Chicago Headline Club Announces Winners
of Peter Lisagor Awards
The Chicago Headline Club the largest local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists in the country announced the winners of its 34th annual Peter Lisagor Awards for Exemplary Journalism on May 6 at the Hotel Allegro in Chicago.
You may read about it in the Chicago Sun-Times, WGN, SouthtownStar, Herald-News, Daily Herald and Northwest Herald.
Highlighting the awards ceremony were the Lifetime Achievement Awards and Watchdog Award.
Three veteran journalists received Lifetime Achievement Awards. Since 2002, the Headline Club’s Lifetime Achievement Awards have honored special journalists for their extraordinary work in Chicago journalism. This year’s awardees exemplify journalism at its best. They are:
Roger Ebert Roger has been the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times since 1967, and his reviews are syndicated in more than 200 newspapers around the world. He won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 1975. He and his wife Chaz currently produce “Ebert Presents at the Movies,” which is syndicated on PBS stations nationwide. Ebert is the only film critic honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. See http://rogerebert.suntimes.com for more info about his work and career.
Richard C. Longworth Richard is a veteran of the City News Bureau, UPI both in Chicago and abroad and the Chicago Tribune where he spent nearly 30 years as an economics reporter, business editor, chief European correspondent and senior writer. Twice a Pulitzer Prize finalist, Longworth has reported from 80 countries and covered such historic events such as the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago, all European revolutions of 1989, plus wars in the Mideast, Somalia and Kosovo. He is currently a senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. See http://richardclongworth.com for more info about his work and career.
Elizabeth Brackett Elizabeth currently serves as correspondent and substitute host for WTTW11’s flagship nightly public affairs program Chicago Tonight. During her tenure, she has covered presidential, mayoral and gubernatorial races, Chicago financial exchanges, the Chicago Bulls and genetic research, to name a few. Since 1984, she has also served as local correspondent for the PBS program The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. In that role she has covered national and international stories on an in-depth basis.
In addition, the 2010 Watchdog Award for Excellence in Public Interest Reporting goes to Sam Roe and Jared S. Hopkins of the Chicago Tribune for their “Deadly Neglect” series. This Tribune investigation, published in 2010, uncovered a pattern of harmful care at the Alden Village North, a home for children and adults with developmental disabilities. Thirteen times in the last decade, residents have died under circumstances that led to state citations for neglect or failure to investigate. In response to the series, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and three state agencies took swift action to safeguard the facility’s children, including placing a monitoring team in the home and removing the state wards who were living there. And state officials began drafting legislation to improve care at all 300 Illinois facilities for people with developmental disabilities — the first significant move in a generation to reform care for that population.
The award is presented in partnership with the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation and the Chicago Headline Club Foundation. The Driehaus Foundation encourages investigative journalism by, among other activities, providing financial support for the Headline Club’s Watchdog Award and our Watchdog Fund, which provides grants for investigative reporting.
Kern Tells Lisagor Audience: Investigate!
“Investigative reporting is the most valuable service we can provide,” Chicago Tribune Editor Gerould Kern told an audience of almost 300 in the keynote speech.
The future of journalism will be discovering inequity and seeking to correct it, he said. “The future lies in our public service mission.”
Kern also predicted:
News will be consumer driven.
Nothing is free.
He expects that the future holds a highly personalized media that will be tailored to individuals.
Kern also warned against relying on technology too heavily. “Let’s not mistake technology as the ends to our work. It is only the means.”
LISAGOR AWARD WINNERS
Print, online and broadcast reporters and editors from SPJ chapters in other cities across the country judged this year’s Lisagor Award entries. Winners were selected for such attributes as enterprise, accuracy, scope, style and impact.
