WGLT joins four other Illinois-based newsrooms for the Healing Illinois Reporting Project, “Democracy Lives Here.” This initiative is led by the Northwestern University Medill School and Medill Solutions Journalism Hub in alignment with their commitment to excellence in journalism that serves communities.
WGLT’s reporting project aims to create a playbook for citizens to engage with local government. The newsroom will examine the most effective ways to get results when citizens go to a local government body with a problem, issue, or desired policy change. The coverage will provide practical advice on what works and what doesn’t, based on the experiences of those who’ve done it and the policymakers on the receiving end of their efforts.
Healing Illinois is a statewide initiative of the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), managed in partnership with the Field Foundation. The initiative will distribute more than $4.3 million in grants to nonprofits this year to foster racial healing and community healing statewide — including response-driven journalism that shows how civic and social systems work or can work.
“Nothing is more important to WGLT than our commitment to local journalism,” said WGLT Executive Director R.C. McBride. “As WGLT navigates a new year without federal funding, we welcome this investment and the opportunity to participate in ‘Democracy Lives Here’.” WGLT’s cohort includes colleagues from Capitol News Illinois, Chicago News Weekly, The Harvey World Herald, and Illinois Latino News.
