It didn’t take long for Carol Fowler to bounce back after she CBS 2 WBBM-TV let her go in November. This week, WFLD-TV FOX Chicago announced that Fowler would be joining the station on Feb. 2 as news director, the same position that she held at Ch. 2.

Rosenthal has details in the Trib:

“I realized I had to get back into this,” said Fowler, who on Tuesday was named vice president and news director of Fox-owned WFLD-Ch. 32. “It was excruciating not to be involved, covering the story, because it was such a good story.”

Fowler referred to the arrest of Gov. Balgojevich as a motivating factor that propelled her back into the TV news game. It didn’t hurt that WFLD’s new director Andrew Finlayson decided to move on to other challenges within the company.

Fowler has a long track record in Chicago news, having spent time at WLS-TV and WGN-TV before her most recent stint at Ch. 2.

Many challenges await Fowler in her new role at FOX Chicago, including the challenge of remaking her image. Many staffers at Ch. 2 openly celebrated upon her departure, as she was not well-liked among her subordinates. In addition, Ch. 32′s news products, while showing some promise, have continued to lag behind the competition, despite a wealth of talent and a powerful news brand.

Reaction to the move has been muted, as indicated by comments like these, from Ternce Henderson on his blog:

This move is a questionable one as Fowler is liable in a still-pending lawsuit filed by Amy Jacobson, who was caught at the Stebic house in 2007 in videotape shot by WBBM. Fowler couldn’t improve ratings at WBBM, so what makes anyone think she can improve the news ratings at WFLD?