Dennis Anderson has been the top editor at the Peoria Journal Star for six years. But when he realized that his paper was not in touch with African American residents on the south side of the Central Illinois city, Anderson went back to beat reporting. He began talking to community leaders, asking each to recommend…
The latest chapter of the three Southern Illinois University cheerleaders who knelt during the anthem last year to protest police brutality is a complicated one. First, only one returned to the team this year; one didn’t enroll at the university. Then SIU Athletics administrators attempted to add new language to their Code of Conduct to…
I am rolling out a project named BeforeFergusonBeyondFerguson that highlights the challenges St. Louis families have faced over many generations in getting a quality education and securing their purchase on the American Dream. It grew from my work with Forward Through Ferguson, an organization formed in the wake of social unrest and with the goal of…
Analysis TV news outlets in Chicago often ignore the “cheap” murders that won’t boost ratings. Such non-reporting leaves viewers with a skewed narrative of crime in a city that too often frames victims as the bad guys, says Robert Jordan, the longtime Emmy-winning reporter and weekend anchor for WGN-TV in Chicago. “The effort is phony,…
NEWS ANALYSIS When Eric Greitens announced his plans to resign as governor of Missouri, he wore his familiar executive uniform–open necked shirt, blazer and jeans–a wardrobe that was supposed to reflect an approachable administration. But Greitens, a Republican, was anything but open and available, at least as far as the news media were concerned. In…
