Illinois Answers Project

We're excited to announce that we're partnering with Friends of the Chicago River and the McCormick Bridgehouse and Chicago River Museum to present "Chicago Underwater: A Discussion on the Impact of Flooding." On August 15th at 5:30 p.m. at the Bridgehouse Museum on the Riverwalk, we'll hold a panel discussion with flooding experts and local advocates moderated by Illinois Answers Project Reporter Alex Nitkin. We will discuss issues surrounding the impact of flooding in Chicago. The panel will be followed by a short Q&A. Interested in joining us? Click here to register: https://lnkd.in/gFr_XbZN

Check out our open positions at Illinois Answers: a State Editor who will oversee projects with state-wide focus and an Investigative Reporter. Learn more and apply here: https://lnkd.in/g8-FK2YP

May 9th was a special day for the Illinois Answers Project! We welcomed nearly 230 supporters, community partners, fellow journalists and readers to Beyond the Byline and the 20th Richard H. Driehaus Awards for Investigative Reporting in celebration of investigative journalism. #InvestigativeJournalism #DriehausAwards The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation City Bureau Invisible Institute Block Club Chicago NFP The TRiiBE Investigative Project on Race and Equity WBEZ Chicago

Press Forward has announced more than $1.6 million in grants to 13 Chicago newsrooms. Congratulations and well-deserved celebration to our partners and fellow newsrooms including: - Borderless Magazine - Chicago News Weekly - Cicero Independiente - Growing Community Media, parent company of Austin Weekly News - Injustice Watch - Investigative Project on Race and Equity - Invisible Institute - Lansing Journal LLC - La Raza Chicago - Reparations Media NFP - Respair Production & Media - South Side Weekly - Windy City Times https://lnkd.in/g7FCqnFS

Huge thanks to our incredibly generous sponsors for making Beyond the Byline and the 20th Richard H. Driehaus Awards for Investigative Reporting possible! #Gratitude #SupportJournalism #DriehausAwards 2ND CENTURY COUNCIL The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Heather Steans and Leo Smith PLATINUM Gary Elden and Phyllis Mandler GOLD The Inland Real Estate Group of Companies, Inc. THE JOSEPH AND BESSIE FEINBERG FOUNDATION D. Carroll Joynes and Abby McCormick O'Neil Mark Rust, Barnes & Thornburg LLP SILVER PLUS Phil and Jill Calian Nykia Wright BRONZE PLUS Brian Sher, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner The Dodson Family

We’re still elated following our Beyond the Byline event, featuring the 20th Richard H. Driehaus Awards for Investigative Reporting with special guest, Pulitzer Prize journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones. Thank you to our lead sponsor, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, for partnering with the Better Government Association to mark 20 years of honoring the in-depth and important work of investigative reporting. Watch our tribute video honoring Richard H. Driehaus, founder of the Driehaus Awards, and learn more about his legacy of support for regional investigative journalism. In the words of Executive Director Anne Lazar, reporting work has the power to “change minds, change policies, and change lives.” https://lnkd.in/gKsgZGcr

📣 Last call for "Beyond the Byline" tickets! This event promises a dynamic and thought-provoking experience, featuring a panel of local industry leaders discussing local news' evolution and the power of news to foster community and civic engagement, ending with the Driehaus Foundation Awards winners. Our event will also feature a conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones, and Illinois Answers Reporters Jewél Jackson and Madison Hopkins. Get your tickets before they're gone here: https://lnkd.in/gvVQZJBC

Don't forget to get your tickets to "Beyond the Byline," featuring panelists Jamie Kalven, Tonika Johnson, Shamus Toomey and Mauricio Peña. Get your tickets here: https://lnkd.in/gvVQZJBC

Meet our small newsroom finalist from Injustice Watch, David Jackson. In this series, "Exploited Elders," Jackson exposed Illinois' longstanding failures to protect its older residents from financial exploitation, in many cases when public officials knew it was happening and still took little to no action to stop it - even as victims lost their life savings. In 2022 alone, Jackson found, Illinois seniors were swindled out of a record $75.9 million, up from $5 million just eight years earlier. Those rocketing numbers come in sharp contrast to the plummeting number of arrests for elder financial abuse during the same time. He found holes in Illinois banking regulations, loose state watchdog laws and budget cuts rippling through almost every level of Illinois government. Get your tickets for The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation awards here: https://lnkd.in/gvVQZJBC