Spring is a busy time for the Workshop and we’re excited to connect with, and add to our network of nonprofit communicators as we usher in a new quarter of training sessions.

Here’s what we have in store this spring:

• Professional storyteller Susan O’Halloran (check out our Q&A with Susan here) is helping us kick off the spring season this Thursday, March 28-9:00AM to Noon, by leading  Telling Your Organization’s Story To Move People To Action.  There are only three slots left for this workshop, so register today.

• Are you struggling to market your organization, campaign or small business? Chances are you don’t have the time and money to have an in-depth marketing strategy developed for you. Marketing Strategy Made Easy, led by Jacqueline Camacho-Ruiz of JJR Marketing, will teach you how to easily create your own in-depth marketing strategy, saving you time and money. This training held Thursday, April 11-9:00AM to Noon, will raise your visibility, grab the attention of your audience, and promote your programs and services better.

•  Are you having trouble getting subscribers to open your e-newsletter? Stand out in a cluttered inbox and make your audiences want to read more! The Workshop’s New Media Associate, Marissa Wasseluk will host, From Awful to Awesome: E-Newsletters that Work,  Thursday, April 25 – 9:00AM to Noon

Don’t delay, these workshops are filling up fast! Escape the wait-list and register today.

Chicago is the World blogger and veteran journalist Stephen Franklin engages with Fenger High School principal Elizabeth Dozier at a gathering Jan. 29. Through a series of efforts, including restorative justice, Fenger has transformed itself.

“From Pageantry to Tragedy,” the Chicago Sun-Times cover headline screamed out this morning. As reported all over today, 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton was shot in the back while waiting after school for the pouring rain to stop in a neighborhood park less than a mile from President Barack Obama’s home; only a week after she attended the president’s inaugural with group of fellow King College Prep students.

Parents fear those after school hours before they get home from work, when their kids may have nothing to do except become the unintended target of a stray gangbanger’s bullet. Hadiya was herself a majorette for her school’s celebrated dance team and as a volleyball player “was engaged in the activities that are designed to keep young people safe and out of harm’s way,” reflected columnist Mary Mitchell.

But those extra-curriculars didn’t keep Hadiya safe yesterday, one of seven shootings citywide during a record-setting balmy spring day in late-January. As we try and cope with increased gun violence in our neighborhoods, city, state and nation, we also seek answers to prevent another family from planning an early wake and funeral.

Beyond shotgun headlines of each murder victim the Community Media Workshop is trying to encourage journalists to go deeper: how did so many weapons get onto our streets? What are the most effective intervention strategies to reduce the levels of violence? Where can I send my son and daughter to safely engage in productive, fun activities after school?

To try and answer that last question, our We Are Not Alone/No Estamos Solos project convened a second forum between youth organizations and reporters covering crime and public safety issues. Legacy media, public radio, ethnic editors and reporters –some three dozen in all–engaged in “speed dating” conversations with some 43 representatives of youth groups providing those after school and weekend opportunities to engage.

We were encouraged by the conversational buzz in the Columbia College meeting room in which we gathered. We hope the new connections between news sources and journalists will lead to deeper reporting on our culture’s ongoing addiction to guns. And we pray with Hadiya’s mom and family that not one more child will fail to find safe haven.

Fourteen New Local Reporting Awards Approved

for Community News Projects on South and West Sides

CHICAGO – The Chicago Community Trust’s Community News Matters program approved $70,000 in Local Reporting Awards for 14 community news projects focusing on issues affecting the south and west sides of Chicago. The community news projects will highlight various issues, from realities facing the LGBTQ community within the criminal system to the effects of domestic violence and mental health on residents in the Back of the Yards community.

“The Trust is pleased to support innovative approaches to share stories written by and about the south and west side of Chicago,” said Ngoan Le, Vice President of Program at The Chicago Community Trust.  “We can all benefit learning more about issues important to these communities.”

Each project will receive $5,000 to support original reporting or data analysis. This is the second round of Local Reporting Awards, which are funded by The Chicago Community Trust, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.  Winners this year were chosen from among proposals requested from the 31 winners of 2011 awards.

The Community Media Workshop, is administering the Local Reporting Awards program for The Chicago Community Trust and is providing social media trainings for the awardees.

“This highly evaluated project which draws on the expertise of community leaders and organizations brought to public attention a variety of new voices and impactful journalism from often under-reported neighborhoods,” said Workshop president Thom Clark.

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