Accurate, concise, and contextual news coverage.
You can always tell when a national news crew has touched down in Chicago. They set up on a corner in Englewood or Austin, camera pointed at a boarded-up building, reporter’s face locked in that practiced mix of concern and Continue reading When National Media Drop In: How Outsiders Keep Getting Chicago Wrong
I’ve lived in Chicago my whole life. I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the stuff that makes you shake your head. But nothing burns me up more than watching a national news crew drop into my city, spend a Continue reading Stop Parachuting Into Chicago: Why National News Keeps Getting It Wrong
When the National Press Lands in Our Neighborhoods I’ve lived in Chicago my whole life. I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the stuff that makes you shake your head. And I’ve seen the national media swoop in like seagulls Continue reading Why National Media Should Stop Dropping Into Chicago Like It’s a Crime Scene
There’s a rhythm to a Chicago summer you can’t fake. It’s the thump of a basketball on the asphalt in Douglass Park, the hiss of a Polish on a backyard grill in Portage Park, and the low, mournful horn of Continue reading The Parachute Press: Why National Media Keeps Whiffing on Chicago
They fly into O’Hare with a carry-on and a deadline, already knowing the story they’re going to file. A couple of quick interviews, some B-roll of boarded-up storefronts, and a stand-up in front of police tape—then it’s back to the Continue reading When National Media Drops In: A Chicagoan’s View of the Parachute Problem
Here’s how it goes. Something happens in Chicago—a spike in shootings, a political scandal, a polar vortex that makes for dramatic TV—and the out-of-town news crews descend. They check into downtown hotels, grab a rental car, and head straight for Continue reading Why National Media Keeps Getting Chicago Wrong—and How to See Through It
The Helicopter View That Misses the Street You’ve seen it a hundred times. A cable news anchor stands on the lakefront, the skyline shimmering behind them, and they tell the world what Chicago is. They’ve been here for 36 hours. Continue reading When National Media Drops In: The Outsider’s Chicago Story
You can always tell when a national outlet has “discovered” Chicago. The signs are about as subtle as a pothole on Western Avenue come March. Your feeds suddenly drown in the same stock footage—a drone gliding over Lake Michigan, the Continue reading When National Media Drops In: The Parachute Journalism Problem in Chicago
There’s a rhythm to this city. It’s in the way the L screeches around the curve at 35th, the way a corner store owner knows your brand of smokes before you ask, the way a grandmother on the West Side Continue reading When National Media Drops In: The Outsider’s View of Chicago
I’ve lived in Chicago for thirty-two years. I’ve seen the city from a newsroom on West Madison, from a corner booth at a diner in Bridgeport, and from a front porch in Austin. I’ve covered aldermanic races that turned on Continue reading The Parachute Problem: Why National Media Keeps Getting Chicago Wrong