The Chicago Headline Club congratulates all the winners of the 48th annual Peter Lisagor Awards for exemplary journalism.
The awards were handed out May 9, 2025 at a gathering of more than 200 members of the local media community. The entries were judged by an impartial Society of Professional Journalists chapter outside Illinois.
Anne Keegan Award
Lauren FitzPatrick, The Chicago Sun-Times
Best Design & Visuals
Best News Photo
Armando L. Sanchez of The Chicago Tribune for New Arrivals
Best Feature Photo
Vincent Alban of The Chicago Tribune for Father and Son Fireworks
Best Sports Photo
Brian Cassella of the Chicago Tribune for Wrestling Suplex
Best design in a small print publication
Thomas J Linden of Crain’s Chicago Business
Best Illustration or graphic
Caroline Picard of the Chicago Reader for Comics Journalism.
Best design in a large print publication
Bryan Barker of the Chicago Sun Times for his selection of print page designs.
Best digital design
Justin Henderson at WTTW for Firsthand: Homeless
Best use of feature video
Jerome Johnson, Tyger Ligon, Ash Lane, Joshua Leftwich and Morgan Elise Johnson of The Triibe for Former Illinois QB speaks on Justin Fields and being a Black quarterback in the 1990s.
Best use of data visualization
Kelly Bauer and Manny Ramos of Block Club Chicago for Death Behind The Wheel: How the CTA failed a driver in crisis
Best multimedia feature presentation
Chip Mitchell and Anthony Vazquez of The Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ Chicago for Walking to the United States
Best social or short form video
Stephanie Zimmerman of the Chicago Sun-Times for ‘The heat inside your car can turn deadly in minutes’
Best headline from a print/online publication
Eric White of the Chicago Sun Times
Commentary + Presentation
Best Column or Editorial From a Small Print/Online Publication
Ann Dwyer of Crain’s Chicago Business
Best Column or Editorial From a Large Print/Online Publication
Rummana Hussain of the Chicago Sun-Times
Best Sports Commentary
Evan Moore of The Chicago Defender for Bears QB Caleb Williams: Criticism of Nails, Fashion Reflect Fan Homophobia
Best Featured Reporter or Host
John Williams and Pete Zimmerman of WGN Radio
Best Email Newsletter
Shia Kapos of Politico for Illinois Playbook
Best Podcast
Jon Hansen and The Block Club Chicago Staff for the Block Club Podcast
Best Food or Restaurant Coverage
Matt Farrauto of Evanston RoundTable for “Bitter Blossom closure raises questions about local nightlife”
Best Music Coverage
Lauren FitzPatrick of the Chicago Sun Times for Mr. Duncan’s Disciples
Best Theater or Literary Coverage
Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune
Best Coverage by Subject
Best Feature Reporting Single Story/Episode
Small Print/Online: Joseph S. Pete of The Times of Northwest Indiana for a story about Gary Indiana’s long-abandoned City Methodist Church
Large Print/Online: Megan Crepeau of The Chicago Tribune for “She was a beautiful mother”
Audio: “The Unsung legacy of Margaret Burroughs” by Tiara Hicks, Mehki Harris, Rasheed Harvey, Kamaria Noble, Jaquavis Swift, Sarah Geis, Audrey Petty, Erisa Apantaku, Susie An of WBEZ Chicago, Curious City, Invisible Institute
Video: Chicago Mysteries by Sean Keenehan, Geoffrey Baer, Matthew Shimmel, Joe Winston, Tim Boyd, Oral User, Shelley Spencer of WTTW
Student: Cary Robbins and Alyssa N. Salcedo of La DePaulia for “‘It was our moment of blessing’: Migrant family finds a home with the help of a DePaul professor”
Best Feature Reporting Series
Small Print/Online: Joseph S. Pete of The Times of Northwest Indiana for 1933 Chicago World’s Fair Homes
Large Print/Online: Christy Gutowski of The Chicago Tribune for Operation Purple Heart
Audio: WBEZ Chicago’s “This is Chicago” by Anna Savchenko, Dan Mihalopoulos, Courtney Kueppers, Patrick Smith
