CITY LEADERS CALL FOR IMMEDIATE REINSTATEMENT OF CHICAGO REPORTER
Preckwinkle, Foxx & Others Demand CRS Restart Publication
@SaveTCR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Thom Clark: 312.405.2142
thomnewstips@gmail.com
Deborah Harrington: 312.841.8449
deborahharrington@att.net
CHICAGO — With a crucial voice on race and poverty silenced, in a time when the city’s Black and Latino communities are facing a perfect storm of crises, a group of political, community and civic leaders, led by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and former Cook County Clerk David Orr are demanding an immediate restart of the Chicago Reporter.
In an open letter to the Community Renewal Society, which houses the award-winning investigative journal that for almost 50 years has explored race and poverty in Chicago, the group, @SaveTCR, of nearly 100 leaders and Reporter alumni is seeking to have an interim editor appointed while the future of the more-than-adequately funded project is determined.
“The loss of the Reporter as a professional, independent news organization would leave the metropolitan area without crucial reporting and data that we rely upon in our efforts for equity and justice,” the letter said.
A recent example of the publication’s wide reach and its ability to influence the public debate on racial justice was recently demonstrated in March when the Reporter launched the Illinois Coronavirus Tracker. It showed how Blacks and Latinos were testing positive for coronavirus — and dying — at significantly higher rates than whites, in Chicago and statewide, documenting Covid-19’s devastating toll on communities of color. The Tracker has garnered more than a million users, including New York Times reporters.
“Yet the Reporter has not published new content since September 15,” said Thom Clark, co-founder and retired president of Community Media Workshop/Public Narrative, one of signers of the open letter (below). “Any halt in publication damages the Reporter’s reputation and its ability to function as an independent, professional news organization.”
Friends of The Chicago Reporter 