Campaign notebook
Monday, Sep 26, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Tribune takes a look at the Workers’ Rights Amendment…
The proposed Illinois amendment would guarantee not only the right to organize for the most common elements of collective bargaining, like wages, hours and working conditions, but also for “economic welfare and safety at work.”
It also would essentially ban so-called right-to-work laws or ordinances, which prohibit companies and unions from agreeing to require union membership as a condition of employment. Right-to-work laws disempower unions by allowing workers to avoid paying “fair share” fees to unions — money used for nonpolitical union costs for actions such as collective bargaining. […]
It was intentionally drafted to apply to all workers, Poulos said, adding it will cover “droves” of workers not yet protected by federal or state law, such as agricultural workers and independent contractors, and would also work as a backstop if the federal laws that protect many private workers were ever repealed by federal courts or legislators. […]
The amendment would make the state uniquely anti-business, said Todd Maisch, president and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce. Many nearby states that could be competing for business have right-to-work laws, he said.
“It’s a terrible message to send to the rest of the nation,” Maisch said.
* Proft on his PAC’s new book…
People Who Play By The Rules PAC has published a new book, The Governor You Do Not Know, written by former Chicago Sun-Times columnist and long-time moderate Democrat Dennis Byrne. The book has been mailed to voters across Illinois and is available to download for free at www.pritzkerbook.com. On Monday morning Byrne was interviewed by PBR PAC President Dan Proft and host of Dan & Amy on AM 560 Chicago’s Morning Answer. That full interview is also available at www.pritzkerbook.com.
About The Author: “I can’t remember exactly when I was no longer a committed and loyal Democrat. It started to happen, gradually, back when I wrote for the Chicago Sun-Times. As a member of the paper’s editorial board, I had to argue and defend opinions and values that were basic to most Americans way back then. But the cracks had started to form.”
…
Some more excerpts: “To make a change means taking a risk. It means many of you will have to temporarily step outside of your old political comfort zone. To not make a change also entails risk. In fact, hoping things get better with the same people pursuing the same destructive policies…is actually the most hopeless choice of all.
…
“I hope you will travel along with me in this little book, all the way to the last chapter. It should not take you very long. You will find out many things not reported in the news media, which I hope will help you make an informed decision for your future—for you, your family, your neighbors, and your fellow citizens of Illinois.”
…
In The Governor You Do Not Know Byrne explains what the major changes in Illinois’ laws brought about by Pritzker and his “new” Democrats will mean to moderate Democrat and Independent voters who may have voted for the governor four years ago…and what lies ahead for us who live in Illinois if he wins again.
Dennis Byrne is a native Chicagoan and long-time journalist who was variously an op-ed columnist, editorial board member, science writer, transportation reporter, and urban affairs writer for the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and Chicago Daily News. He blogs at The Barbershop: Dennis Byre, Proprietor, and is also the author of the historical novel Madness: The War of 1812. He now lives in Florida with his wife, Barbara, and their extended family.
To book Byrne for interviews, contact Mike Koolidge at michael@koolidge.com.
* Just another day in the life of our Republican nominee for attorney general…
The gender fluid, all-inclusive, woke liberal agenda, etc., etc. is simultaneously rearing its head in every nation…
Posted by Thomas DeVore on Monday, September 26, 2022
* More…
* Workers’ Rights discussed at Citizens Club
* State Rep. Conroy and board member Hart face off Nov. 8 to be the new DuPage County Board chairman
* Pat Quinn wants ComEd to pay up
* Metal of Honor Recipient Allen Lynch Endorses Mark Curran for Illinois Supreme Court
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* Press release…
As part of his focus on expanding Illinois’ innovation economy, Governor JB Pritzker and the University of Illinois’ Discovery Partners Institute unveiled the design for the new headquarters in The 78, a vibrant new innovation district along the Chicago River.
Design renderings can be downloaded here.
In addition, CVS Health announced today that it will be an anchor employer for DPI’s new partnership with technology services firm Interapt. Over the next five years, the Chicago/Skills apprenticeship program will provide as many as 2,500 individuals with tuition-free technology training and paid apprenticeship opportunities, with a focus on diverse apprentices. CVS Health has committed to hiring more than 200 successful participants over the next three years.
“The State of Illinois is building a world-class innovation hub in the heart of Chicago on the site of an old railroad yard that has sat vacant for decades,” said Gov. JB Pritzker. “Already DPI has helped launch our state’s COVID-testing system, is searching for COVID-19 and other viruses in our wastewater, and is training hundreds of students for careers in tech – and has a plan to spread the opportunities equitably. This futuristic design from OMA/Jacobs matches our ambitions.”