Best Investigative Reporting
Small Print/Online: Illinois Answer Project’s “Strapped Down: Restraint Chairs in Illinois Jails” by Grace Hauck and Meredith Newman
Large Print/Online: Lisa Schencker and Emily Hoerner of the Chicago Tribune for Medical Misconduct
Video: Doug Wolfe, Eric Ahola and Lee Larkins of WAND for The Invisible Enemy
Best Reporting on Crime and Justice
Small Print/Online: MindSite News’s A West Side Story: How to Traumatize a Neighborhood Josh McGhee, Emeline Posner and Matt Kiefer
Large Print/Online: The Chicago Tribune and Illinois Answers Project’s “Many cameras. Little focus. Blurry results,” by Joe Mahr and Madison Hopkins
Audio: “The Unsung legacy of Margaret Burroughs” by Tiara Hicks, Mehki Harris, Rasheed Harvey, Kamaria Noble, Jaquavis Swift, Sarah Geis, Audrey Petty, Erisa Apantaku, Susie An of WBEZ Chicago, Curious City, Invisible Institute
Video: “Illinois Doesn’t Have Parole. A Group of Incarcerated Men is Working to Change That” by Brandis Friedman for WTTW News
Best Education Reporting
Small Print/Online: Peter Nickeas of Illinois Answers Project for “CPS Principal, Staff Stymied Police Investigation of Mass Shooting at Pilsen High School”
Large Print/Online: ProPublica’s Inside Shrub Oak by Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi Cohen
Audio: WBEZ Chicago’s reporting on Chicago’s selective enrollment schools by Sarah Karp, Susie An and Kate Grossman
Video: WAND News’ Silent Failures: The Struggle for Accountability in School Abuse Cases by Alyssa Patrick and Eric Ahola
Best Business Reporting
Small Print/Online: Investigative Project on Race and Equity and Block Club Chicago’s “Black seniors in Chicago face 50/50 odds of getting home loans to make improvements” by Tatiana Walk-Morris, Maia McDonald, Khadija Ahmed and Colin Boyle
Large Print/Online: “Apartment fees sock it to renters” by Elvia Malagón and Stephanie Zimmermann of the Chicago Sun Times
Audio: Feet in 2 Worlds’ Building a Green Chicago by Wendy Wei, Iggy Monda, John Rudolph, Quincy Surasmith, Mia Warren, Julie Schwietert Collazo, Jocelyn Gonzales and Fareed Sajan
Video: WTTW’s Chicago Stories: The Making of Playboy by Peter Marks, Anna Gardner, Bianca Lozano, Brian Clark, Tim Boyd, Anthony Fleming III, Shelley Spencer
Best Reporting on Race and Diversity
Small Print/Online: Investigative Project on Race and Equity and Block Club Chicago’s “Black seniors in Chicago face 50/50 odds of getting home loans to make improvements” by Tatiana Walk-Morris, Maia McDonald, Khadija Ahmed and Colin Boyle
Large Print/Online: WBEZ Chicago’s reporting on traffic stops by Jessica Alvarado Gamez, Amy Qin, Alden Loury, Alex Degman, Mian Li, Anna Savchenko and Tessa Weinberg
Audio: Adora Namigadde and Alden Loury of WBEZ Chicago for reporting about south suburban residents dealing with tax increases
Video: WTTW’s Chicago Stories: When the West Side Burned by Daniel Andries, John Owens, Anna Gardner, Tylen Elliott, Patty Kaniff, Eric Seals, Mary Pat Cross and Anthony Fleming III
Best Science and Technology Reporting
Nicole Cardos and Patty Wetli of WTTW News for Chicago’s Archaeopteryx
Best Political and Government Reporting
Small Print/Online: South Side Weekly’s Jim Daley for “14th Police District Council Grapples with Fierce Divisions”
Large Print/Online: Chicago Sun-Times, The Baltimore Banner and The New York Times for The invisible toll of opioid overdoses on a generation of Black men in America by Frank Main, Elvia Malagón, Erica Thompson, Josh Katz, Margot Sanger-Katz, Nick Thieme
Audio: Dan Mihalopoulos of WBEZ Chicago for “How a ‘big fan’ of Donald Trump gets along with immigrant neighbors in this diverse suburban strip mall”
Video: Kane Farabaugh of Voice of America for The Life and Legacy of Jimmy Carter
Best Arts and Entertainment Reporting
