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Civic Reporting Programs
City Bureau offers paid, intensive training opportunities for journalists who want to grow their reporting, engagement and leadership skills.
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Civic Reporting Programs at City Bureau are hands-on training opportunities where journalists of different experience levels can grow their skills in a supportive environment. At City Bureau, we emphasize racial equity, community engagement and co-learning. All program participants work closely with communities on Chicago’s South and West Sides to center the needs and narratives of people most directly affected by the issues we cover.
Apply for 2025 fellowship cycles with our rolling application here.
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date on future application cycles.
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Fall 2024: Your election questions, answered
We asked Chicago residents what they wanted to know about the November 2024 election and the electoral process. Check back here as we dig up answers to their questions.
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Spring 2024: Youth mental health
How do teens and young adults access mental health services in Chicago — and what sort of resources do they need most? Fellows explored how the city is responding to their needs. See what we found.
Winter 2024:
Migrant labor
Since August 2022, more than 35,000 asylum-seekers and migrants have come to Chicago via buses and planes from Texas. As we spoke to some recent arrivals, many said finding work was their No. 1 concern. Fellows explored what that looked like in a city still figuring out how best to be a welcoming one.
Past Projects
If you’ve read a major investigation or reporting project from City Bureau — from the “Fraternal Order of Propaganda” investigative feature to “The Cord” text-messaging service for Black mothers and birthing people — it was most likely created by participants in our Civic Reporting Programs. Read more of our past projects below.
Fall 2023: Affordable Housing in Bronzeville
As developers eye Bronzeville for new housing projects, how can the historic Black Metropolis prioritize equity and avoid displacing long-time residents? Fellows will chronicle the journeys of those in search of housing, and looking into existing options for affordable, long-term housing in the neighborhood.
Led by City Bureau’s senior reporter Sarah Conway, four emerging journalists reported on Chicago’s guaranteed income pilot program and private efforts provide cash directly to individuals who struggle to access the social safety net, such as people who have been incarcerated.
Led by City Bureau’s engagement reporter Jerrel Floyd, four emerging reporters looked into the city’s promises to spend a billion dollars building affordable housing. The reporters focused on Bronzeville, where a developer is promising a mixed-income community built with the help of tax-payer dollars near public transportation.
Experts say an eviction avalanche is coming. But thousands of Chicago renters have already been pushed to the brink of the housing cliff.
Fall 2020: How are Chicago’s immigrants empowered through the electoral process, and in what ways do election outcomes affect their lives?
The city faces a historic deficit. Where will the mayor find money, and where will services be cut?
As the census approaches, stakes are high in Illinois as the state has billions of federal funding dollars—and perhaps even a seat in Congress—at stake.
What does Black wealth look like in Chicago? Our reporting fellows look to tell the expansive story of how generations of Black Chicagoans built, lost and passed along wealth by looking beyond the financial statistics.
A Spring 2019 City Bureau project is tackling issues of racial inequity in maternal and infant health and telling stories of community solutions and resilience.
In July 2017, a new court opened on Chicago’s West Side that aimed to restore defendants to the community via peace circles rather than punishing them within the criminal justice system.
Where do candidates stand on the issues West Side residents care about the most? Responses from six front-running mayoral candidates, and aldermanic candidates in the 28th, 29th and 37th Wards.
Special series: Temp Workers
Are policymakers keeping their promises to reduce racial disparities in staffing agencies? We’ll learn from Black and Latinx workers about how policy decisions have impacted their lives.
Special series: Housing Cooperatives
Can housing cooperatives be a solution to the affordable housing crisis? Fellows will explore the history of co-ops in Chicago, particularly in communities of color, and the role the city has played in supporting them?
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Art: David Alvarado for City Bureau
A Growing Alumni Network
Our 100+ past fellows and residents have gone on to do everything from founding their own media startups to working at news outlets as diverse as Block Club Chicago to the New York Times. Their award-winning reporting has inspired protests, policy changes and transformative conversations in communities across Chicago.
PAST RESIDENTS & FELLOWS
Not pictured: Adia Robinson, Evie Lacroix, Latricia Polk, Will Cabaniss