“This new building is a testament to the innovation and forward-thinking ideas Illinois aims to foster across the state,” said Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton. “The future headquarters will also show how much we can do to grow and progress when we invest in infrastructure that pushes us forward. That was the mission of Rebuild Illinois, and the funds coming from this plan continue to positively shape diverse communities throughout the state.”
Located on a one-acre site southwest of the Loop, the new DPI headquarters will provide more than 200,000 square feet of office, classroom, lab, and event space for DPI and its university and industry partners.
The State of Illinois is committing $500 million in capital funding to launch DPI and establish its Innovation Network at regional universities throughout the state. DPI is part of the University of Illinois System.
* Meanwhile, here’s the Tribune…
Construction has begun at the site of the former United Airlines headquarters in Mount Prospect, with recent demolition at the property clearing the way for the creation of a $2.5 billion data center campus expected to launch in 2024.
Officials with CloudHQ, a Washington, D.C.-based global data center provider that specializes in the design, development and operation of “hyperscale” data center facilities, said the 1.5 million-square-foot campus is expected to create 75 to 100 jobs for each of three planned buildings, including operations, maintenance and security positions.
The site, which is bordered by Dempster Street and Algonquin and Linneman roads, is anticipated to generate up to 3,000 construction jobs during construction of the three buildings.
* More…
* Illinois Racino Progress Varies At Hawthorne And Fairmount Tracks: Hawthorne running at quicker pace in transition toward new phase of operations
* Chicago hospitals commit to equitable care, but rising costs squeeze budgets and threaten progress
* John Rowe, who built Exelon into a national utility powerhouse, is dead at 77: One of Chicago’s most civically active corporate leaders, Rowe deftly navigated the choppy waters of the power business—and kept a major corporate headquarters in Chicago in the process.
* Governor Pritzker Announces Commitment of $2.6 Billion in Soybean and Corn Purchases by Taiwanese Government
* Southland officials seek Gov. Pritzker’s support to move forward with South Suburban Airport: House Bill 5810 seeks to amend existing legislation by changing one word in a 2013 public act that said the state “may” move forward with the airport. “Sometimes when the state doesn’t want to do anything you say may,” Davis said. “Instead of may, we’re saying shall.”
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* First, an update on the Burr Ridge Mayor, via Patch…
Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso earlier this month suggested the village had the power to determine which guests local hotels could accept under its village license.
A lawyer by trade, Grasso has not publicly cited the village’s legal authority. […]
Patch could find no provisions in the village code in which the mayor or Village Board could require a hotel to reject certain groups of paying customers. In this case, the state paid for the lodging. […]
Grasso did not cite any specific legal authority in which the village could compel the hotel to reject migrants or lodgers who were there as the result of “politically charged events.”
* NBC5…
As of Sept. 24, Chicago has accepted 1,177 asylum-seekers who have arrived from Texas on buses sent by Abbott since the first bus arrived in the city on Aug. 31. […]
According to city officials, many children and infants are among those seeking refuge in the United States, many of whom traveled through several countries en route to Texas.
“Illinois is a welcoming state. We are committed to assisting each family and individual, providing human services with respect and dignity. We expect more arrivals to be welcomed and the City will continue to provide daily updates on those arrivals,” city spokesperson Joseph Dutra said.
Dutra added that upon arrival, migrants are provided immediate shelter and support with in-depth case management and connections to city and community-based services and agencies.
* Evanston Round Table…
Earlier this month, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office and the Illinois Department of Human Services held conversations with Evanston leaders about housing some of the more than 1,000 refugees that have been bused to Illinois, according to City Manager Luke Stowe.
At the moment, Evanston’s shelters are full and most hotels are booked with Northwestern football games and other events coming up this fall, Stowe said. So no arrangements have yet been set.
But Illinois officials, including Pritzker, expect more migrants to arrive in the coming days and weeks, and the state is looking for Chicago and surrounding suburbs to help provide food, clothing and shelter until these people have a chance to get on their feet and find more permanent housing.
“We’ve had multiple discussions with the Governor’s office and IDHS in September about whether Evanston could help house migrants,” Stowe told the RoundTable. “One of the challenges is that the request is typically for 60 to 90 days of housing, which is difficult for our hotel partners due to Northwestern events and demand for hotel rooms. We are not currently housing any migrants, but we expect future requests and are preparing for it.”