MULTIMEDIA COLLABORATION
Kelly Virella, Kimbriell Kelly and Natalie Moore, The Chicago Reporter and WBEZ-FM, “Taser timeout”
EDITORIAL CARTOON
Roger Schillerstrom, Crain’s Chicago Business
FEATURE WRITING
Radio
Linda Lutton, Sarah Karp and Cate Cahan, WBEZ-FM, “Charter Schools”
Specialty/Trade
Gregg Blesch, Modern Healthcare, “Putting hospitals on notice”
Non-daily, circulation more than 20,000
Bryan Smith, Chicago magazine, “Mighty Mouth”
Non-daily, circulation less than 20,000
Irv Leavitt, Pioneer Press, “The Unemployee”
Online
Linda Paul and Richard Cahan, WBEZ-FM, “Public Housing Sprouts Organic Farm”
Television
Mark Saxenmeyer, D Gresham and Lou Hinkhouse, WFLD-TV, “All the world’s a stage”
Daily newspaper, circulation 250,000 or more
Sharon Cohen, The Associated Press, “The 100 Percenters”
Daily newspaper, circulation 250,000 or less
Lauren FitzPatrick, SouthtownStar, “Faces of freedom”
FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHY, DAILY
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
John J. Kim, Chicago Sun-Times, “Sleeping boys”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
John Starks, Daily Herald, “Stars and stripes forever”
PHOTOGRAPHY, NON-DAILY
Non-daily publication, circulation more than 20,000
Alberto Treviño, Extra, “Latino Fashion Week 2010”
Non-daily publication, circulation less than 20,000
Joe Gallo, Jon Lowenstein and Mark Abramson, The Chicago Reporter, “Juvenile justice”
NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY, DAILY
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
E. Jason Wambsgans, Chicago Tribune, “Fatal fire”
Daily newspaper, circulation less that 250,000
George LeClaire, Daily Herald, “When Elvis was alive”
DEADLINE REPORTING
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Staff, Chicago Tribune, “Firefighter deaths”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Kevin Craver, Dan McCaleb, Brett Rowland and Susan Sutschek, Northwest Herald, “Embattled Metra chief kills himself”
Non-daily publication
Modern Healthcare staff, Modern Healthcare, “Healthcare reform vote”
BREAKING NEWS
Online
Dawn Reiss, Time.com, “The Blagojevich case: Like the Ali-Frazier rivalry?”
Television
Joe Kolina and Jennifer Lay-Riske, WMAQ NBC5, “Blagojevich verdict”
Radio
WBBM Newsradio 780, “Firefighters Down”
NEWSCAST
Radio
WGN
Television
Late Newscast
Joe Kolina and Jennifer-Lay Riske, WMAQ NBC5
NEWS WEB SITE
chicagotribune.com
GENERAL EXCELLENCE, NON-ENGLISH
Daily newspaper
Dziennik Zwiazkowy, Polish Daily News
Non-daily publication
Extra
NEIGBORHOOD/COMMUNITY NEWS, ONLINE
wellesparkbulldog.com
DESIGN
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
James Smith, Chicago Sun-Times
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Scott Helmchen, Northwest Herald
Non-daily publication, circulation more than 20,000
Cristela Tschumy, Playboy
Non-daily publication, circulation less than 20,000
Douglas Wertheimer, Chicago Jewish Star
GRAPHICS
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Greg Good, Chicago Sun-Times
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Brian Delaney, The Herald News
Non-daily publication, circulation more than 20,000
Jason McGregor, Crain’s Chicago Business
Non-daily publication, circulation less than 20,000
Christine Wachter, The Chicago Reporter
ILLUSTRATION
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Bryan Barker, Chicago Sun-Times
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Chad Merda, SouthtownStar
Non-daily publication, circulation more than 20,000
Cody Tilson, Playboy
EDUCATION REPORTING
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Rosalind Rossi and Art Golab, Chicago Sun-Times, “Grade Shame”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Staff, SouthtownStar, “School spending”
SCIENCE, HEALTH, TECHNOLOGY, ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING
Radio
Lynette Kalsnes/Sally Eisele, WBEZ-FM, “Row”
Television
Mark Saxenmeyer, D Gresham and Lou Hinkhouse, WFLD-TV, “Bomb beach”
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Michael Hawthorne, Chicago Tribune, “Ticket to toxic air”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Marni Pyke, Daily Herald, “Haste makes toxic waste”
MULTIMEDIA FEATURE PRESENTATION
David Jackson, Gary Marx, Nancy Stone, Christopher Groskopf, Danielle Gordon, Ryan Mark, Meg Theno, Robin Daughtridge and George Papajohn, Chicago Tribune, “Walking into Danger”
USE OF VIDEO
Heather Charles, Chicago Tribune, “Faces of HIV”
USE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
Staff, Chicago Tribune, “Pictures of the Day — Dec. 22, 2010”
SPORTS STORY
Radio
Jason Marck, Katie O’Brien and Aurora Aguilar, WBEZ-FM, “’85 Bears”
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Rick Telander, Chicago Sun-Times, “The team”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Ashok Selvam, Chuck Keeshan and Russell Lissau, Daily Herald, “Unanswered Questions”
