The Chicago Reporter The newspaper revisited the 1998 slaying of 11-year-old Ryan Harris and its aftermath, finding it a critical point in police-community relations in Chicago’s crime-ridden Englewood neighborhood. Reporters reconstructed the police investigation of the crime, which led to the brief and controversial arrest of two young, neighborhood boys. (An adult was later charged […]

Herald & Review WILL-TV (PBS) WILL-AM “Dropping Out: Why students leave Decatur schools” was a civic journalism project that involved citizens, including those who’d never finished high school, in developing ideas to help keep students in school through graduation. In November 2001, the partners commissioned a survey of 102 adults who had dropped out of […]

The Chicago Reporter WGN-TV WNUA-FM The partners drew a subtle and nuanced portrait of Wrightwood, a previously white neighborhood that had become 50 percent African-American fairly quickly in the early ’90’s, as a case study in racial change in a community. The Reporter, a monthly paper that uses investigative techniques to cover race and poverty, […]

The Chicago Reporter WBEZ-FM WNUA-FM The Pew Center provided additional funding to allow the investigative monthly to complete its portrait of racial change in the Chicago neighborhood of Wrightwood. The story appeared in the April 1998 issue. For more details, please see Year Four (1997) projects. Contact: Laura S. Washington 3750 Lake Shore Dr., Apt. […]

University of Illinois League of Women Voters The partners teamed up for the Illinois Voter Project (IVP), an effort to make election coverage more issues-focused and responsive to voters rather than candidates. The university conducted a statewide opinion survey before the March 1994 primary to determine citizens’ major concerns. In June, the partners began a […]

Journal-Star WMBD-TV (CBS), WMBD-AM WCBU-TV (PBS), WCBU-FM (NPR) Illinois Central College Bradley University Noting a decline in civic leadership and community involvement, the partners embarked on “Leadership Challenge,” a project that met its ambitious goal of inspiring citizens to take leadership roles in the community. Designed from the beginning to become a community effort, the […]