2023 Community Media Awards Program

SPONSORS LEAD

This event is being hosted at the historic Jacob H. Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies sponsored by Northeastern Illinois University's departments of Communication, Media and Theatre, African and African American Studies, Sociology, English, World Languages and Cultures, Justice Studies, Latina/o and Latin American Studies, and the Student Media Board.

ADVOCATE SUPPORTER

A Picture’s Worth

Center for Community Health, Northwestern University

Elevate Energy

SAG-AFTRA

5:30 p.m.

OPENING RECEPTION

Music by FINDING IJEOMA

Hors d'oeuvres and refreshments from Outside the Box Carryout and Catering

6:30 p.m. AWARDS CEREMONY

Welcome to Jacob H. Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies

Akua Cason, interim director, Carruthers Center

Thank you for attending Public Narrative’s 28th Annual Community Media Awards

Jhmira Alexander, president and executive director, Public Narrative

Our Master of Ceremony

Cheryl Corley, Chicago-based correspondent, NPR

(Pictured right receiving the Studs Terkel Award from Studs himself in 1994. Archive.)

2023 Studs Terkel Community Media Award Winners

Carlos Ballesteros, reporter, Injustice Watch

Jodi Cohen, investigative reporter, ProPublica

Melissa Sanchez, reporter, ProPublica

Tiffany Walden, co-founder & editor-in-chief, The TRiiBE

2023 Uplifting Voices Award Winner

Jamie Nesbitt Golden, reporter, Block Club Chicago

2023 Ripple Effect Award Winner (new)

Craig Dellimore, political editor, WBBM Newsradio

2023 People’s Choice Award Nominees (new)

Josh McGhee and Ola Giwa, investigative reporter and data analyst, MindSite News

Jamie Nesbitt Golden, reporter, Block Club Chicago

Jorge Martinez, contributing reporter, Cicero Independiente

Sylvia Snowden, broadcast journalist, CAN TV

Public Narrative: Thirty-four years of cultivating better, more equitable stories

Derrick Fleming, Jr., board chair, Public Narrative

8:15 p.m. CLOSING SONG:

Studs’ favorite – “This Land is Your Land”

Recorded by Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings

Ballesteros Reporter, Injustice Watch Jodi Cohen

Carlos Ballesteros is an investigative reporter at Injustice Watch, a nonprofit journalism organization in Chicago.

His work focuses on immigrants, older adults, and the criminal justice system. His most recent investigation revealed how Chicago police have blocked hundreds of undocumented immigrants from applying for legal status through a special visa available to crime victims. Carlos also co-wrote "Aging in the Shadows," a four-part series co-published in the Chicago Tribune about the rising number of undocumented older adults in Illinois.

Before joining Injustice Watch in 2020, Carlos wrote for the Chicago Sun-Times and Newsweek in New York. Carlos was born and raised in Chicago, and his family is originally from northern Mexico.

Jodi Cohen has been a reporter in ProPublica’s Chicago newsroom since 2017. Her investigations at ProPublica have uncovered widespread police ticketing of students in Illinois, the misuse of seclusion and restraint practices in Illinois schools, and systemic problems in Michigan’s juvenile justice system after a girl was incarcerated during the pandemic for not doing her online school work. Her ProPublica work also has revealed a college financial aid scam and misconduct in a psychiatric research study at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Jodi previously worked at the Chicago Tribune for 14 years, where she covered higher education and helped expose a secret admissions system at the University of Illinois, among other investigations. Her work has led to changes in state law and policy, resignations of public officials, and the release of a teenager from detention.

Among other national and state honors, she has been awarded the Education Writers Association Fred M. Hechinger Grand Prize, the Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics, the ONA Award for Investigative Data Journalism, the Chicago Headline Club’s Watchdog Award, and the Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Newspapers.

Jodi graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in political science. She is a board member and former crisis line volunteer at the nonprofit National Runaway Safeline and lives in Chicago with her husband and three children.

2023 STUDS TERKEL AWARD WINNERS

Carlos

Melissa Sanchez is an investigative reporter with ProPublica, where she writes about immigrants and low-wage work.

She has reported on the experiences of immigrant teens and children in the nation’s shelter system for unaccompanied immigrant minors and how many of them wind up working on factory floors in suburban Chicago. Her work examining how Chicago’s punitive system of ticketing and debt collection sent tens of thousands of mostly Black motorists into bankruptcy led to significant reforms, including changes to state law that ended the practice of suspending driver’s licenses over unpaid tickets.

Before joining ProPublica, Melissa reported for Catalyst Chicago, el Nuevo Herald in Miami, and the Yakima (Wash.) Herald-Republic. She has reported from Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. She lives in Chicago with her husband, Marcos, and two children, Samuel and Lucia, and is the proud daughter of immigrants.

