CJA Reveals Finalists for 2022 Sarah Brown Boyden Awards

The Chicago Journalists Association (CJA) is excited to announce the finalists for its 2022 Sarah Brown Boyden Awards. This year’s contest once again saw a record number of submissions. The Sarah Brown Boyden Awards honor the best of the best journalism in Chicago and Northern Indiana across 18 different categories. The winners will be announced at CJA’s 83rd Anniversary Awards Ceremony on Friday, November 11, 6:30-9:30 p.m., in Rettinger Hall of the Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton St.

To get tickets, visit chicagojournalists.net/donations. Congratulations to all of our finalists!

Finalists for the 2022 Sarah Brown Boyden Awards

ARTS

• Stefano Esposito, Chicago Sun-Times
  • “Mistakenly shot by a Des Plaines cop, teenage musician never gave up on his dream”

• Joseph Pete, The Times of Northwest Indiana
  • “Another landmark Michael Jordan mural takes flight in East Chicago”
  • “Ish Muhammad helped found East Chicago graffiti crew, now exhibits his art internationally”
  • “Graffiti artist asks people if they’re okay, gives number of mental health hotline”

• Tiffany Walden and Morgan Elise Johnson, The TRiiBE
  • “Chance The Rapper is ready to take his next creative risk”

BEST SERIES

• Kelly Bauer, Block Club Chicago
  • “COVID-19 Testing Chain Opened Pop-Ups Across The US. Now, It’s Temporarily Closing Amid Federal Investigation And Mounting Complaints”
  • “Yet Another COVID-19 Testing Company That Got Millions From The Feds Being Investigated After Patients Say Their Results Were Flawed”
  • “Center For COVID Control Gets Sued By Another State, Which Alleges Local Owners Funneled Millions To Themselves While Doing Faulty Testing”

• Judith Crown, Crain’s Chicago Business
  • “For Black lawyers, roadblocks to partnership persist”
  • “Chicago transit reinforces racial inequities”
  • “Tackling the tech talent imbalance”

• Frank Main, Chicago Sun-Times and Casey Toner and Jared Rutecki, Better Government Association
  • “The costly toll of dead-end drug arrests”
  • “Kim Foxx’s ex-trainer caught up in ‘unending cycle’ of drug arrests; ‘It breaks my heart’”
  • “Oregon’s the first state to ticket narcotics users, but reform has yet to live up to what was promised”

BREAKING NEWS

• Melissa Sanchez and Anna Clark, ProPublica
  • “Dozens of Traumatized Afghan Kids Struggle Inside a Shelter That’s Ill-Equipped to Care for Them”
  • “Lawmakers Call for Immediate Action at Chicago Shelter Housing Afghan Children”
  • “The Children Fled Afghanistan Without Their Families. They’re Stuck in U.S. Custody”

• Staff, Block Club Chicago
  • “After Young Man Killed On Deadly NW Side Stretch, Advocates Ask: What Will It Take For City To Fix Milwaukee Ave.?”
  • “After Driver Hits, Kills 2 Year Old In Lincoln Square, Neighbors Donate Thousands To Support Boy’s Family”
  • “West Side Street Where Hit-And-Run Driver Killed 11-Year-Old ‘Like A Drag Strip,’ Neighbors Say”

• Lynn Sweet, Manny Ramos, Elvia Malagón, Sophie Sherry and Paul Saltzman, Chicago Sun-Times
  • “Horror on the Fourth”

BUSINESS

• Amy Qin and Quinn Myers, Block Club Chicago
  • “Parlor Pizza Sat Customers Of Color In ‘Rejection Section,’ Overworked Staff Without Pay, Former Employees Allege”
  • “Parlor Pizza Locations Shut Down As Cops Raid Popular Restaurants”
  • “Parlor Pizza Being Investigated By City For Possible Labor And Anti-Discrimination Violations”

• Amy Yee, Bloomberg Chicago Bureau
  • “Small Businesses Still Face $28 Billion of Unforgiven PPP Loans”

• Stephanie Zimmermann and Tom Schuba, Chicago Sun-Times
  • “What’s in your weed?”
  • “Illinois cannabis regulation: moldy weed but no consumer alert or recall, secret investigations”
  • “How we tested legal weed and investigated why some marijuana never makes it to dispensary shelves”

