May 2026: ICYMI - PN’s recent events, Lumpen Radio is hosting a live recording, and more!
Hey, Narrative Change Community!
A Message From Guest Contributor,
Deborah Douglas of Medill Journalism
Photo provided by Deborah Douglas.
Hope With Teeth: From Studs Terkel to the Medill Solutions Journalism Hub
Long before the Medill Solutions Journalism Hub at Northwestern University existed, the Studs Terkel Awards stood as a pedigree of community-centered, voice-of-everyday-people storytelling and risk-taking on social issues. At the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, we are formalizing a lot of what Studs Terkel stood for — what we in the solutions journalism community call "hope with teeth."
This is journalism where everyday people are the center of gravity, where their voices and lived experiences hold a credibility that matches and often surpasses any subject-matter expert with a bunch of degrees and highfalutin institutional affiliations. We're talking about the original AI — Ancestral Intelligence — the moral and ethical grounding, the wisdom that can't be computer-generated and is needed now more than ever.
That tradition is what the Hub is building on this season. We're putting it into practice through reporting that moves past the problem frame to focus on responses to pressing social issues. Five Illinois newsrooms have published and aired solutions journalism stories as part of the Healing Illinois: Democracy Lives Here Journalism and Storytelling Reporting Project, in partnership with the Field Foundation and the Illinois Department of Human Services.
These outlets — Capitol News Illinois, Chicago News Weekly, Illinois Latino News, Harvey World Herald and WGLT-Bloomington-Normal's Public Radio — have focused on what's working, or what might work, in addressing systems challenges from voting access to policies that help our communities thrive.
That's Ancestral Intelligence on our screens and in our speakers. It's a through line to the canon Terkel and Public Narrative built and nurtured — and that the Hub is carrying forward.
Join us for the Summer Summit on Friday, June 26, a one-day deep dive into using data to surface responses to the challenges that vex us. Registration is free but required. Sign up today.
Big congratulations to the 2026 Studs Terkel Community Media Award Honorees!
Ben Austen, Freelancer
Alma Campos, Chicago Public Media
Gregory Royal Pratt, Chicago Tribune
Laura Rodriguez Presa, Chicago Tribune
Jennifer Smith Richards, ProPublica Illinois
Deborah Douglas, Guest Contributor
Founding Director
Medill Solutions Journalism Hub
A Night Celebrating Chicago Excellence: Congratulations to the 2026 Community Media Award Winners!
Credit: Tafari Melisizwe for Public Narrative
Credit: Sylvia Ewing
Cultivating Meaningful Media Collaboration for Growth and Impact: 2026 Lenfest News Philanthropy Summit
The Institute for Journalism and Racial Justice Freelancing Bootcamp
Credit: DePaul University College of Communication
Candidates wait outside the Chicago Board of Elections Supersite in downtown Chicago for election filing on Monday, May 18, 2026. // Credit: Makiya Seminera for Chalkbeat Chicago
Chicago school board elections kicks off with the first day of candidate filing. Who is trying to run? // Chalkbeat Chicago
For the first time, all 21 members of Chicago’s Board of Education will be up for election. It’s the last step of a multi-year process — kick-started by the state legislature — to transition away from having Chicago’s mayor appoint members to the board. Chicagoans got a taste of that shift in 2024 when they voted for half the board’s members.
DACA Renewals Are Being Delayed — Here’s What To Know // Borderless Magazine
Over 500,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients are facing uncertainties amid renewal delays that could impact their work authorization and legal protections, immigration lawyers say.
Read more: DACA Renewals Are Being Delayed — Here’s What To Know
Chicago’s Clean Air Map Puts Longstanding Neighborhood Concerns on Record // Chicago News Weekly
The Chicago Environmental Justice Action Plan is the city’s first comprehensive roadmap for addressing cumulative environmental burdens in impacted neighborhoods. Developed collaboratively by the Department of Environment and eight additional city departments, the plan focuses on improving health and quality of life through more equitable decision-making, stronger coordination across city agencies and better resource allocation.
Read more: Chicago’s Clean Air Map Puts Longstanding Neighborhood Concerns on Record
Program Associate // Prince Charitable Trust
Director of Development // Rush Hospital
VP of Communications and Development // Michael Reese Health Trust
Managing Editor, News // Chicago Public Media
June 3: Article club: Certificates of Innocence // Injustice Watch
Join Injustice Watch on Wednesday, June 3, from 6:30-8:00 p.m., for an informal conversation about certificates of innocence: what they are, why they matter, and how Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke is trying to make them harder to get. Walls Turned Sideways (2717 W. Madison St., Chicago, IL)
June 4: The Live Frequency: Verse & Vision // Lumpen Radio
A special live broadcast experience at Co-Prosperity (3219 S. Morgan St) gathers four of Chicago’s most distinguished literary figures—avery r. young, Mayda A. Del Valle, Mark Turcotte, and Angela Jackson—for a 2-hour radio broadcast on WLPN-LP Chicago 105.5FM Lumpen Radio. Doors open at 6 p.m.
June 12: Kartemquin Summer Kick-Off // Kartemquin Films
Join the Kartemquin community on Friday, June 12th, at Ludlow Liquors in Chicago for a Summer Kick-Off.
Add your organization’s event to PN’s new Chicago Local Media Events Calendar!