& Editor-in-Chief, The TRiiBE

As co-founder and editor-in-chief of The TRiiBE, Tiffany Walden has impressively built a news organization that has become a vital piece of Chicago’s media landscape and a voice for Black Chicago.

She is a 2020 Leader for a New Chicago and an awardwinning journalist with bylines in local and national publications such as the Chicago Reader, BBC Travel, Complex Magazine and Vice. In 2021, Tiffany was listed as a change maker in Chicago Magazine's "The New Power 30" issue and included on the cover of the print edition. In 2018, Tiffany was selected to join the Poynter-NABJ Leadership Academy for Diversity in Digital Media class.

Prior to launching The TRiiBE in 2017, Tiffany worked as a Breaking News Reporter at the Orlando Sentinel. She was raised on the West Side of Chicago in the North Lawndale community, attended Providence St. Mel High School in Garfield Park and graduated from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism with her BSJ in 2011 and MSJ in 2012. Through her work, she demonstrates a fierce advocacy for systemic change, giving agency to under-represented voices in Black communities. Tiffany helped lead The TRiiBE to three 2021 Peter Lisagor Award wins for Best Neighborhood/Community News Website, Best Sports Story and Best Print Design. Recently, the John S. Knight Fellowships named Tiffany as one of their U.S. fellows for their 2024 cohort.

2023 STUDS TERKEL AWARD WINNERS

Melissa Sanchez Reporter, ProPublica

Tiffany Walden

Co-Founder

Jamie Nesbitt Golden has been writing stories since her mother bought her a red typewriter at age 8.

Her literary heroes are Mike Royko, Nikki Giovanni, and Zora Neale Hurston. Michael Jordan is her archnemesis. She's a mediocre Spades player and she kills plants like a trained assassin but she's really great at reporting.

She is an award-winning journalist covering Bronzeville and the Near South Side for Block Club Chicago. A lifelong Low End kid currently living in Hyde Park, Jamie’s work has appeared in Time, Salon, xoJane and Ebony.

2023 UPLIFTING VOICES AWARD WINNER

Craig Dellimore is the Political Editor for Newsradio WBBM, a post he has held since 2001. Craig joined the station in 1983 after working for several years with the Associated Press Radio Network in Washington D.C.

During his time at WBBM, Craig has performed a variety of jobs, including anchor, managing editor, legislative correspondent and suburban bureau chief.

Craig has covered several national political conventions for WBBM. He said 2008 proved to be one of the most historic political years he has ever experienced. However, some of Craig’s most memorable stories have included assignments outside of the political realm. He covered the tragedy of the 1994 crash of American Eagle Flight 4184 in Roselawn, Indiana. He reported on the resilience of farmers and other Illinois residents along the Mississippi as they recovered from widespread flooding. And, over nearly two years, he periodically reported on a west suburban woman as she waited and waited for a lung transplant — and eventually received it.

Craig has won awards for his work from the Illinois Associated Press, the Chicago Society of Professional Journalists and more.

2023 RIPPLE EFFECT AWARD WINNER

Jamie Nesbitt Golden Reporter, Block Club Chicago

Craig Dellimore

Political Editor, WBBM Newsradio

Stories Matter. Communities Matter.

Public Narrative Matters.

A message from longtime PN supporters Michael Burke & Robert Charles

Please join us in supporting Public Narrative as generously as you can.

This is smart, tough, necessary work. This is work that heals. This is work that creates more equity, more justice. Your donation will be well-stewarded. Jhmira Alexander is an excellent leader who runs a lean, nimble organization where every dollar matters — and every dollar is spent wisely. Your contribution will go a long way — because Public Narrative works with hundreds of leaders and organizations throughout Chicago. Your support matters. Thank you!

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(Pictured: Alton Miller, Studs Terkel, Michael Burke. Provided)

STAFF & CONSULTANTS

Jhmira Alexander, president and executive director

Olivia Obineme, dir. of journalism and media engagement

Yaseen Abdus-Saboor, education program manager

Erica Bell, office coordinator

Sharon Bechdolt Okonek, accountant

Toya Griffin, administrator

Bob Goldsborough, media guide researcher

GRANTORS

The Chicago Community Trust

The Chicago Foundation for Women

The Crossroads Fund

The Field Foundation

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

Nike and the Jordan Brand

Northwestern Medicine

The Polk Bros. Foundation

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Derrick Fleming, Jr., Chicago Scholars

Brent Rollands, Fig Media

Brenda Williams, Russell Williams Group

TERKEL AWARDS COMMITTEE

Tracy Baim

Thom Clark

Kathy Chaney

Deborah Douglas

Brandis Friedman

Cornelia Grumman

Britt Julious

Kari Lydersen

Steve Mills

Antônio Olivo, Jr.

