it serves the Chicago area for The CW. But that only makes their most recent error involving San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan significantly more egregious.
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Photos of Shanahan in the aftermath of his car crash from a few weeks ago have been exceedingly hard to come by. As a result, some people have been using AI and photoshop to circulate some fake ones for engagement or just a good laugh.
Well, one of those images appeared to be Shanahan sitting in a hospital bed with a woman at his side. Only that’s not Shanahan: It’s a Shanahan’s face superimposed on U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell’s head. And the woman at his side is Elaine Chao, McConnell’s wife and the former U.S. Secretary of Transportation.
Unfortunately for WGN 9, they didn’t realize the error until after they had already aired a segment with it.
Intentional?
As embarrassing as the gaffe seems to be, some fans have pointed out that the image aired on the WGN Morning News, a program that tends to be deliberately a little more silly.
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“To be fair…. It’s the WGN Morning News. While a news program, they will get silly when given the opportunity,” one user on X wrote.
“Hopefully people understand that @pattomasulo did this intentionally and it wasn’t a news mistake,” wrote another.
“I feel like when clipping WGN’s AM program that should be noted as such cause their format is a little different than the typical. It’s news wrapped around a radio morning zoo program,” a third remarked.
Even so, it’s a little bit clear from some of the reactions that viewers don’t want to see comedy mixed in with their news. The fact that a news outlet would behave that way seems to be offending their sensibilities.
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Mistake or not, WGN 9 is getting laughed at and insulted pretty hard right now.
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This story was originally published July 30, 2026 at 8:07 AM.