🗣 TOMORROW || Mayor Brandon Johnson, in conjunction w/ a group of majority Black women alders, calls for the creation of the Mayor’s Task Force on Missing Women.
Reporters
@sarahanneconway
&
@trinattrill
will speak on their investigation
#ChicagoMissingPersons
at City Hall.
We are thrilled to announce that
@MacFound
has invested $1 million in our civic journalism lab on Chicago’s South Side, as part of the Jack Fuller Legacy Initiative. It's a major vote of confidence in our vision for equitable, inclusive local media /1
🥳🎉We’re excited to share big news!🥳🎉
City Bureau and the
#DocumentersNetwork
won the Stronger Democracy Award which will bring $10 million of funding to expand our participatory civic media network across the country.
Here we go! 🧵 (1/9)
✨ We are incredibly proud to share that City Bureau Senior Reporter
@sarahanneconway
and
@invinst
Data Director Trina Reynolds-Tyler have won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting for their investigation “Missing in Chicago!
🔎 One of our first investigations ever was featured on
@LastWeekTonight
! Check out the work of former fellows
@yanazure
and
@samstecklow
, copublished with
@Chicago_Reader
, about how police unions have influenced crime reporting in Chicago and beyond 👇
Thank you, Malik. For your joyful spirit, your thoughtfulness and kindness, and all that you shared with us and those who you mentored. This is a devastating loss for Chicago and the communities you cared for—we’re thankful to have been part of your journey
Launching TODAY: Your city officials are making big decisions. We’re making it easy to keep tabs at —starting in
#Chicago
and
#Detroit
.
Let’s reimagine accountability ⚡️
Introducing the Chicago COVID Resource Finder ℹ️ Access updated, verified info on food, housing, legal aid, +more during the coronavirus pandemic.
Need SMS access? 📲 Text "covid" to (312) 436-2280
For every $1 banks loaned in Chicago’s white neighborhoods, they invested just 12 cents in the city’s Black neighborhoods and 13 cents in Latinx areas.
Read & listen ➡️ our new series on home lending w/
@WBEZ
With racial injustice at the center of the national conversation, WBEZ and
@city_bureau
present a new analysis on how much banks and other lenders invest in Chicago’s white, black and Latino neighborhoods.
🧵 Our two-year investigation with
@invinst
on
#ChicagoMissingPersons
reveals disproportionate impact on Black women and girls.
In partnership with
@invinst
, we investigated how Chicago Police handle missing person cases.
📣 WE MOVED!
City Bureau's new home is the historic landmark Overton Hygienic Building in Bronzeville.
We hoped to open our doors with a little more 🎉🍾🎊 but y'all will be invited as soon we can be closer than 6ft apart!
Today is the last day of
@alexarriaga_
’s year-long Reporting Residency with us. Since last March, Alexandra has covered immigrant civic participation during the pandemic. Here are some of her amazing accomplishments. /1
In five years City Bureau has trained over 100 Civic Reporting Fellows & Residents in journalism & community engagement. We’ve learned so much from the folks who have come through our newsroom—now making Big Moves all across the country.
.
@AssataDaughters
had a big year—they got $25K from
@Kaepernick7
& moved into their own space. Here’s what you should know about this grassroots group:
EXCITING NEWS: The
#Documenters
Network is expanding! 🎉
Over the next 3 years, we’ll be adding new partners to grow the Documenters Network. Help us bring it to a community near you.
Here’s how you can get involved 👇
Hey y'all,
@citybureau
just turned 6!🥳
We wouldn't be here without our community that makes it all possible & we can't wait to share what's coming up next!
Help us write that next chapter by donating any amount today and receive a 2x match
#newsmatch
➡️
"We believe community engagement is a pillar of journalism—it’s not a tool, single job, one-off project or a way to save traditional news.“ 👉 Introducing our Community Engagement Guidelines! Read
@lenifaye
on how and why we generated them: (cc:
#EELive19
)
Today is the last day of
@JstnAgrlo
’s year-long Reporting Residency with us. Since last March, Justin has covered the pandemic housing crisis in Chicago. Here are some of his incredible accomplishments /1
IT’S BACK! We're accepting applications for our 🍂 Fall Fellowship 🍂 — a paid, 10-week training/reporting experience for emerging journalists. Tackle a big-picture news topic with an emphasis on racial equity and community engagement.