* WCBU…
The City of Peoria is preparing for the potential arrival of asylum seekers in the coming weeks. [..]
“At that point, we started putting our thinking caps on,” [Mayor Rita Ali] said. “We scheduled an emergency meeting for this week with, really, many of the same public and private agencies that responded to COVID and had an emergency response plan and really a system for dealing with that here.”
Latin American language speakers will be needed to serve as cultural connections. The migrants also will need access to shelter, food and health care. Peoria does not have an official welcoming center, and Ali said some private shelters are already full. […]
She said the city was told a bus of migrants sent to Peoria would most likely transport around 50 people. The city would hopefully receive advance notice of at least three hours, the mayor said.
* WMBD…
Peoria Mayor Rita Ali said while the city is not necessarily inviting buses of migrants, the potential for their arrival is certainly present. City leaders and other key community stakeholders are developing a game plan if migrants are brought to the area.
“They often get off the bus needing medical attention, I know that’s not the way you should treat human beings,” Ali said.
While plans for migrants to be sent to Central Illinois are not imminent, Peoria leaders are getting ready in case that changes.
“We want to be prepared, we don’t want to be blindsided by that,” Ali said.
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Groups warn against the spread of extremism
Monday, Sep 26, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the Awake Illinois website…
These folks are quite something…
"Please know you are not alone, and not only are you not alone, you have an entire tribe standing by you."
Good things ahead! #AwakeIllinois
Posted by Awake Illinois on Friday, September 23, 2022
* Anyway, the school board candidate training was met by a protest…
Saturday morning parents from an array of suburban school districts along with representatives of state and local advocacy organizations, including Equality Illinois, ADL Midwest, Illinois Families for Public Schools, and more, gathered out front of the Marriott Courtyard hotel in Des Plaines to share their stories of how extremism is seeping into the public sphere—whether it be at school board meetings, public libraries, bakeries that support LGBTQ+ rights, and more.
Inside the Marriott, a school board candidate training took place sponsored by the anti-equity, anti-equality groups Moms for Liberty and Awake Illinois. Posing as concerned parent groups, these organizations have made calls to action against LGBTQ+ friendly events, harassed school board members and school staff, mounted opposition to a diverse and rich history curriculum that reflects all students, called for book bans, and more.
Opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion programs and support for civil rights protections for transgender and non-gender conforming youth in public schools has emerged around Illinois in recent years. Then in the summer of 2021, parents and others virulently opposing covid mitigation measures in schools began organizing to disrupt school boards and harass and threaten board members. They then pivoted to attacks on “Critical Race Theory”, a term erroneously used to characterize schools teaching accurate and honest history that addresses racial injustice in the US. In 2022, the focus of their attacks has been to spread transphobia and homophobia via book bans and attempts to exclude and eliminate protections and support for LGBTQ+ students. “We are here today in solidarity with parents, with teachers, with youth and our partners to call out the hate and intimidation and to tell LGBTQ+ Illinoisans, and particularly youth, that you belong, that you matter, that you are beautiful, that you are exactly who you are meant to be, and that we are grateful that you are in the world,“ said Mony Ruiz-Velasco, Deputy Director of Equality Illinois. “LGBTQ+ people deserve the same rights, same treatment and respect as our straight and cisgender allies. We are here because we will not let these hate groups control our narratives, our families or our ability to see ourselves reflected in our schools and our libraries,” added Ruiz-Velasco.
Parent of four, Asafonie Obed of District 204 (Indian Prairie) contacted after the event, said, “I encountered the founder of Awake Illinois, a fellow-parent at my children’s school, when she told me to start a charter school if I wanted diversity, equity and inclusion practices and a social justice framework at District 204. I was flabbergasted. And then I helped organize our community so she would not have a seat at the important school board table, where policies impacting my children are made.” (You can see Obed’s video of her story here. She was unable to attend in person due to family illness.)
In Downers Grove, students and parents defeated an attempt to ban Gender Queer. School board meetings were attended by members of the Proud Boys hate group, there to intimidate the students who were speaking out for the basic right to see themselves reflected in books in the school library. Downers Grove parent Kylie Spahn said, “It’s not always an easy battle, but it is winnable if you are organized. Due to being outspoken, I was attacked verbally at meetings, and my employer was called by someone a number of times who claimed I was a groomer and shouldn’t be around kids.”
