FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2020 | FOR MORE INFORMATION: LAURA S. WASHINGTON, 312.972.8422 lauraswashington@aol.com JOHN A. MCDERMOTT JR., 773.617.3949 jamcdjr@gmail.com |
“We have read Dr. Middleton’s statement. It raises deep concerns that her “reimagining” of The Chicago Reporter will erode and end editorial independence and diminish its ability to do influence-free investigative and in-depth journalism.
Her statement leaves many unanswered questions.
Will the Reporter have an independent editor and publisher, a position that has led the operation and direction of the investigations and reporting since its founding in 1972?
Why isn’t the process to reimagine the future of the Reporter more transparent?
Who is involved in discussions about the restructuring of the Reporter?
What will be the role of the proposed “Advisory Table” of “key stakeholders” for the Reporter? Who are these stakeholders? Why should they have influence over the recruiting and hiring of editorial staff, a step that will diminish the news organization’s editorial independence?
What is the vision for the Reporter – an independent news organization committed to its founding role to conduct fact- and data-based investigations on issues of race, ethnicity and poverty, or something else?
The Chicago Reporter, with nearly 50 years of effective and award-winning investigative reporting, cannot continue to do the work that must be done at this time of racial reckoning without an independent editor and publisher.
The “Save The Chicago Reporter”campaign is a group of more than 100 alumni of the pioneering publication that covers race and poverty.
#SaveTheChicagoReporter
