CJA Names 2022 Award Winners

The Chicago Journalists Association’s 83rd Anniversary Awards Ceremony was a historic evening. It marked our first in-person ceremony since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and the night featured plenty of memorable moments, including an interview with our 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and 2021 Chicago Journalist of the Year.

If you couldn’t join us on Nov. 11, check out the full list of award winners. CJA extends a hearty congratulations to all of this year’s winners!

Lifetime Achievement Award

Tracy Baim, Chicago Reader

Chicago Emerging Journalist of the Year

Kelly Garcia, Chicago Reader

Dorothy Storck Award Winners

First-Place Winner: Ismael Pérez, Chicago Sun-Times

Second-Place Winner: Lynn Sweet, Chicago Sun-Times

Second-Place Winner: Rummana Hussain, Chicago Sun-Times

Sarah Brown Boyden Award Winners

BEST OF THE BEST

Duaa Eldeib, ProPublica

“They Were the Pandemic’s Perfect Victims”

ARTS

Tiffany Walden and Morgan Elise Johnson, The TRiiBE

“Chance The Rapper is ready to take his next creative risk”

BEST SERIES

Judith Crown, Crain’s Chicago Business

“For Black lawyers, roadblocks to partnership persist”

“Chicago transit reinforces racial inequities”

“Tackling the tech talent imbalance”

BREAKING NEWS

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”

COLLABORATIONS

Block Club Chicago and WCIU

“On the Block”: Episode 12

“On the Block”: Episode 2

“On the Block”: Episode 3

EDUCATION

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

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”

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”

NEWS/SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY

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

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”

PUBLIC SERVICE

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”

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

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”

TECHNOLOGY

Alexandria Jacobson, Built In

“Tech and the Gig Economy: Understanding Side Hustles vs. Moonlighting”

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”