COLLABORATIONS

• Block Club Chicago and WCIU
  • “On the Block”: Episode 12
  • “On the Block”: Episode 2
  • “On the Block”: Episode 3

• Frank Main, Chicago Sun-Times and Casey Toner and Jared Rutecki, Better Government Association
  • “The costly toll of dead-end drug arrests”
  • “Kim Foxx’s ex-trainer caught up in ‘unending cycle’ of drug arrests; ‘It breaks my heart’”
  • “Oregon’s the first state to ticket narcotics users, but reform has yet to live up to what was promised”

• Laura Rodríguez Presa, Chicago Tribune and Carlos Ballesteros, Injustice Watch
  • “Aging in the shadows: Spotlighting the challenges facing Illinois’ aging undocumented population”

EDUCATION

• Mina Bloom, Block Club Chicago
  • “CPS Knew Of Sex Abuse At Marine Leadership Academy For Years, Staff Says: ‘They Didn’t Do Their Job’”
  • “CPS Promoted Principal Who Allegedly Failed To Report Sexual Abuse At Logan Square School”
  • “CPS Staffer Removed After Sending Anti-Vaccine Email To Parents At Embattled Marine Leadership Academy”

• Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica and Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune
  • “The Price Kids Pay: Schools and Police Punish Students With Costly Tickets for Minor Misbehavior”
  • “Black Students in Illinois Are Far More Likely to Be Ticketed by Police for School Behavior Than White Students”
  • “A Teen Was Ticketed at School for a Theft She Says Didn’t Happen. Years Later, She’s Still Fighting.”

FEATURES

• Susan Cosier, Chicago Health
  • “Black Minds Matter”

• Katie Prout, Chicago Reader
  • “Searching for The Pigeon Lady”

• Mary Wisniewski and Joanna Marszałek, for Chicago Magazine
  • “The Death (and Possible Rebirth) of Jackowo”

HEALTH/SCIENCE

• Duaa Eldeib, ProPublica
  • “They Were the Pandemic’s Perfect Victims”

• Joseph Pete, The Times of Northwest Indiana
  • “Mount Baldy almost done swallowing parking lot road, changing shape and shrinking in height”

• Mike Sula, Chicago Reader
  • “Something magic’s growing at Back of the Yards Algae Sciences”

INVESTIGATIONS

• Kelly Bauer, Block Club Chicago
  • “COVID-19 Testing Chain Opened Pop-Ups Across The US. Now, It’s Temporarily Closing Amid Federal Investigation And Mounting Complaints”
  • “Yet Another COVID-19 Testing Company That Got Millions From The Feds Being Investigated After Patients Say Their Results Were Flawed”
  • “Center For COVID Control Gets Sued By Another State, Which Alleges Local Owners Funneled Millions To Themselves While Doing Faulty Testing”

• Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica and Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune
  • “The Price Kids Pay: Schools and Police Punish Students With Costly Tickets for Minor Misbehavior”
  • “Black Students in Illinois Are Far More Likely to Be Ticketed by Police for School Behavior Than White Students”
  • “A Teen Was Ticketed at School for a Theft She Says Didn’t Happen. Years Later, She’s Still Fighting.”

• Pascal Sabino, Block Club Chicago
  • “Cops Rarely Pull Over Drivers In Their Own Neighborhoods, Data Shows. Motorists In Black Neighborhoods Aren’t So Lucky”
  • “West Side Drivers Are Stopped By Cops The Most In Chicago. But 94% Of Stops Don’t Lead To Tickets”
  • “Chicago Police Pull Over Black Drivers 7 Times More Often Than White Drivers, State Report Shows”

NEWS/SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY

• Karie Angell Luc, for images of July 4, 2022 in Highland Park and Northbrook (various publications)

• Colin Boyle, Block Club Chicago, for images of a paralyzed youth basketball coach

POLITICS

• Frank Main, Chicago Sun-Times and Casey Toner and Jared Rutecki, Better Government Association
  • “The costly toll of dead-end drug arrests”
  • “Kim Foxx’s ex-trainer caught up in ‘unending cycle’ of drug arrests; ‘It breaks my heart’”
  • “Oregon’s the first state to ticket narcotics users, but reform has yet to live up to what was promised”

