(CHICAGO)— In an unprecedented move in its 85-year history, the Chicago Journalists Association (CJA) has named two veteran journalists as recipients of its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. Former Chicago Sun-Times columnist, Mary Mitchell, and former Block Club Chicago senior editor of investigations, Curtis Lawrence, will both receive the 2024 award. WGN TV general assignment reporter Mike Lowe will also be recognized as Chicago Journalist of the Year at CJA’s annual awards ceremony, the organization announced Monday.

As one of the oldest organizations of journalists in Chicago, CJA will be presenting its 85th Anniversary Awards Ceremony on FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15, from 6:30-9:30 p.m. in Ruggles Hall of the Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton St. Tickets are $100 for non-journalists and $85 for journalists, and can be purchased online via Eventbrite.

Annually recognizing excellence in Chicago journalism through several prestigious award competitions — including the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Dorothy Storck Award — the event is regularly attended by senior leadership, veteran reporters, columnists and editors at Chicago’s print, broadcast and digital news outlets.

CJA’s Lifetime Achievement Award annually honors an Illinois journalist exemplifying the highest levels of career achievement, courage and tenacity. Winners additionally personify the age-old journalistic mantra of using their gifts of pen and microphone to provide a voice for the voiceless. Given the abundance of talent in Chicago’s vibrant journalism community, CJA voted to award two with its distinguished honor.

This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to two esteemed Black journalists who recently retired after decades in the industry — Mary Mitchell, whose career spanned more than 30 years at the Chicago Sun-Times, and Curtis Lawrence, who dedicated nearly 45 years to the craft we call journalism, most recently at Block Club Chicago.

Mitchell began her journalism career as an intern for the Chicago Sun-Times in 1990, becoming a full-time education writer the following year. In 1995, she joined the editorial board and wrote a weekly opinion column for the Sunday edition, which editors later expanded to three times a week.

Over the years, Mitchell’s columns drew attention to important advocacy issues, including criminal justice, police misconduct, race relations and domestic violence. Her reporting often rallied Black readers to empower their communities by giving the voiceless a platform to address social ills.

She has received numerous journalism awards, including the National Association of Black Journalists Award of Excellence, the Studs Terkel Award from the Community Media Workshop (now Public Narrative), the Peter Lisagor Award from the Chicago Headline Club and the Herman Kogan Media Award. Mitchell was also inducted into the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame in 2011. She was Columbia College Chicago’s Alum of the Year in 2013 and was awarded an honorary doctorate from Columbia in 2018. NABJ also inducted Mitchell into its Hall of Fame in 2020.

Curtis Lawrence will join Mitchell in receiving the CJA Lifetime Achievement Award this year. A native of the Roseland community on the city’s South Side, Lawrence worked as a reporter and editor at six daily Midwest newspapers, including the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune.

Lawrence was also an associate professor of journalism at Columbia College Chicago for nearly 20 years, leading the school’s student newspaper. From there, he helped found Block Club Chicago’s investigative journalism unit, The Watch, in 2023. Lawrence also received the Studs Terkel Award for excellence in reporting on diverse communities.

In addition to the Lifetime Achievement Award, CJA will honor an individual with the coveted title of Chicago Journalist of the Year. The award recognizes a local journalist who has produced exemplary work throughout the year. This year’s recipient is Mike Lowe, a general assignment reporter at WGN TV.

A prolific reporter, Lowe has received dozens of awards, including 38 Emmy awards, 120 Emmy nominations, four regional Edward R. Murrow Awards and a national Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in TV Political Journalism.

He will be recognized not only for his range of work but also his ability to use his journalistic voice to educate and inspire others with his journey in battling stage 3 colon cancer, which he revealed to viewers earlier this year. Despite the challenges, he has demonstrated great determination by continuing to produce consistent work, telling the stories of our cherished city.

Additionally, one lucky woman-presenting journalist in the Chicago area will take home the $1,000 prize in the Dorothy Storck Award competition, named for the late syndicated newspaper columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner who died in August 2015. Three Dorothy Storck Award finalists will be announced next week.

A longtime member of the 85-year-old CJA, Storck’s family and her partner, former University of Illinois Chicago political science professor Dick Simpson, in 2017 established the annual award to honor a Chicago area print, broadcast or digital journalist sharing Storck’s dedication, impact and commitment to craft.

Also being honored at the awards ceremony are 19 winners of the Sarah Brown Boyden Awards, selected as the best work this year in categories that range from arts and features to investigations, photography and sports. One of those 19 winners will take home a $500 prize awarded to the best of the best. Sarah Brown Boyden Award finalists will be announced the week before the awards ceremony. Join the Chicago Journalists Association and an audience of local purveyors of journalism for this annual celebration, where we will hear from Mitchell, Lawrence, Lowe, and the Dorothy Storck Award winners.

For tickets: https://bit.ly/3Ysq23B

For more information: chicagocja@gmail.com or 773-789-9488

ABOUT CJA

The Chicago Journalists Association is a nonprofit organization boasting a storied membership of active/veteran print, broadcast and digital journalists, media and communications professionals, associated journalism educators and college journalism students in Illinois/Northwest Indiana. CJA’s core mission is the advocacy and rewarding of journalistic excellence through prestigious journalism award competitions; professional development of our members through ongoing training and newsmaker forums on industry issues; and support and mentoring of the next generation of journalists.