APPS DUE 8/28:
We’re HIRING! Our Documenters network is reimagining the future of civic media 📣 Now we’re seeking a FT manager to lead our flagship program in Chicago. Salary: $56,625 + annual raises + benefits. Deadline: June 12. Application 👉🏾
We’ve got news! 🗞 We are relaunching our Civic Reporting Residency in 2020 in Chicago as a full-time, yearlong position. You’ll get to work with ~All Three~ City Bureau programs: the Fellowship,
@Chidocumenters
and
#PublicNewsroom
. Apply NOW- due Jan 29:
We are THRILLED to announce our new class of Spring 2019 Reporting Fellows! Over the next 11 wks we will tackle maternal health, university-community relations and how churches affect neighborhoods. Follow our stories:
Meet our two new, full-time Civic Reporting Residents:
🔸Alex Arriaga (
@alexarriaga__
) - How immigrant communities build power and participate in democracy in Chicago.
🔸Justin Agrelo (
@JstnAgrlo
) - Who gets a say in housing and development in Chicago.
⚡️
We’re very excited to announce our newest project, the Newswire, brought to you by
@CHIDocumenters
!
More than just a newsletter, it’s a direct line into the halls of power where people make decisions that shape every aspect of our civic life/🧵
Sign up!
Meet
@ArionneNettles
, City Bureau's Deputy Editor!
With Arionne on board, bringing a background in multimedia journalism and education, we're excited to grow our editorial strategy and build better systems of support for emerging local journalists.
The old contract between news media and the public is broken. A new contract would frame journalism as an act of citizenship, rather than an entity for and separate from citizens.
👉 Check out CB cofounder
@d_holli
’s must-read column for
@Pacefunders
Artist, abolitionist, healer.
Alycia Kamil (
@kamilalyciaa
) cultivates joy, fights external pressures and burnout as she organizes and heals Black Chicago youth.
Our latest in the How a Community Heals series. 🌱
🖊️
@Lstblkgrl
📸
@thought_poet77
🍂 Fall is here, and you know what that means... a new batch of amazing Civic Reporting Fellows! Meet the whole crew and learn about their story topics here:
Next month, after 4 years of scheming and dreaming with us, City Bureau co-founder and Director of Community Engagement
@lenifaye
will head to Nashville to pursue a Master of Divinity degree at
@VanderbiltU
.
To our Carebear In Chief, we love you.
Sorry, 34th ward neighbors. It’s your turn to be featured on
Want to help us keep tabs on public officials? Check out
@chidocumenters
and get involved 💸
Breaking: Alderman Patrick Daley Thompson (11th) faces 7 charges related to a now-shuttered Bridgeport bank.
So, if you’re wondering
#HasMyAldermanBeenIndicted
🤔, we got you:
Is your journalism a luxury or necessity? CB cofounder
@hdbacklund
says we need a new framework to prioritize news & info that fulfills fundamental needs: an information hierarchy of needs
We are so excited to welcome our newest team member,
@MaxResnik
! Max is joining us to help us grow the Documenters program and equip communities all over the country with the tools they need to cover their local public meetings. Learn more about Max ⬇️
📢📢 Chi twitter we need you!
Real estate development is opaque and has a huge impact on how neighborhoods change, so we created a zine that breaks down how anyone can use community benefits agreements (CBAs) to give their community a say in development. 🧵⤵️
Looking for meal/food pickup locations today? With CPS meal program suspended, we’re updating as fast as we can - If you see anything missing, let us know via DM or reply!
Meet our new director of marketing and communications, Lucia Anaya! This lifelong Pilsen resident and former journalist is joining our team to amplify our work and tell more folks about what we’re building at City Bureau.
Four years ago today, City Bureau launched our first event showcasing our first cohort of fellows, w/ partners
@invinst
and
@ILhumanities
. Can you believe how time flies?
News is better when we make it together. Thanks to all who have joined in our work, and here’s to many more!
The secret’s out! 📺 City Bureau was visited by
@MSNBC
@RonMott
last month to see how we put community stories at the forefront. Because of you, we are making better news, together. 💫 Click to watch the whole segment:
In a year that has proven local journalism is just as essential as ever before, we’re ecstatic to welcome our Summer 2021 Civic Reporting Fellows. 👋 This cohort will cover environmental-related issues around Chicago.
Meet them here 📝 :
💛 With immense gratitude, we’re sharing that after nearly nine years as our co-founder
@bechang8
is stepping away from her role at City Bureau. She’s been named a John S. Knight Journalism Fellow
@JSKstanford
!🧵
We are honored to be among 5 nonprofits profiled in “The New Do-Gooders” feature for
@Chicagomag
. Read more about our cofounders & their vision for the future of journalism:
Documenters is a simple, powerful idea: train and pay everyday people who reflect their communities to attend and document public meetings, putting critical decisions on the record and equipping people with journalism skills and access to civic power. (2/9)
"If we’re going to make journalism that deserves trust, we need to reframe the way journalism is made. We need a way to prioritize news that serves people who need it most."
@bechang8
's
@TEDxWrigley
talk was 🔥🔥.
