The Studs Terkel Community Media Awards

L to R: Workshop president Thom Clark, 2013 Terkel Award Winners Fernando Diaz, Megan Cottrell, Dave Hoekstra, Lorne Clarkson. (photo by Olga Lopez)
We honor journalists who go the extra mile to report news “from the people who made Chicago, news that’s bottom up rather than up, down,” as Studs said at our 2007 awards event. “That’s what this is all about.”
Louis B. “Studs” Terkel, the “patron saint” of Community Media Workshop from its founding in 1989, gracefully and graciously led these tributes to a special kind of Chicago journalism — the kind that, in the words of Salim Muwakkil at the March 2009 event, “is more important now than ever before.”
Presented annually, the Studs Terkel Media Awards honor outstanding media professionals for excellence in covering and reflecting Chicago’s diverse communities. Terkel Awards highlight reporters who take risks in covering social issues by offering new or unusual perspectives on topics of general concern, from housing to neighborhood safety and beyond. The awards reward a body of work rather than a single article or series, and go to journalists at any stage of their career.
In addition to calling attention to the best journalism covering Chicago’s diverse communities, the awards provide significant support and underwriting for all of Community Media Workshop’s programmatic work, such as free communications coaching for nonprofits, Newstips, the Getting On Air, Online & Into Print guide, and more.
Our Studs: Chicago Journalists Remember Studs Terkel and the Media Awards
2015
Darryl Holliday, Reporter & Producer, DNAInfo, and the Illustrated Press
Maudlyne Ihejirika, Reporter & Journalist, Chicago Sun-Times
Monica Eng, Producer, Chicago Public Radio/WBEZ
Sharon Cohen, Reporter, The Associated Press
Adele Simmons, Uplifting Voices Award Winner
Columbia Links, Columbia College Chicago, Studs Terkel Community Media Scholarship Winner
2014
Steve Bogira, Reporter & Blogger, Chicago Reader
Alejandro Escalona, Web Manager, Telemundo
Steve James, Producer, Kartemquin Films
Gordon Quinn, Producer, Kartemquin Films
Katie Kather, Studs Terkel Community Media Scholarship Winner
Fred & Nikki Will Stein, Uplifting Voices Award Winners
2013
Megan Cottrell, Reporter, Chicago Reporter
Fernando Diaz, Managing Editor, Hoy Chicago
Dave Hoekstra, Reporter, Chicago Sun-Times
Lorne Clarkson, Studs Terkel Community Media Scholarship Winner
2012
Mick Dumke, Reporter, Chicago Reader
Maria Hinojosa, Anchor, PBS and Latino USA on National Public Radio
Chip Mitchell, Reporter, WBEZ Chicago Public Radio
Daniel Castro, Studs Terkel Community Media Scholarship Winner
2011
Linda Lenz, Founder and Publisher, Catalyst Chicago
Kari Lydersen, Freelance Reporter
Antonio Olivo, Reporter, Chicago Tribune
Devin Katayama, Studs Terkel Community Media Scholarship Winner
2010
Kate Grossman, Deputy Editorial Page Editor, Chicago Sun-Times
Natalie Moore, Public Affairs Reporter, Chicago Public Radio
Mitchell Wenkus, Studs Terkel Community Media Scholarship Winner
2009
David Jackson, Chicago Tribune
Alden Loury, Editor and Publisher, The Chicago Reporter
Scott Simon, National Public Radio
Thom Clark, Community Media Workshop
Hsin Yin Sung, Studs Terkel Community Media Scholarship Winner
2008
Tom McNamee, Chicago Sun Times
Radio Arte, 90.5 FM
Dawn Turner Trice, Chicago Tribune
Karla DiBenedetto, Studs Terkel Community Media Scholarship Winner
2007
Mary Helt Gavin, Publisher, The Evanston Roundtable
Stephen Franklin, Labor and Workplace Reporter, The Chicago Tribune
WRTO 1200 AM, La Tremenda (Univision Radio Network)
Lilia Markarova, Studs Terkel Community Media Scholarship Winner
2006
Mark Brown, columnist, Chicago Sun-Times
Renee Ferguson, reporter, WMAQ-TV/NBC5
Mary Johns and the Editorial Team, Residents’ Journal
Sean Patrick Fahey, Studs Terkel Community Media Scholarship Winner
2005
Tracy Baim, Windy City Media
John Conroy, Chicago Reader
Mary Schmich, Chicago Tribune
James Weinstein, In These Times
Angela Caputo, Studs Terkel Community Media Scholarship Winner
2004
Alex Kotlowitz, Journalist and Author
Linda Lutton, Daily Southtown
Phil Ponce, Chicago Tonight, WTTW
Suree Towfighnia, Studs Terkel Community Media Scholarship Winner
2003
Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune & WGN
Jorge Mota, Channel 44, Telemundo
Tom Weinberg, Image Union, WTTW
Geena Gintzig & Meghan Just, Studs Terkel Community Media Scholarship Winner
2002
Shirley Jahad, WBEZ-FM
Phil Kadner, Daily Southtown
Curtis Lawrence, Chicago Sun-Times
WVON-AM 1450
2001
Cornelia Grumman, Chicago Tribune
Martha Irvine, The Associated Press
Salim Muwakkil, In These Times and Chicago Tribune
2000
Lee Bey, Chicago Sun-Times
Ira Glass, WBEZ
Teresa Puente, Chicago Tribune
1999
Jon Anderson, Chicago Tribune
John White, Chicago Sun-Times
Laura Washington, Chicago Reporter
Harry Porterfield, WLS Channel 7 News
1998
Eric Zorn, Chicago Tribune
Ben Hollis, Wild Chicago
Chinta Strausberg, Chicago Daily Defender
1997
Don Terry, New York Times
Mary Mitchell, Chicago Sun-Times
John McDermott, The Chicago Reporter
1996
Ray Suarez, National Public Radio
Achy Obejas, Chicago Tribune
Carol Marin, NBC Channel 5 News
1995
Vernon Jarrett, Chicago Tribune and Sun Times
Charles Nicodemus, Chicago Sun-Times
Ben Joravsky, Chicago Reader
1994
M. W. Newman, Chicago Daily News and Sun-Times
David Moberg, In These Times
Cheryl Corley, National Public Radio