In District 200, Wheaton parent Shannon Limjuco has witnessed how these anti-equality groups have reacted to pushback over the last year, saying “They continually model the worst bullying behavior possible for all of our children. I’ve seen them target and harass in person and online, school board members, administrators, teachers, and even parents who speak out against them.“ The message shared by all the parents was that organizing has worked thus far, and that it is more important than ever to stay focused on these races and vote in them next spring. Some coalition groups will be doing their own school board trainings to ensure Illinois schools are inclusive, child-centered and welcoming to all families and students.
More here and here.
* Doesn’t look like many people attended, but a couple of dozen candidates is nothing to sneeze at…
* Meanwhile, the organizer of a protest against UpRising Bakery handed out this flier on Saturday…
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Question of the day
Monday, Sep 26, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Politico, July 26…
A group of Republican state legislators who support former President Donald Trump have called on the Illinois GOP to censure Congressman Adam Kinzinger for “incendiary language, wild exaggeration and personal opinions” during the House select committee’s hearings investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
But GOP governor candidate Darren Bailey, who’s backed by Trump, and Illinois Republican Party President Don Tracy are ignoring the request, signaling a division within the party as the General Election approaches in November.
Political pivot: Bailey and Tracy issued statements worded the same way that address party kumbaya, not Kinzinger. “The Illinois GOP is focused on uniting the party to defeat Gov. [JB] Pritzker in November and make Illinois a safe and affordable place for people to live. That’s what Republicans are rallying around. That is our priority.”
The message being: Bailey and party leaders are working together after a bitter primary and in spite of their historically divergent political views within the Republican Party. Bailey’s far-right-leaning politics holds sway Downstate but not so much in Chicago.
* Politico, August 17…
Darren Bailey has made a major pivot. His team told reporter Mark Maxwell that “Mike Pence followed the constitutional process” and “Joe Biden is the duly elected president.”
Jan. 6 connection: Bailey made his comments in response to a former campaign aide being charged in the attack on the Capitol, according to KSDK’s Maxwell.
‘Definitive’ pivot: “Those comments may represent the most definitive statement from Bailey’s campaign to date about the outcome of the 2020 election and could be another sign Republicans fear litigating the last election might interfere with their designs to win a statewide race in 2022 in a state where Joe Biden won handily,” reports Maxwell.
Don’t go thinking Bailey is woke. On Tuesday, the GOP candidate for governor stood with members of Awake Illinois, an anti-mask, anti-LGBTQ and anti-Critical Race Theory organization, protesting at the state Capitol. Bailey stressed the importance of fighting for “these freedoms that are being taken away from us,” report Tribune’s Jeremy Gorner and Dan Petrella.
* Politico today…
Republican governor candidate Darren Bailey won the endorsement of Donald Trump in the GOP primary, but he’s all but ignored the former president as he heads into November’s General election.
The big pivot: Bailey has “largely avoided answering reporter questions about the former president,” Mark Guarino writes in The Washington Post. There’s a reason, of course. Bailey knows that Chicago and its collar counties lean more to the left than Trump and his acolytes.
The Republican state senator who once pushed Illinois to secede from Chicago, has also pulled back from his anti-abortion claims, acknowledging he can do little to change the state’s laws supporting abortion rights.
The question is whether Bailey’s pivot away from far-right rhetoric is enough to help down-ballot Republicans. State GOP leaders aren’t so sure. They set out on the election season hoping to gain seats in the General Assembly but concede it will still be an uphill climb.
* The Question: How would you rate the success of these multiple “pivot” attempts? Explain.
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* This is big, and particularly timely considering the recent Daily Herald scandal…
The Robert R. McCormick Foundation today announced investments in Block Club Chicago, Capitol News Illinois, Injustice Watch, and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. These investments complement the Foundation’s investment in the Illinois Solutions Partnership, formed with the Better Government Association and announced in 2021.
Together, these commitments to strengthening and scaling impactful reporting in Chicago and Illinois are intended to increase government transparency, enhance accountability of decision-makers to their constituents, and ensure public investments are creating and supporting opportunities for all, especially Chicago’s South and West Side residents.
McCormick Foundation grants to Block Club Chicago and Injustice Watch will support more robust investigative reporting on persistent challenges disinvested communities face and the promising efforts many are leading, in Chicago and elsewhere, to create thriving communities. Springfield-made decisions, from education spending to public safety policy, play a pivotal role in Chicago’s communities, but the attrition in statehouse reporting means these political transactions often go unexamined and remain outside the public eye. The grant to Capitol News Illinois will help a promising three year-old outlet scale to meet the need for greater scrutiny in Springfield.