Teresa Puente

Jacqueline Serrato

Laura Washington

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Northeastern Illinois University, our host

Cheryl Corley, our master of ceremonies

FINDING IJEOMA, our DJ for the evening

Davon Clark, our photographer

Out of the Box Carryout and Catering, our caterer

CAN TV, our media broadcasting partner

PAST WINNERS

2022

Bob Black

Maya Dukmasova

Jacqueline Serrato

María Inés Zamudio

Shermann “Dilla” Thomas

Michelle Duster

2021

Brandis Friedman

Michael Puente

Maureen O’Donnell

Karen Hawkins

Tonika Lewis-Johnson

Jamie Kalven

2019

Deborah Douglas

Britt Julious

Jerome McDonnell

Annie Sweeney

Jeff McCarter

Nikole Hannah-Jones

2018

Kathy Chaney

Michael Spencer Green

Dahleen Glanton

Odette Yousef

Kevin Coval

2017

Cate Cahan

Steve Mills

Carlos Javier Ortiz

Univision Chicago Newsroom

Terry Mazany

2016

Lolly Bowean

Sarah Karp

Richard Steele

Cecilia Vaisman

Aurie Pennick

2015

Maudlyne Ihejirika

Monica Eng

Sharon Cohen

Darryl Holliday & Illustrated Press

Adele Simmons

2014

Steve Bogira

Alejandro Escalona

Steve James

Gordon Quinn

Fred & Nikki Will Stein

2013

Megan Cottrell

Fernando Diaz

Dave Hoekstra

2012

Mick Dumke

Maria Hinojosa

Chip Mitchell

2011

Linda Lenz

Kari Lydersen

Antônio Olivo

2010

Kate Grossman

Natalie Moore

Progress Illinois

2009

Thom Clark

David Jackson

Alden Loury

Scott Simon

2008

Tom McNamee

Dawn Turner Trice

WRTE 90.5FM Radio Arte

2007

Mary Helt Gavin

Stephen Franklin

WRTO 1200 AM La

Tremenda

2006

Mark Brown

Mary C. Johns & The Editorial Staff of Residents’ Journal

Renee Ferguson

2005

Tracy Baim

John Conroy

Mary Schmich

James Weinstein

2004

Alex Kotlowitz

Linda Lutton

Phil Ponce

2003

Rick Kogan

Jorge Mota

Tom Weinberg

2002

Shirley Jahad

Phil Kadner

Curtis Lawrence

WVON – AM 1450

2001

Cornelia Grumman

Martha Irvine

Salim Muwakkil

2000

Lee Bey

Ira Glass

Teresa Puente

1999

Jon Anderson

Hank DeZutter

Harry Porterfield

Laura Washington

John White

1998

Ben Hollis

Chinta Strausberg

Eric Zorn

1997

John McDermott

Mary Mitchell

Don Terry

1996

Carol Marin

Achy Obejas

Ray Suarez

1995

Vernon Jarrett

Ben Joravsky

Charles Nicodemus

1994

Cheryl Corley

David Moberg

M.W. Newman

A Note: Honoring Hank and Studs

I was looking forward to sharing accolades with tonight's talented group of journalists. But the miracle of a new kidney is keeping away from the festivities.

My long collaboration with Community Media Workshop/Public Narrative co-founder Hank DeZutter ran the gamut from our weekly Snap Judgments column in the Chicago Reader to Friday night poker with fellow journalists and activists. But high on my list was our association with the remarkable author and eclectic disc jockey Studs Terkel.

I grew up listening to Studs and remember fondly his early oral history “Division Street.” Hank was a regular source for Studs and was included in his book “Race.” In our first meeting with him to talk about these awards, Studs quickly grasped what this organization was doing to lift all voices into mainstream media.

After Hank retired, I had the pleasure of engaging Studs in the annual selection of journalists going the extra mile in covering the city’s communities. Late in life and especially after his recovery from a serious fall, my visits to his Uptown home became almost monthly ones. While on the wagon himself, he’d offer me “just a touch” of scotch while giving a running commentary to the TV, whether the talking heads on the Sunday talk shows, or that year’s chances of the Cubs having a winning season.

While happy to lend his name to honoring prominent journalists, he particularly loved naming at least one lesser-known, often younger scribe. The honor roll of previous Terkel winners proves his foresight. As does tonight’s marvelous group of awardees.

Congratulations to Jhmira and Public Narrative for adding another chapter to the rich history of the Community Media Awards. “Take it easy, but take it!”

-Thom Clark

(Pictured: Community Media Workshop/Public Narrative co-founders Thom Clark, left, and Hank DeZutter, right (d. 2022). Provided.)