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We must protect the children, says Maria Padilla, because each is a piece of gold.

Behind her stand the mothers in the bright yellow vests they wear to walk their children safely home.

Police officer Rafel Yanez recalls the death that led him to form the youth center – all volunteer, all self-supported, all out in its dream to be a place for a kid to go to escape trouble and to see a good day in Chicago.

Alden Loury, publisher of the Chicago Reporter, explains why he lives in the Chicago neighborhood where he grew up, the neighborhood with problems but the neighborhood where others do their best to make it a place where he wants to live.

And each came back to the theme that We Are Not Alone – No Estamos Solos.

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You have the option to choose between our Print Media Guide, Digital Database, or the complete Media Guide which includes the print edition, the digital database and PDFs of our guide including quick contact lists.

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• Thousands of reporters’ emails, direct-dials, and twitter accounts
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Learn more about the Media Guide and discounted prices here. See what’s inside our media guide. Download sample pages from last year’s guide!

Who are the people in your neighborhood? Well, if you’re on the North side of Chicago chances are Lorraine Swanson knows the what, when, where, why and how about them.

Swanson is editor and publisher of the Lake Effect News, an online community news publication, which recently celebrated its first anniversary.  Swanson says the current media shifts are offering new opportunities for gaining new audiences.
Read the rest of this entry »

From 600words (by Esther Cepeda) and arteyvidaChicago (by Amor Montes de Oca) to This is Hell, US Catholic, We The People Media and Windy City Media Group, more than 75 online news sites have filled out the second annual Chicago New News Survey so far.

The survey is open until May 7 and if you produce an online news site, be it outpost for a major metro news outlet or a blog, online-only news service or aggregator, we’d like to hear from you. If you think you belong, we think you belong–but sites should focus on or be based in the Metro Chicago region.

Here’s a list, with links and a brief tagline or descriptive sentence, of who has filled out the survey so far (long list below the fold, fair warning!)

…And That’s My Opinion ~ various essays on a variety of subjects
600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda ~ opinion journalism on news, politics, culture with a Hispanic bent
“Going Public” blog ~ Blog about CTA news and issues
Adentro de Pilsen ~ Primarily to serve the Pilsen community with vetted news and info. The project also strives to create a passion for high school and college journalists to examine niche news coverage.
AREA Chicago ~ “AREA Chicago supports the work of people and organizations building a socially just city. AREA actively gathers, shares, and produces knowledge about local culture and politics. Its newspaper, website and events create relationships and sustain community through art, research, education, and activism.
Arte y Vida Chicago ~ A calendar of Hispanic art and culture in Chicago Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever considered the arsenal of sources you have in your rolodex when you pitch? Monifa Thomas, health reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times says offering a good menu of sources that can illustrate your story is what she seeks.

“You don’t want to interview a different name but the same story told over and over again,” says Thomas. “You want a range of experiences and voices for a story.”

The best way to reach Thomas is via e-mail. She says emails should be succinct with the main points in your subject line and initial parts of your email. Emails should also give her a sense of what you are offering- a personal antidote, a contact and/or data. “It helps to know so I can streamline for the story. At least give me a sense of whom I need to call and where I need to go,” she says. Read the rest of this entry »

Take Social Media to the Next Level
9 a.m. to noon Thursday, March 4
218 S. Wabash – Rm 806

You have the Facebook page, you’re on Twitter, and you’re dabbling with many other social media platforms. Now, learn to use the tools to the max to tell your organization’s stories better and faster than you thought possible.

In this training you will learn how to:

•    Assess which social media tools are right for your organization and strategy
•    Craft a brand message to move online audiences to action
•    Connect social media to existing/traditional advertising and communications
•    Coordinate social media tools so your blog, Facebook page, Twitter feed, etc. present the same message

Adam Thurman has used social media and other strategies to help Court Theatre achieve some of the highest grossing productions in their more than 50-year history. He recommends this workshop for leaders who can make strategic decisions about your social media and overall policies.

Register Today! Cost $95

About Adam Thurman
Adam is president of Mission Paradox, a consulting firm that focuses on marketing and branding issues.  As part of Mission Paradox he has led presentations and workshops for Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, the Civic Knowledge Project and the Arts and Business Council.

He is also director of marketing and communications at Court Theatre, one of the largest nonprofit theatres in Chicago. During his tenure as director of marketing the theatre has had some of the highest grossing productions in their more than 50-year history.

Adam is a former board member of the League of Chicago Theatres and has served on the Illinois Arts Council’s Advisory Panel.  He has been recognized as an Emerging Leader by Americans For the Arts and the Theatre Communication Group. He has also been featured in Time Out Chicago, the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Artist Resource.

Kathryn Born produces Chicago Art Magazine

A couple weeks or so ago the Museum of Contemporary Art bought “Kiss,” performance art by Tino Seghal, with no paper, video or other documentation changing hands. Kathryn Born’s ChicagoArtMagazine covered the acquisition.

She also has a great article on artwork being done in Chicago’s Korean-American community and is looking for more like it. If you have a story to tell related to art in Chicago, Born does not just want you to pitch her, she may ask you to produce it yourself! She might even pay you, as she writes at her site:

We need feature writers, journalists, researchers and gallery reviewers. The thing we need to know is, ‘What are you already an expert in?’ Do you have experience interviewing people? Did you study art in school? Or journalism? We need writing samples and some idea about experience. The pay is awful – $25 for features [CMW note: in this case awful=industry standard, no?] , however, we publicize all features and try to achieve a large audience for each of our writers.

Born runs three related sites. In addition to ChicagoArtMagazine.com, which covers articles, reviews, and satire, she maintains ChicagoArtMap, a Google map with 171 galleries and other places that show art in the region alongside a Google calendar, and ChicagoArtCollector.com with similar and in some cases overlapping content. Read the rest of this entry »