• Tim Novak, Lauren FitzPatrick and Caroline Hurley, Chicago Sun-Times
  • “10 senior tax freeze homeowners will have to pay $273,000 more this year in the wake of Sun-Times investigation”
  • “You pay more in property taxes because 27,288 Cook County homeowners pay nothing”
  • “Kaegi is giving tax breaks to vets on pricey homes even though they don’t qualify”

• Stephanie Zimmermann and Lauren FitzPatrick, Chicago Sun-Times
  • “Plowed snow sends drivers flying off expressways, Sun-Times investigation finds”
  • “Snow ramps, the winter hazard launching cars off the road”

PUBLIC SERVICE

• Kelly Bauer, Block Club Chicago
  • “COVID-19 Testing Chain Opened Pop-Ups Across The US. Now, It’s Temporarily Closing Amid Federal Investigation And Mounting Complaints”
  • “Yet Another COVID-19 Testing Company That Got Millions From The Feds Being Investigated After Patients Say Their Results Were Flawed”
  • “Center For COVID Control Gets Sued By Another State, Which Alleges Local Owners Funneled Millions To Themselves While Doing Faulty Testing”

• Alma Campos, Sarah Conway and Phoebe Mogharei, City Bureau
  • “What is a Community Benefits Agreement?”
  • “3 Strategies for Community Coalitions to Influence Real Estate Development”
  • “Policy Changes That Could Signal the Future of Development in Chicago”

• Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica and Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune
  • “The Price Kids Pay: Schools and Police Punish Students With Costly Tickets for Minor Misbehavior”
  • “Black Students in Illinois Are Far More Likely to Be Ticketed by Police for School Behavior Than White Students”
  • “A Teen Was Ticketed at School for a Theft She Says Didn’t Happen. Years Later, She’s Still Fighting.”

RADIO/PODCASTS

• Staff, Block Club Chicago
  • “It’s All Good podcast: Episode 14- ‘A Missing Ring’s 25-Year Journey Home’”
  • “It’s All Good podcast: Episode 51- ‘How Shipping Containers Help Build Wealth In Black and Brown Communities’”
  • “It’s All Good podcast: Episode 28- ‘The Bulls Barber Who Says Cutting Hair Saved His Life’”

SPORTS

• Lee Edwards, The Triibe
  • “How Morgan Park High School’s 2022 baseball season was nearly washed away”

• Mack Liederman, Block Club Chicago
  • “Hoops Star Shawn Harrington Is Back Coaching Years After He Was Shot And Paralyzed”

• Matthew Ritchie, Chicago Reader
  • “On the South Side, a quest to keep Black baseball alive”

STUDENT JOURNALISM

• Kallie Cox, Southern Illinois University
  • “Police misconduct records secret, hard to access”
  • “Records show Illinois fails to hold police accountable for misconduct”
  • “New Illinois Police Reform Bill Makes State Police Misconduct Database Secret”

• Camryn Cutinello and Noah Jennings, Columbia College Chicago
  • “Professor accused of sexual assault to ‘step away’ from teaching during Columbia investigation”

• Dylan Smith, Western Illinois University
  • “Macomb school to provide accessible playground for all”

TECHNOLOGY

• Alexandria Jacobson, Built In
  • “Tech and the Gig Economy: Understanding Side Hustles vs. Moonlighting”

• Joseph Pete, The Times of Northwest Indiana
  • “Akyumen smartphone factory deal dead end; Gary suing to regain Genesis Center, Ivanhoe Gardens sites”

TRANSPORTATION

• Pascal Sabino, Block Club Chicago
  • “Cops Rarely Pull Over Drivers In Their Own Neighborhoods, Data Shows. Motorists In Black Neighborhoods Aren’t So Lucky”
  • “West Side Drivers Are Stopped By Cops The Most In Chicago. But 94% Of Stops Don’t Lead To Tickets”
  • “Chicago Police Pull Over Black Drivers 7 Times More Often Than White Drivers, State Report Shows”

• Dorothy Tucker and Carol Thompson, CBS 2 Chicago
  • “​​CBS 2 Investigators Discover Speed Camera Sign Mistakes, And Get Results”
  • “CBS 2 Investigation Leads To Thousands Of Tossed Speed Camera Tickets”

• Stephanie Zimmermann and Lauren FitzPatrick, Chicago Sun-Times
  • “Plowed snow sends drivers flying off expressways, Sun-Times investigation finds”
  • “Snow ramps, the winter hazard launching cars off the road”