Watch the full talk here:
We’re
#hiring
! City Bureau is seeking a temporary, PT Research Assistant to conduct research and interviews for a civic landscape report in select U.S. cities ($40-50/hour, local or remote)
🗣️ Big news today! After 8 years of a co-leadership structure, we’re searching for our first Executive Director to help us define the next era of growth.
Read why we’re evolving and help us find the right person!
🎉 🎉 We’re excited to welcome
@WriterAlejandra
to the City Bureau team! She brings nearly 20 years of reporting experience and a deep desire to mentor the next generation of journalists of color.
Learn more about City Bureau’s new Deputy Editor!
We’re so proud of cofounder
@lenifaye
, who is featured by
@NorthwesternU
as one of 150 alumna who “take risks, chart their own course and inspire change” — we couldn’t agree more!
Special Series 📣 Experts say an eviction avalanche is coming. But thousands of Chicago renters have already been pushed to the brink of
#TheHousingCliff
.
We share their stories, along w/ solutions & resources via CB reporters
@JstnAgrlo
@WoojaeJSong
@malik__x
@Lstblkgrl
Mothers who lost sons to violence or incarceration sit shoulder-to-shoulder monthly to laugh, cry, and heal. Beautiful story told by CB Fellows
@sarahanneconway
&
@sebastian_hwc
with
@ChicagoMag
We’re HIRING an Engagement Reporter in Chicago! Join our team and you’ll get to:
⚡️ report for & with Chicago’s BIPOC communities
⚡️ take a racial equity lens on civic issues
⚡️ mentor folks in our award-winning Fellowship
$58,500 salary w/ annual raises
We’re thrilled to share that City Bureau’s
#DocumentersNetwork
has been selected as a finalist for the
#StrongerDemocracyAward
💪
The award will fund 3 teams working to build the infrastructure we need for real democracy
🎉 The Documenters Network is growing! 🎉
This fall,
@canopyatl
,
@fresnoland
and
@TheReader_Omaha
will train and pay local community members to cover local public meetings in Atlanta, Fresno and Omaha.
Find out more about our growing network!
#jobalert
! 🚨 City Bureau is hiring a Senior Editor/Fellowship Manager to take charge of our award-winning Civic Reporting Fellowship program in Chicago.
If you're ready to train the next generation of community-engaged journalists, APPLY BY APRIL 11:
Guess who's back? The Summer 2021 Civic Reporting Fellowship!
We're looking for Reporters and Team Leaders to take part in our paid, 11-week opportunity for emerging and established journalists this summer.🌻
Applications are due May 23.✨
Is one of your loved ones incarcerated? Do you work with prisoners and their families? We’ve created a free zine with easy-to-read post-conviction resources. Check out this excerpt and learn more:
Election map time! Our developer Pat created interactive maps that go down to precinct level, display density of votes and filter by candidate—for mayoral AND ward races.
#twill
This fall our fellows will tackle 3 big-picture questions:
📥 How will immigrants participate in the election of 2020 & beyond?
🏡 What does the so-called “eviction avalanche” really look like?
📊 How will Chicago’s budget reveal its priorities for 2021?
City Bureau co-founder Darryl Holliday's next chapter begins as he steps down from his role. We're incredibly proud of his contributions in shaping our Chicago programs and the growth of the
#DocumentersNetwork
. Read
@d_holli
's reflections on this journey!
The $10M award will help City Bureau grow our Documenters Network team, build out , and make it easier for new communities across the United States to join. There’s no reason Documenters couldn’t be in every community in America. Let’s make it happen! (3/9)
Feeding the homies is holding space for revolution and joy.
City Bureau reporters visited five people-powered, no-questions-asked food distribution sites to learn how food has become part of a national uprising.
🗞️Our latest:
🗣️ Meet our Fall Civic Reporting fellows! This cohort makes us our Bronzeville Housing Team, under the leadership of our Engagement Reporter Jerrel Floyd.
Learn more about them here & RSVP for their
#PublicNewsroom
this Thurs! 👇
Our coverage of Chicago's new
#restorative
justice court and community continues with an interview via
@ChiDefender
: meet Cheryl Graves and Ora Schub, “the grandmothers of Chicago’s restorative justice movement.”
📣Applications are now open for our 16-week PAID Civic Reporting Fellowship📣
Apply if:
✏️ You love collaborative learning
✏️ You care about community-centered reporting
✏️ You believe in the future of local journalism
Fall cohort apps open through 9/20 ⤵️
After 4 years and 100+ reporters trained, we are taking stock of our fellowship. Here's a look at what we've accomplished, and what our fellows have gone on to do.
