Reporting teams will cover environmental-related issues around Chicago. Hit us up if you have any tips or suggestions!
By Arionne Nettles
Photos: Sebastián Hidalgo/City Bureau
In a year that has proven local journalism is just as essential as ever before, we’re ecstatic to welcome our latest group of Civic Reporting Fellows into the mix. Fellows will continue the yearslong tradition of diving head first into issues of inequity and access, while working closely with the communities they most affect.
This summer, all three reporting teams will look into environmental-related topics across Chicago throughout their 11-week fellowship. Questions about navigating lack of water and land access, continued industrial pollution and the policies and systems that guide them drive this cohort’s curiosity. Here’s a look:
Urban Agriculture
The urban agriculture team will look into how racial equity plays into water and land access, zoning and business licensing for urban growers on Chicago’s South and West sides. From community and commercial gardens to urban farms, reporters will examine the policies impacting these growers and their work.
From left: Samantha Callender, Susan Carlotta Ellis, Kyel Brooks, Sarah Conway (team leader) and Jennifer Bamberg
Environmental Justice in Little Village
This team will examine the relationship between industrial expansion in Chicago and Little Village. The 1,252-acre industrial corridor that neighbors the working-class community is expanding, and reporters will look into how that expansion contributes to poor air quality and how pollutants affect the human body.
From left: Sebastián Hidalgo (team leader), Ata Younan, Leslie Hurtado and Ger Salgado
Environmental Justice on the Southeast Side
For decades, residents on Chicago’s Southeast Side have fought to live in a community free of toxic industry. This team will look at the impact of industrial zoning and city land use practices since the area’s de-industrialization as a steel mill hub in the 1980s and what community resistance against industrial zoning policies looks like today.
From left: Ahmad Sayles, Corli Jay, Olivia Stovicek (team leader) and Bridget Vaughn
We’d love any tips or suggestions for our summer reporting! Email us at info@citybureau.org, or leave a voicemail or text us at 312-361-0881.
Correction: A previous version of this post described the Little Village Corridor as 168 acres. It is 1,252 acres.
Support City Bureau’s civic journalism model by becoming a recurring donor today.
To get monthly emails about our organizational culture and lessons learned from our programs, sign up for City Bureau’s Notebook newsletter.