Small Print/Online: Mary Wisniewski of New city for her theater criticism
Large Print/Online: Amy Yee of the Chicago Sun-Times for a story about suburban libraries and cultural institutions unionizing
Video: WTTW’s Chicago Stories: House Music: A Cultural Revolution by Barbara Allen, Gail Baker, Anna Gardner, Keisha Chavers, Alicia Soller, David Fortney, Joe Williams, Anthony Fleming III
Best Sports Reporting
Small Print/Online: The Valparaiso Brotherhood by Paul Oren of The Victory Bell
Large Print/Online: Why does he get to save his job? By Dan Wiederer of The Chicago Tribune
The judge wrote about this reporting: Excellent story on reconciliation and what it took for stubborn folks to come back together
Audio: WSCR-AM / 670 The Score for Laurence Holmes 1-on-1 with Mayor Brandon Johnson by Mitch Rosen, Laurence Holmes, Ryan Porth, Chris Tannehill
Video: WTTW’s Chicago Stories: The Black Sox Scandal by Eddie Griffin, Michael Harvey, Anna Gardner, Lauren Drell, Patty Kaniff, Brendan Walsh, Anthony Fleming III, Shelley Spencer
Best Deadline Reporting
Small Print/Online: The DePaulia and La DePaulia’s 17 Days: DePaul’s Protest Encampment by Lilly Keller, Lucia Preziosi, Rose O’Keeffe, Jake Cox, Claire Tweedie, Alyssa Salcedo, Nupur Bosmiya, Staff
Large Print/Online: The Chicago Tribunes DNC protest coverage by Sam Charles, Megan Crepeau, Caroline Kubzansky, Christy Gutowski, Nell Salzman, Stacy St. Clair, Zareen Syed, Jason Meisner
Best Community Reporting
Small Print/Online: Maxwell Evans of Block Club Chicago for a story about Chicago’s Black steelworkers
Large Print/Online: The Chicago Tribune’s Brian J Rogal for reporting on affordable housing
Audio: LWC Studios’ 100 Latina Birthdays: Season 2 by Juleyka Lantigua, Michelle Baker, Virginia Lora, Wendy Wei, Vicky Diaz-Camacho, Carmen Marquez, Francesca Matthews, Julia Binswanger
Video: WTTW’s Chicago Stories: The Young Lords of Lincoln Park by Tania Lindsay, Anna Gardner, Alicia Soller, David Fortney, Felix Mendez, Scott Holoubek, Anthony Fleming III, Shelley Spencer
Best Reporting on Environment/Climate Change: Rooting out Risk: Cicero’s Challenge to Build a Safe Inclusive Park by Leslie Hurtado for Cicero Independiente
Best Campus Coverage by Student Journalists: Columbia Chronicle’s Columbia in crisis by Patience Hurston, Vivian Richey, Araceli Ramirez, Doreen Abril Albuerne-Rodriguez
Best All Media
Best Investigative Reporting: David Jackson of Injustice Watch for “Abuse Allegations unchecked for years at Aunt Martha’s”
Best Feature or Human Interest Single Story: WTTW’s A Celebration of Hanukkah by Rachel Pikelny, Geoffrey Baer, Kateryna Sazonova, Joe Winston, Tim Ferrin, Shelley Spencer
Best Feature or Human Interest Series: WTTW’s Firsthand: Homeless documentary series by Mario Tharpe, Dan Protess, Anne Gleason, Teresa Crawford, Ines Sommer, Edgar Vargas and Teresa White
Best Multimedia Collaboration: The Chicago Tribune and Illinoi Answer Project’s Cook County assessor misclassifies hundreds of properties by Alex Nitkin, A.D. Quig and Cam Rodriguez
Best Data Journalism: Chicago Sun-Times, The Baltimore Banner, The New York Times’ reporting on the impact of opioid overdoses on Black men in America
Best Public Service: Capitol News Illinois’ for reporting on funeral homes by Beth Hundsdorfer
Best Community Engagement: Illinois Answers Project “Strapped Down: What to know about the use of restraint chairs in Illinois jails” by Grace Hauck, Meredith Newman, Cesar Calderon, Sebastián Hidalgo, Cam Rodriguez, Jana Simovic
Best Health Reporting: WBBM Newsradio’s Lisa Fielding reporting on the troubling trends of colon cancer
If you weren’t able to attend the event to pick up your award or if you would like to order additional award plaques, please email the Headline Club at peterlisagorawards@gmail.com.