✨ Meet
@arielfab
, City Bureau’s new Editorial Director! This experienced journalist joins our team to oversee our editorial work and mentor the next generation of reporters.
We’re also excited to announce that the talented
@sarahanneconway
is moving into a Senior Reporter & Special Projects Manager role! ✨ This new Senior Editor will work closely with Sarah &
@bechang8
plus the rest of the CB team to bring amazing editorial projects to life 🌱
Monica Trinidad never shies away from an opportunity to support her community. This queer, Latinx Chicagoan is creating safety and healing with her movement posters.
Our latest in the How A Community Heals series.
🖊️
@ZacariasM
💛 Join us in congratulating
@delvecchiograce
on their 1-year with us as our editorial program coordinator! They've been a major support & mentor in our
@CHIdocumenters
community and
#Newswire
reporter.
Learn more about them in our Notebook Blog series!
Applications for our next Reporting Fellowship are now open! Get paid to inform the public alongside some of the best emerging and experienced journalists in Chicago:
And help us reach the next local reporter in your network by sharing and RTing ➕1️⃣
Want to learn how you can fight gentrification, displacement, and health hazards in your community?
On 2/22 we’re launching a zine that explores pathways to equitable development and the tools that enable that work.
Don’t snooze on this one! 👇
Tomorrow, voting concludes across the U.S. in an election that's become a referendum on questions far beyond public policy.
This pivotal week, also happens to be an anniversary for City Bureau. Five years ago, on the eve of another historic moment, we held our 1st event./🧵👇
🎉 We’re thrilled to welcome
@ahmad_sayles
to the 100+ Club for Documenting over 100 Chicago public meetings! As one of our OG
@CHIdocumenters
, Ahmad has covered a range of meetings and topics.
We are so thrilled and proud to announce that CB cofounder
@d_holli
has been named 1 of 14 Leaders for a New Chicago by
@FieldFoundation
. Congrats to the whole cohort!
.
@_ManuelRamos_
joined our newsroom as a reporting fellow and has excelled as a team leader—we’re excited to see him recognized as a rising star in Chicago and look forward to his work at the
@Suntimes
. Congrats to the first
@report4america
cohort
At Casa Al-Fatiha in Logan Square, two local musicians built a sanctuary for LGBTQ asylum seekers.
The latest story in our How a Community Heals series.
🖊️
@alexarriaga__
📷 Samantha Cabrera Friend
We are heartbroken by the tragic news of Rocio Villaseñor's death. She was a crucial part of our CB fam as a dedicated
@CHIdocumenters
& fellow.
We remember Rocio for her fierce commitment to civic journalism. Please give to her family's fundraiser:
We’re very excited about tomorrow’s
#PublicNewsroom
focused on environmental justice and how Chicago-based organizers strategized to stop
#GeneralIron
from entering their neighborhood. Check out our panelist spotlight 🧵 to learn more
We are THRILLED to announce: Our Summer 2019 fellows! ☀️😎 Read about their big-picture story topics surrounding
#Census2020
and population change in Chicago (And sign up to follow their work: )
Our
#HowACommunityHeals
series documented how Chicagoans have connected with one another since the start of the pandemic to offer refuge, safety, solidarity, sustenance, joy and collective healing in the midst of crises that threaten to keep us apart /🧵
"Journalists tend to think of themselves as individual talents; driven by their own intrepid instincts...Instead, we should think of our work as one element within an interconnected ecosystem of social services."
@d_holli
writes in this month's
@CJR
⬇️
📢
#JOBALERT
Have a passion for local government, policy, power and fact-checking? Apply now to be our first-ever
@ChiDocumenters
Civic Producer!
Apps due by 2/28.
Learn more:
One more piece of news: We’re bringing
@sarahanneconway
on board as Managing Editor! 🎉 Since she started as a Fellow in 2016, Sarah has moved up the ranks, with sharp reporting instincts, selfless leadership & a deep understanding of CB’s work. We are lucky to have her join us!
Chicagoans: Want to get more involved in your city? Our NEW weekly posts will connect you to local issues, and what you can do about them, *before* they become headlines. Let us know what you think!
🎉 🎉 We’re excited to welcome our Summer 2022 Civic Reporting Fellows into City Bureau’s community! These community reporters are looking into affordable housing and a city-run guaranteed-income pilot program.
Here’s a look into their reporting projects
That's a wrap! 💐💐
We had a FANTASTIC summer with our Civic Reporting Fellows who brought such deep intention & insights to their reporting.
Stay tuned for their stories about the guaranteed income program in Chicago, resources for formerly-incarcerated folks, and more!✨
In five years, the Documenters Network has trained 900 people in civic accountability skills that make our
#democracy
—and our communities—more resilient. This network is committing acts of journalism across the Midwest 💡