La Raza gets grant to reach a new audience in a familiar way
Also, Chicago Public Square marks 9th anniversary, a better way to do chain newspapers, and other journalism news and jobs
Good morning, readers and subscribers.
It seemed like every journalist and their journalism association has commented on the arrests of independent journalists Georgia Ford and Don Lemon last week. I don’t think there is much I can say that hasn’t been said already, except…
Speaking as a Russian, one of the interesting things about Russian Federation under Putin is that Putin’s regime has gone out of its way to maintain an appearance of following the law, even as the freedoms prescribed in the Russian constitution were chipped away one by one. The increasingly pliant courts ruled in its favor, laws were changed as the federal and regional legislatures were purged of opposition, but they went through the trouble of changing the laws to justify political repression.
The second Trump Administration is less and less inclined to bother with even going through the motions, because Donald Trump has all of Putin’s right-wing nationalist grievances, appeal to his constituents’ sense of victimhood and weirdly petty grudges, but none of Putin’s patience and intelligence. On one hand, this does feel like what happened in Russia in the 2000s-2010s, but somehow faster and dumber. On the other hand, because the Trump Administration is less willing to play a long game, and the court system is less pliant, they have not been quite as successful.
Which isn’t to say anyone should be complacent. Quite the opposite. With the benefit of hindsight, I think we Russians were too complacent. Those of us old enough to remember when Soviet Union fell couldn’t believe that things would ever get that bad again, while our freedoms were slowly boiled alive, like frogs.
Give authoritarians an inch, and they will take a mile. Even if they’re wannabe authoritarians who aren’t as good as it.
Incidentally, National Association of Black Journalists is holding a town hall on press freedom tonight (Feb. 2) at 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Central time. It will be streamed on NABJ’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.
Now, let’s get on with the other, more Chicago-related journalism news.
La Raza to collaborate with “local radio station” on news segments, podcast
La Raza, one of the biggest (if not the biggest) Spanish-language newspapers in the Chicago area, was among the 11 newspapers nationwide (and the only one in Illinois) to receive funding through Lenfest Institute’s Beyond Print program.
Lenfest Institute,for those who don’t know, owns, but doesn’t officially control, the Philadelphia Inquirer, which happened to be one of this year’s grant recipients.
The program, according to the press release, “supports independent local newspapers in reducing reliance on print, growing digital revenue, embracing new distribution platforms, and reaching new and younger audiences.” The program was launched in 2022, and it saw 11 recipients get a total of $400,000. (No idea how much of it went to La Raza specifically).
Whatever money La Raza got will be used to allow the newspaper to “collaborate with a local radio station to develop Spanish-language radio segments and a recurring podcast. Audio will be distributed across radio, podcasts, web, newsletters, and social media, with bundled advertising and sponsorship packages.” And no, they are not specific about which radio station.
But what strikes me most about it is that, for all the talk about growing digital revenues and embracing new distribution platforms, a newspaper collaborating with a radio is pretty dang old-fashioned idea. One that goes back to the early days of commercial radio. Let’s we forget, here in Chicago, “WGN” stands for “World’s Greatest Newspaper.” And it isn’t as if radio stations are new to having podcasts.
Don’t get me wrong. I think it’s good for La Raza to get its content out in other formats, and this will help generate revenues that it doesn’t have yet. But if I had a dollar for every time a grantor or a media company tried to repackage something that has been tried before (sometimes successfully, sometimes less so) as something cutting-edge and innovative… I think I’d have enough money for at least a Crain’s Chicago Business subscription.
Chicago Public Square marks ninth anniversary
Last Friday, Jan. 30 marked the ninth year anniversary of the launch of Chicago Public Square, a newsletter by veteran Chicago radio reporter Charlie Meyerson.
Now, a newsletter that summarizes news in brief bullet points, where paid subscriptions are an option rather than Patreon-style key to extra perks, doesn’t seem like an obvious recipe for success. I know I wasn’t sure what to make of it at the time. But the last nine years has proven that it’s a recipe that works for Meyerson and his many, many readers. And, as he detailed in a March 13, 2017 Medium post, what he was doing drew on his radio and print background (and a suggestion from a friend), so Meyerson wasn’t just shooting in the dark.
I would, of course, be remiss not to mention that I owe about half of Chicago Media Journal subscribers (including two paid ones) to a Chicago Public Square link to the post announcing its launch. I’m pretty sure it would not have gotten as much traction on socials as it did without that plug. So thank you, Charlie.
To mark the 9th anniversary, Chicago Public Square is offering a $9 discount on the newsletter merch to anyone who donates at least $1. The discount will be good until the end of February.
How two newspaper chains treat the same audience
I passed through west suburban Elmhurst and Villa Park last Wednesday for work-related reasons. I usually try to make a point of stopping at the local library of whatever town I happened to be in, if time and logistics allow, and check out local newspapers.
Both suburbs have local weekly papers operated by two chains. Shaw Media’s Suburban Life division has newspapers that, since 2013, have been called Elmhurst Suburban Life and Villa Park Suburban Life. Rock Valley Publishing prints Elmhurst Independent and Villa Park Review.
Now, Suburban Life newspapers were literally identical to each other in everything but the masthead. I cannot emphasize how completely identical they were. I went so far as comparing every single page - identical.
Meanwhile, Elmhurst Independent had an Elmhurst-related story on the front page, while Villa Park Review had a photo of a local high school, Willowbrook High School, dance team. And while there was some overlap in turn of wire copy, reworked press releases and the original articles, and a lot of the same ads, the interior pages looked more different than not.