To ensure these funds drive long-term change, the grants include support for both editorial and business operations at Block Club Chicago, Capitol News Illinois, and Injustice Watch to help these outlets implement sustainability plans that will see them augment and diversify their revenue streams to support continued editorial growth and impact.
Medill, which is already supporting several local news outlets, will be able to expand its support for local media with the new grant from McCormick and provide a range of business analytics, market research, and expert advice to help outlets sustainably scale and serve the Chicago region’s residents.
“Chicago is fortunate to have one of the most dynamic and innovative networks of nonprofit news organizations in the country,” said Timothy P. Knight, the McCormick Foundation’s President and CEO. “All of these organizations have a history of collaborating closely with others, and several of these organizations currently collaborate with each other on a range of editorial, promotional, and operational initiatives. The simultaneous investment in each of these organizations, together with our investment in the Illinois Solutions Partnership, is intended to promote and strengthen collaboration and recognize the strong, complementary skills each of these organizations brings to Chicago and Illinois media.”
Block Club Chicago will receive $1.6M over three years to build a six-person investigative team and deepen its coverage of Chicago’s South and West Sides. Launched in 2018, the nonprofit newsroom delivers daily nonpartisan coverage of Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods. Its more than a dozen reporters embedded in neighborhoods across the city provide residents continual insights on economic, political, and social developments in their communities. The new investigative team will complement Block Club’s existing daily news team and be positioned to act on tips and pursue longer-lead, high impact stories to improve government transparency and accountability.
“When reporters are embedded in the communities they cover, they’re able to report with context, respect and deep knowledge instead of parachuting in. Block Club’s reporters have proved time and again that our ground-level approach builds trust with readers, leads to news that is more responsive to the community’s needs and offers a more accurate portrayal of our neighborhoods,” said Stephanie Lulay, Executive Editor and Co-founder of Block Club Chicago. “Thanks to the incredible support of the McCormick Foundation, we’re excited to give Chicago neighborhoods the dedicated investigative coverage they deserve.”
Injustice Watch will receive $1.5M over three years to grow its editorial capacity and expand its audience and revenue building efforts. The outlet is a nonpartisan, nonprofit journalism organization that focuses on issues of equity and justice in the courts, especially in the Circuit Court of Cook County. The outlet’s public service journalism is bringing needed awareness and transparency to court proceedings and judicial elections, while engaging community members in the process. The outlet’s three-year strategic growth plan will add investigative reporters and editors, alongside an audience and fundraising team to increase in-person and digital engagement and grow the outlet’s readership and supporter base.
“The McCormick Foundation’s grant to Injustice Watch will enable the organization to amplify its impact,” said Juliet Sorensen, executive director of Injustice Watch. “Our research-driven, human-centered approach to systemic issues will reach more community members and inform and engage them in the process. We are honored by this investment in our future.”
Capitol News Illinois will receive $2M over three years to expand its editorial capacity and add more investigative and Chicago-based reporting. Importantly, the outlet will also hire its first full-time fundraising position and start to build a team to diversify its revenue. It will also add broadcast journalists to their reporting team in 2023 in a partnership with the Illinois Broadcasters Association. Capitol News Illinois (CNI) is a nonprofit news service that covers state government daily for newspapers statewide. Launched in 2019, its stories have been published more than 70,000 times in 460 daily and nondaily newspapers statewide. Since its launch, the news service has added a daily newsletter and a podcast and last year launched a partnership with Illinois Public Radio stations.
“Our news service has had a big impact in its first 3-plus years in the state’s print media because of the initial investments made by the McCormick Foundation and the Illinois Press Foundation,” said Jeff Rogers, director of the IPF, which operates Capitol News Illinois. Rogers is also editor of Capitol News Illinois.
“We are excited about the significant next steps our news service will be able to take with this investment from McCormick. We look forward to greatly expanding our funding base and business operations, extending our audience into TV and radio, and growing our reporting team in the next 3 years. We’re also looking forward to being a part of a collaborative investigative journalism powerhouse McCormick is fostering with these grants.”
