CJA annually issues several prestigious journalism awards that draw the best the industry has to offer, in entries from journalists across the Chicago metropolitan region and Northwest Indiana. Read more about each of them in the respective tabs.
Established by Storck’s family and her fiancé in 2017, the $1,000 award is named for the late syndicated newspaper columnist and Pulitzer Prize-winner who passed in 2015. She began her journalism career at the Chicago American, which later became known as Chicago Today, and ended her career at the Philadelphia Inquirer. She was also a U.S. Air Force squadron commander who held the rank of major before becoming a journalist. The award recognizes a Chicago area Print, Broadcast or Digital columnist sharing Storck’s dedication, impact and commitment to craft.
The Sarah Boyden Awards
The Sarah Brown Boyden Awards recognize the year’s best journalism in 14 different categories — from arts, education and investigations to photography, public service, sports and everything in between. The best of the best among all 14 takes home a $500 prize. Boyden was a pioneering journalist who attended Northwestern University in the 1920s and later made her mark at the Chicago Evening American, Chicago Daily News and Chicago Sun. She died in 1989 at age 86. Her family established this fund in her honor.
The Daniel Pearl Award
The Daniel Pearl Award was established by our Chicago Journalists Association in memory of the Wall Street Journal’s Southeast Asia Bureau Chief kidnapped and murdered by Pakistan militants in the port city of Karachi on Feb. 2002. During a closed military hearing in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed admitted he personally beheaded Pearl and is awaiting trial in the United States.
Nominations for this prestigious award are made by members of our board of directors who continue to inform Dan’s parents of our selections. His father, Judea, is currently a professor of Computer Science and Statistics, director of the Cognitive Systems Laboratory at UCLA and a Turing Award recipient. His mother, Ruth, is of Iraqi Jewish descent.
Previous winners include: Liz Sly (Chicago Tribune), Wolf Blitzer (CNN), Michael Weiskopf (Time Magazine), Martha Raddatz (ABC World News), Jill Carroll (the Christian Science Monitor), Paul Salopek (Chicago Tribune), Alan Johnston (BBC World Service), Georgie Ann Geyer (Universal Syndicate), Lara Logan (CBS), Adela Navarro (Zeta Magazine, Tijauna) and Michael Phillips (The Wall Street Journal). In November, 2017, Washington Post correspondent Souad Mekhennet became the first Muslim to receive this award.
Lifetime Achievement Award
The Chicago Journalists Association annually honors a local, distinguished journalist who has dedicated years of service to the industry. Some of our recent honorees include Dorothy Tucker (CBS 2 Chicago), David Jackson (Better Government Association), Cheryl Burton (ABC 7 Chicago), Michael Sneed (Chicago Sun-Times), Bruce Dold (Chicago Tribune) and financial columnist Terry Savage.
Chicago Journalist of the Year
The Chicago Journalists Association bestows this special honor to a local journalist who has produced exemplary work in the past year. Some of our recent recipients include Kelly Bauer (Block Club Chicago), the late Sharon Cohen (Associated Press) and Greg Hinz (Crain’s Chicago Business).
In 2017, we presented a Comeback of the Year Award to NBC Chicago’s Rob Stafford in place of Chicago Journalist of the Year.
$1,000 Journalism Scholarship
The Chicago Journalists Association believes strongly in supporting the next generation of journalists. Each year, we award a $1,000 scholarship to an outstanding student, who is pursuing a journalism career at a college or university in the Chicago area.
Hear from our 2015 recipient, Tyler Davis, on how this scholarship impacted his journalism education and career.