Chicago Journalists Association

04/10/2026

We’re so proud and grateful to have gathered a full room yesterday, Local News Day, for an insightful and inspiring panel with Duaa Eldeib, Brandis Griffith Friedman, Ismael Perez, Nell Salzman, and our moderator, Deborah Douglas, on building impactful journalism careers.

Thanks to our panelists, moderator, those who attended, Northwestern University Medill School, and everyone else who helped make this event a success! If you missed it, and would like to attend similar events in the future, get involved with CJA today! Find out how at the link below.

https://chicagojournalists.net/qualifications-journalism-membership/

04/08/2026

Two reminders for tomorrow: First, we’re excited to see everyone at our panel on building impactful journalism careers tomorrow at the Northwestern University Medill School! Second, we are sharing another opportunity from The Institute for Independent Journalists and the Society of Environmental Journalists with a deadline of tomorrow.

The Institute for Independent Journalists and the Society of Environmental Journalists are hosting a live Pitch Fest at in Chicago. The event will be from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 18. The deadline to submit pitches for The IIJ and SEJ live Pitch Fest at is tomorrow at 11:59 P.M. ET.

Journalists attending the conference — as well as any Chicago-area freelancer — can submit their pitch for a chance to receive live feedback from a panel of seasoned editors at the event. Register at http://bit.ly/rsvppitchfest

If you aren’t attending SEJ, and you’re a freelancer, here’s a promo code for $5 off to attend Pitch Fest: CJA5.

We hope you apply for Pitch Fest AND make time for CJA’s event Thursday evening!

04/06/2026

Don't miss out on networking and the opportunity to learn from top local journalists! There's only a FEW days left until our FREE panel discussion and networking event featuring award-winning journalists from across Chicago this Thursday at Northwestern's Medill Chicago Newsroom!

The event, Building an Impactful & Award-Winning Journalism Career, will feature the four most recent grand prize winners of the Dorothy Storck Award—Duaa Eldeib, ProPublica (2023 winner), Brandis Friedman, WTTW (2025 winner), Ismael Pérez, Investigative Project on Race and Equity (2022 winner), and Nell Salzman, The New York Times, Local Investigations Fellow (2024 winner)—in a conversation moderated by Deborah Douglas, senior lecturer and founding director of the Medill Solutions Journalism Hub.

Sponsored by the Northwestern-Medill Local News Accelerator, the event will be held at the school’s Chicago newsroom at 303 E. Wacker Drive. If you still haven't grabbed your ticket, now is the time!

A Panel Conversation with Winners of the Dorothy Storck Award

04/03/2026

The Chicago Journalists Association wanted to thank Press Forward Chicago (The Chicago Community Trust), The Joyce Foundation, The Field Foundation of Illinois and The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation for their generosity in helping some of our board and other CJA members to attend the annual Online News Association Conference in Chicago this week.

We’re grateful to these J-funders not only for making attending ONA possible for so many, enabling CJA leaders and members to learn from talented local and out-of-state journalists, but also for their continued support of Chicago journalism and organizations like CJA year-round.

If you'd like to continue the networking from ONA, please join us at our panel next Thursday, where four previous Dorothy Storck winners will share their tips on building impactful, award-winning careers in journalism.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/building-an-impactful-award-winning-journalism-career-tickets-1984414840206

04/02/2026

We’re just A WEEK away from our next event, Building an Impactful and Award-Winning Journalism Career, in which four former Dorothy Storck Awards winners will share how they’ve built successful and impactful journalism careers.

Join us and Duaa Eldeib, ProPublica; Brandis Friedman, WTTW; Ismael Pérez, Investigative Project on Race and Equity; and Nell Salzman, The New York Times, Local Investigations Fellow for networking and career insights from some of Chicago’s most talented journalists.

This event, sponsored by the Northwestern-Medill Local News Accelerator and moderated by Deborah Douglas, senior lecturer and founding director of the Medill Solutions Journalism Hub at Northwestern University and 2021 Dorothy Storck winner, will be held at the school’s Chicago newsroom at 303 E. Wacker Drive. Pizza and pop will be provided and tickets are still available to purchase online!