All Chicago newspapers are operating at a fraction of their resources and capacity. But what this drove home for me was that how you use those resources matters. Having identical papers save for mastheads sends the message that the publisher doesn’t care about the communities, because that is literally the same paper in Villa Park as it is in Berwyn. Rock Valley Publishing’s papers at least show some effort to share the news relevant to the communities.
To be clear, I know how hard it is to create distinct papers with limited resources. And, to be fair, some of Rock Valley Publishing’s other papers, while not quite as egregious, are a lot more similar to each other (see their papers in the Rockford area). But I think the larger point still stands. If you are going to ask readers to spend money on you, whether it’s by subscribing, advertising or donating, you better offer them something unique. Something they can invest it, in more ways than one, and take ownership of.
And you can’t really expect the audience to care about your product if your product shows you don’t care about your audience.
Journalism Bits and Bites
PressLines, Illinois Press Association’s online quarterly newsletter, switched to a biweekly schedule effective Jan. 30. It will go out every other Friday going forward. I’m not 100% sure of the exact timeline, but PressLines used to be bimonthly print publication, then a quarterly print publication and then, most likely around the pandemic, went online-only. Through all its iterations, I would argue that it has been one of the most comprehensive sources of IPA member News. and, without a print schedule to worry about, there is really no reason for it to be quarterly. If you are interested in what’s going on with newspapers throughout Illinois and haven’t already subscribed, now is a good time to remedy that.
Borderless Magazine is launching what it describes as both a column and a “visual series” spotlighting Millennial and Gen Z Chicagoans and/or efforts led by Millennial and Gen Z Chicagoans to support the city’s immigrant communities. The nomination form is here.
Joyce Diebel, former reporter and editor at Des Plaines Publishing Co.., passed away on Jan. 27 at the age of 100. Her obituary is fuzzy on when she started writing for Des Plaines Suburban Times, the company’s flagship newspaper, or when she became the paper’s editor, but it does mention that she became a the managing editor for the entire group at the age of 61. While Des Plaines Publishing had other female editors, she was the only woman to serve as the managing editor in the company’s history.
“The funeral will be held on February 7th, at 11AM, at Friedrich’s Funeral Home, 320 W. Central Road in Mt. Prospect. Light lunch to follow. Memorials may be made to Trinity Lutheran Church’s, 675 E. Algonquin Road, Des Plaines, IL 60016.”
The Beacher, a Michigan City, Ind.-based weekly newspaper covering beachside communities in Indiana’s Porter and La Porte countries, plus a few communities in southwest Michigan, announced a new correspondent. Betsy Kohn served as Director of Communications at Michigan City Area Schools district (a K-12 school district which serves Michigan City and some neighboring cities) between 2007 and early 2025, and she did (and still does) some PR on the side. Before that, Kohn served as an editor for Guidepost Magazines’ kids and teen titles. As with so many folks in our field, her job was eliminated when the non-denominational Christian publisher closed the titles she was editing. Kohn’s first article for the Beacher, which was published in last week’s issue, dealt with (shocker) a Michigan City school.
If you are ever in Michigan City area, I would legit recommend you pick up a copy of the Beacher. It publishes feature stories that are genuinely engaging, it’s a good primer on region’s events, and I even like many of their book and movie reviews (because the Beacher publishes those). It does what I think a good newspaper should - capture, in its own way, a community pulse and what makes the area it covers what it is.
Journalism Jobs
Chalkbeat Chicago is hiring a reporter focusing on covering how local, state and federal policies and politics affect education in Illinois in general and Chicago specifically. Must have at least two years of education reporting experience. being able to speak a non-English language is a plus, and speaking Spanish is a bigger plus. Salary range is $70,000 to $74,000 a year, plus benefits, and it is a union positon. Apply here.
Borderless Magazine is hiring a Senior Immigration and Courts reporter. The reporter “will lead [Borderless’] coverage of immigration enforcement, detention, deportation proceedings, and related court cases, with a focus on how federal and local policies impact immigrant communities in the Chicagoland area.” At least 10 years of journalism experience required. Spanish language proficiency and experience covering federal courts and/or criminal justice sytem preferred. $70,000 to $80,000 salary range, plus benefits. Apply by March 2, 2026.
The Barn Raiser, a Chicago-based news site covering rural and small town communities, is hiring a part-time audience engagement/social media person. “Deep knowledge of and connection to rural America” preferred. Pay is $35 an hour, for 10-15 hours a week. The job listing takes pains to empathize that the position is fully remote. To apply, email To apply, a cover letter, resume and work examples/portfolio here.
WBBN News Radio is hiring a part-time anchor/reporter. Pay range is $38.11 per hour to $59.30 per hour.
Your comparison of two weeklies' handling of two communities reminded me of the great care needed every week when editing some 20th century print-only Pioneer Press papers that were largely identical but bore separate titles. To keep the cheap, fast, second-class mailing permit for the 90+% of paid circulation that was delivered by USPS, we had to do lots more than just re-plate the flag and masthead. The editorial/advertising ratio mattered, so we couldn't just plug in a house ad. There was a federal quota for editorial content unique to each title, and company policy at the time was that it be specific to the community targeted by the title. So you can imagine the scramble to convert vibrant Oak Park's ~Oak Leaves~ to sleepy River Forest's ~Forest Leaves~ with at least one full tab page. The two communities do share a high school and more. Even so, I often had to calculate column inches. Living now again in the Trib's ~Evanston Review~ turf, I cannot tell how its relatively scant but still sometimes significant Evanston coverage stacks up in a package that includes several North Shore communities and reprints some Tribune stuff. Every publisher is under economic pressure. That has been so ever since web advertising and online news content cribbing began in the 1990s.