Friends of The Chicago Reporter is working to create a media and training nonprofit that will support data-driven reporting, mentor young journalists and collaborate with other news organizations. This will require a team of talented volunteers: We’re looking to YOU to join the team!
Thanks to our generous founding members and contributors to our 50th Anniversary events, we made our fundraising match and have begun work on our next collaborative project.
Can you help us with marketing materials?
Want to join our web team as we design a new website?
Do you have ideas for training workshops on investigative reporting techniques?
Would you like to join our editorial committee as we plan data-driven stories on race and equity?
Can you help us plan future exciting events?
If you have other ideas for how you can help, or are willing to join our team of volunteers, please contact Laura Washington at LauraSWashington@aol.com or John McDermott at jamcdjr@gmail.com.
50 Years of Investigative Reporting on Race and Equity On July 22, 2022, Chicago Reporter alums led a lively discussion on the 50-year legacy of the news organization, interspersed with clips from our mini-documentary series produced by Groundswell Educational Films. From left: Ben Joravsky, Jeff Spitz, Lucio Villa, Laura Washington, Tonika Lewis Johnson, Angela Caputo and Kevin Blackistone, who moderated the conversation. Watch the full video series. Photo credit: Zachary Keltner
Thanks to our collaborators! We are working with the pro bono lawyers at McDermott, Will & Emery to obtain federal 501c3 status for our new organization. In the interim, our great friends, Bonnie Allen and the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, have agreed to serve as our fiscal sponsor. To help make that happen, we have had indispensable help from the legal team at DLA Piper. And a BIG shout out to the Crossroads Fund for serving as our donation portal while we get all our legal and administrative ducks lined up.
Alumni News Newsday’s Washington bureau chief, Tom Brune, was a recent guest on Ben Joravsky'sChicago Reader podcast—and it's a great listen! Tom explains how the Reporter’s founder John A. McDermott was almost hired to lead the federal Health, Education and Welfare’s Midwest Civil Rights Division in the early ‘70s, but then was left twisting in the wind when clout-heavy city leaders likely put the kibosh on his appointment. That setback, ironically, freed him up to develop the idea of The Chicago Reporter.
The Chicago chapter of the National Association Black Journalists, whose board includes Reporter alums Josh McGhee and Evan F. Moore, was recently named NABJ Chapter of the Year! We recently collaborated with NABJ on our “Covering Systemic Racism” training that featured Reporter alums sharing their investigative journalism tips.
Maria Inés Zamudio is leaving WBEZ Chicago to join the Center for Public Integrity, where she will investigate racial inequalities in health care in the U.S. Previously, Zamudio was part of a team from NPR’s Latino USA that received a national Peabody Award. Her reporting from the Mexico-Guatemala border focused on the dangers women face while traveling through Mexico to the United States. Zamudio’s coverage of Chicago’s water affordability crisis led to a moratorium on water shutoffs and the creation of a city-wide program to help low-income homeowners.
Where Are They Now? In his remarks at our 50th Anniversary celebration, John McDermott Jr. (above) chronicled the history of his father’s investigative journal and paid tribute to other former publishers, including the late Roy Larson. Their successors continue to make their mark on journalism, as John noted:
Laura Washington is a contributing columnist for the Chicago Tribune, political analyst for ABC-7 Chicago, and sits on a number of nonprofit boards. She is a media favorite and the woman who has been there for the Reporter in good times and bad.
Alysia Tate is a Montessori pre-primary teacher at the Ancona School, after serving in leadership roles at several organizations, including the Chicago Foundation for Women and Cabrini Green Legal Aid.
Alden Loury now heads the Race, Class and Communities Desk at WBEZ Chicago, after he brought class (and race) to the Metropolitan Planning Council.
Kimbriell Kelly couldn’t attend the festivities because she was competing in the International Dragon Boat Federation Club Crew World Championships. By day, she is assistant managing editor and Washington bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times.
Susan Smith Richardson is the managing editor of the Guardian U.S. and the Ida B. Wells Professor in Journalism at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
Fernando Diaz is a lecturer at the Medill School of Journalism and co-founder of the Chicago Standard.
Friends of The Chicago Reporter Core Committee
Kevin Blackistone Tom Brune Angela Caputo Thom Clark Paul Cuadros Kay Humphries Rui Kaneya Alden K. Loury John McDermott Jr.
Josh McGhee Sharon McGowan Irene Pace Jack Roberts John Schrag Susy Schultz Christine Wachter Laura Washington James Ylisela Jr.
Want to help sponsor upcoming events and projects?
Thanks to our colleagues at the Crossroads Fund, you can make a tax-deductible donation of any amount by visiting https://bit.ly/FOTCR.
Friends of The Chicago Reporter is not affiliated with The Chicago Reporter or the Community Renewal Society.
