A source informs FishbowlDC...

Cissy Baker, Tribune Broadcasting's Washington bureau chief and vice president for news operations, will preside over a combined Tribune bureau, which houses such papers as Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, Baltimore Sun, and Los Angeles Times.

It's long been expected that big changes were planned for the Tribune's DC bureau following the presidential election and we recently reported that Doyle McManus was not expected to remain the Los Angeles Times' D.C. bureau chief.

>UPDATE: Tribune rushes out a release...It's after the jump...

>UPDATE: Politico's Michael Calderone says "staffers were meeting at noon today to learn of the new arrangement, which will likely include layoffs."

Cissy Baker today was named vice president of the Washington News Bureau for Tribune Company, overseeing all newsgathering operations in the nation's capital for the company's publishing, broadcasting and interactive divisions. She will also be responsible for coordinating news coverage and facilitating content sharing among the company's media businesses.

"Cissy is talented, resourceful, experienced and relentless," said Bob Gremillion, executive vice president/Tribune Publishing. "She knows news, she knows Washington, and she knows what will resonate with the audiences in the local markets served by our newspapers, television stations and web sites."

Baker has served as vice president/news operations for Tribune Broadcasting since 2003, and Washington bureau chief for the division since 1994.

"This bureau has a great team of experienced print and electronic journalists who understand power and politics and know how to work together to deliver the best, most comprehensive news coverage for our readers and viewers," said Baker. "It is a privilege to lead this talented group, especially as we prepare to cover a new administration."

Baker helped launch CNN in 1980. In 1982 Baker left CNN to pursue a career in politics. At the age of 25 she ran for Congress in Tennessee's Fourth Congressional District, where her family home was located. While she won the primary, she lost the general election. Singed by that experience, she decided to go back into television and exact her revenge inside the Beltway.

In 1983 she became a Washington correspondent for CNN covering Capitol Hill, The White House and the Supreme Court. She became national editor of CNN in 1985 and vice president and managing editor of CNN in 1988. Feeling the need to get some "fair and balanced" experience, Baker left CNN in 1990 and took a job as vice president and managing editor of the FOX News Service in Washington, coordinating national news feeds and breaking news for Fox affiliates nationwide.

Baker began her career in television news at WTTG-TV, Washington, D.C., and later moved to WTVF-TV, Nashville, Tenn.