Chicago Reader

The Chicago Reader (the Reader) is an alternative weekly newspaper that publishes political and cultural coverage. It has a long history of fearless, award-winning journalism. Over the past decade, like many other local, independent news organizations around the country, the Reader has experienced financial hardships and ownership transitions that have diminished its reporting capacity and influence. Today, the Reader is undergoing a major transformation with new leadership, and is poised to remake itself as a vital source of accountability journalism as well as a strong anchor for a diverse community of independent newsrooms. This grant provides support for the Accountability Journalism project, which seeks to recruit and collaborate with freelancers of color and smaller independent news outlets representing diverse communities in order to conduct more rigorous reporting on issues that predominantly affect communities of color, immigrant communities, and other historically marginalized groups. The intended outcome of this grant is to ensure that the Reader’s editorial decisions and content partners represent and reflect Chicago’s diverse communities, and the reporting conducted by the Reader is relevant and impactful for those communities.