You don’t want to miss this! We’d love to see you on Thursday!

A Panel Conversation with Winners of the Dorothy Storck Award

03/28/2026

Congrats to the many members of our CJA community who received recognition for their outstanding work this week!

Our Vice President Maia McDonald was part of a reporting team that earned second place for the 2025 Shaufler Prize in Journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

Maia joined many other CJA community members like Co-President Alexandria Jacobson, 2025 Dorothy Storck Award Winner Brandis Griffith Friedman and Sarah Brown Boyden Best of the Best Winner Stephanie Zimmermann as finalists for the Chicago Headline Club (SPJ Chicago Chapter)'s Peter Lisagor Awards.

Plus, it's great to see 2025 Dorothy Storck second prize winner Alma Campos honored with a Studs Terkel Community Media Award from Public Narrative and Jim Williams, our 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award, also get recognized by CHC, too.

If you'd like to meet some of these award-winning journalists and and learn how they create stories with impact, please join us for a networking event and panel discussion on Thursday, April 9!

A Panel Conversation with Winners of the Dorothy Storck Award

03/26/2026

Have you grabbed your ticket to CJA’s next event, Building an Impactful and Award-Winning Journalism Career with several accomplished local journalists, yet?

Four of our most recent Dorothy Storck Awards winners are talking to us about how to build award-winning, successful careers in journalism during a panel moderated by Deborah Douglas, senior lecturer and founding director of the Medill Solutions Journalism Hub at Northwestern University, as well as 2021 Dorothy Storck winner.

This event, sponsored by the Northwestern-Medill Local News Accelerator, will be held at the school’s Chicago newsroom at 303 E. Wacker Drive. Pizza and pop will be provided. Please secure tickets for this free event, one of the many benefits of being a CJA member. Tickets for non-members are $15.

A Panel Conversation with Winners of the Dorothy Storck Award

03/17/2026

Join us next month on April 9 for what we’re sure will be an enlightening conversation about Building an Impactful and Award-Winning Journalism Career with a group of accomplished local journalists, four of our most recent Dorothy Storck Awards winners:

Duaa Eldeib, ProPublica (2023 winner)
Brandis Friedman, WTTW (2025 winner)
Ismael Pérez, Investigative Project on Race and Equity (2022 winner)
Nell Salzman, The New York Times, Local Investigations Fellow (2024 winner)

Moderated by Deborah Douglas, senior lecturer and founding director of the Medill Solutions Journalism Hub at Northwestern University, as well as 2021 Dorothy Storck winner, these Chicago journalists will take attendees through their journalism careers and give suggestions on how to focus on journalism with impact.

This event, sponsored by the Northwestern-Medill Local News Accelerator, will be held at the school’s Chicago newsroom at 303 E. Wacker Drive. Pizza and pop will be provided. Tickets are free for CJA members and available for non-members to purchase online!

https://bit.ly/storckpanel

02/26/2026

Sharing a message from our friends with the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA).

SAJA Chicago is hosting its Iftar in celebration of Ramadan from 5:15 to 7:30 p.m. TONIGHT — all are welcome but please RSVP: https://saja.org/event-6574667

02/18/2026

The Rev. Jesse Jackson has been celebrated and memorialized as a civil rights icon and a giant who stood up for the rights of all people. Here in Chicago, we also knew him as a south sider who showed up for freedom and justice.

In this photo, with CJA’s late president Allen Rafalson (right) and former NBC Chicago anchor Rob Stafford, the Rev. Jackson joined us at our 2017 awards ceremony where we recognized the sacrifice and the excellence of our journalists. The Rev. Jackson dedicated his life to service, and he inspired so many people throughout our nation and right here in Chicago. We are grateful to him for showing up for all.

02/17/2026

Do you have your ticket for this week's virtual conversation with a documentarian telling the story of Sigrid Schultz, the Chicago journalist who warned the world about N**i Germany?

6 p.m. CT
Thursday, Feb. 19
Sign up here:

A Conversation with Documentarian Vanessa Johnston about World War II Journalist Sigrid Schultz