Non-daily publication, circulation more than 20,000
Shane Tritsch, Chicago magazine; “Sammy Agonistes”
SPORTS COMMENTARY
Daily newspaper, circulation more that 250,000
David Haugh, Chicago Tribune
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Barry Rozner, Daily Herald
SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Scott Strazzante, Chicago Tribune, “Summer with Stanley”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Rick West, Daily Herald, “Game saving catch”
BUSINESS REPORTING
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Tim Novak, Art Golab and Mary Wisniewski, Chicago Sun-Times, “Illegal cabs on Chicago’s streets”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Keith Benman, The Times of Northwest Indiana; “Indiana Playing A Game Of Hold ‘Em”
Television
Mark Saxenmeyer, D Gresham and Lou Hinkhouse, WFLD-TV, “The emergency room emergency”
Non-daily publication, circulation more than 20,000
Paul Merrion, Greg Hinz and Steven R. Strahler, Crain’s Chicago Business, “The State of Insolvency”
Specialty/Trade
Rebecca Vesely, Modern Healthcare, “For good behavior”
Radio
Ashley Gross and Cate Cahan, WBEZ-FM, “Bad Developers”
ARTS REPORTING AND CRITICISM
Non-daily publication, circulation more than 20,000
David Bernstein, Chicago magazine, “Broadway bound”
Non-daily publication, circulation less than 20,000
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Jewish Star, “Front Row”
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Blair Kamin, Chicago Tribune, “World’s tallest building opens in Dubai”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Dann Gire, Daily Herald
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
Online
Reporting team, WBEZ-FM, “Inside and Out”
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Megan Twohey, Chicago Tribune, “Dangerous doctors”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Matt Arado, John Patterson and Bob McCoppin, Daily Herald, “Public pension time bomb”
Radio
Linda Paul and Cate Cahan, WBEZ-FM, ” ‘Confidential’ records can haunt kids later”
IN-DEPTH REPORTING, NON-DAILY PUBLICATION
General-interest publication, circulation more than 20,000
Dave Glowacz and Ben Joravsky, Chicago Reader, “Filed Away?”
Community newspaper, circulation less than 20,000
Charles Berman and Matt Kiefer, Highland Park News, “Mooney Cemetery investigation”
Business magazine or newspaper, circulation more than 20,000
John Lippert and Mario Parker, Bloomberg Markets, “New king coal; shale games
Magazine or magazine section, circulation more than 20,000
Hillel Levin and John Conroy, Playboy, “Area two”
Magazine or magazine section, circulation less than 20,000
Angela Caputo, Kimbriell Kelly and Alissa Groeninger, The Chicago Reporter, “17”
POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENT REPORTING
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Lisa Lerer and John McCormick, Bloomberg News, “Tea Party’s Principles Too Inflexible for Many Business Leaders”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Mick Dumke and Dan Mihalopoulos, Chicago News Cooperative; “City’s restrictive gun laws are rarely enforced”
IN-DEPTH NEWS STORY OR SERIES
Radio
Felicia Middlebrooks and staff, WBBM Newsradio 780, “Haiti At Ground Zero”
Television
Mark Saxenmeyer, D Gresham and Lou Hinkhouse, WFLD-TV, “There was a long line, Mommy”
Specialty/Trade
Sarah Karp, Lorraine Forte and Linda Lenz, Catalyst Chicago, “Setting the agenda: Advice for the next mayor”
PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAMMING
Radio
Staff, WBEZ-FM, “Inside and Out”
Television
Barbara E. Allen, Daniel Andries, Gail F. Baker, Ph.D., WTTW11, “DuSable to Obama: Chicago’s black metropolis”
BEST REPORTER, BROADCAST
Radio
Robert Wildeboer, WBEZ-FM
Television
Paula Gomez, Univision Chicago WGBO
NEWS COLUMN OR COMMENTARY
Specialty/Trade
Neil McLaughlin, Modern Healthcare
Non-daily publication, circulation more than 20,000
Greg Hinz, Crain’s Chicago Business
Non-daily publication, circulation less than 20,000
Jerry Moore, Wheaton Leader, St. Charles Republican, Westmont Progress and Carol Stream Press
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
John W. Fountain, Chicago Sun-Times
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Guy Tridgell, SouthtownStar
EDITORIAL WRITING
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Staff, Chicago Sun-Times
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Jim Slusher and Editorial Board, Daily Herald
Non-daily publication, circulation less than 20,000
Jerry Moore, Lemont Reporter/Met
BLOG
Independent
Stan Zoller
Affiliated
Roger Ebert, Roger Ebert’s Journal, Chicago Sun-Times
START-UP
Patrick Boylan, Jane Rickard and Emily Lonigro, wellesparkbulldog.com