Medill will receive $2.4M over three years to launch the Medill Local News Accelerator, a program to spur innovation and improve long-term sustainability of independent Chicago news organizations. The Accelerator will grow audience engagement; spur revenue growth through digital subscriptions, memberships, sponsorships and other diversified income streams; and create strategies for long-term self-sustainability of Chicago news organizations. Additionally, Northwestern will launch a new, immersive media leadership training program. Faculty experts from Medill and the Kellogg School of Management, along with media thought leaders outside the university, will provide in-depth training for Chicago media leaders to help give them the tools they need to better manage their news outlets for long-term sustainability.
“We are honored that the McCormick Foundation has chosen to invest in our efforts to help bolster outlets in the Chicago media ecosystem,” said Medill Dean Charles Whitaker. “We look forward to partnering with a wide swath of local news organizations to help them chart paths that will lead to their long-term viability and the continued production of robust journalism for our communities.”
* And from Capitol News Illinois…
Capitol News Illinois will significantly expand its operations as it enters the fifth year of operations in 2023 because of a significant grant from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
The McCormick Foundation has announced a three-year, $2 million investment in Capitol News Illinois, a nonprofit news organization that provides daily coverage of state government and is operated by the Illinois Press Foundation.
The CNI grant is one of four being announced by the McCormick Foundation, which is also investing in Block Club Chicago, Injustice Watch and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. The four grants total $7.5 million over three years. The grants complement the McCormick Foundation’s investment in the Illinois Solutions Partnership, formed with the Better Government Association and announced in 2021.
The McCormick Foundation has granted Capitol News Illinois $700,000 over its first four years of operations. McCormick said the increased investment in CNI will “help a promising outlet scale to meet the need for greater scrutiny in Springfield.”
Jeff Rogers, the executive director of the Illinois Press Foundation and editor of Capitol News Illinois, said the McCormick investment will be used to expand the news service’s print reporting operations, launch a broadcast news operation in 2023, and hire a development director that will be tasked with growing and diversifying revenue streams to support continued editorial growth and impact.
Other Capitol News Illinois initiatives planned in the coming months and years with the McCormick investment include adding print reporters outside of the Springfield area; continuing to grow the broadcast newsroom; and hiring a photographer/videographer, a web/digital developer, an events coordinator, and a college internships coordinator. News literacy and civics initiatives are also planned, as is an expanded effort to provide analytical reporting and commentary.
“Capitol News Illinois’ mission has always been to connect as many people as possible to state government in Illinois,” Rogers said. “We have been very successful in doing that through the more than 460 newspapers in Illinois that have published CNI stories since 2019. This investment in Capitol News Illinois from the McCormick Foundation will allow us to expand our audience significantly through broadcast reporting and through significantly expanded print offerings.”
Capitol News Illinois stories have been published more than 75,000 times in Illinois newspapers with a combined circulation of about 2 million.
“Equally important is the investment in CNI’s business operations which will yield more funding for our newsrooms in the coming years that will enable us to continue to grow our news service,” Rogers said.
Capitol News Illinois operates solely on grants and donations. It does not charge a subscription for access to its coverage or a fee to publish its stories. The McCormick Foundation and Illinois Press Foundation have been the major donors to CNI during its nearly four years of operation.
Rogers also said CNI is “looking forward to being a part of a collaborative investigative journalism powerhouse McCormick is fostering with these grants.”
Timothy P. Knight, the McCormick Foundation president and CEO, shared that sentiment.
“All of these organizations have a history of collaborating closely with others, and several of these organizations currently collaborate with each other on a range of editorial, promotional, and operational initiatives,” Knight said. “The simultaneous investment in each of these organizations, together with our investment in the Illinois Solutions Partnership, is intended to promote and strengthen collaboration and recognize the strong, complementary skills each of these organizations brings to Chicago and Illinois media.”
In recent weeks, Capitol News Illinois has also received financial commitments from the Illinois Broadcasters Association and the Southern Illinois Editorial Association that will also aid in the news service’s expansion efforts. More details on those investments will be made soon.
Rogers said searches for a development director, an additional print reporter, and broadcast reporters are underway. He can be reached at jrogers@capitolnewsillinois.com.
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Today’s quotable
Monday, Sep 26, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sen. Darren Bailey on Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria“…
I live four hours south of Chicago. I’m a farmer in Southern Illinois. And my wife Cindy and I have recently moved into the inner city of Chicago.
We are there every day, walking up and down the streets, in and out of businesses.
That is the first time I’ve ever heard the Magnificent Mile described as the “inner city of Chicago.”
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Daily Herald the big loser
Monday, Sep 26, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
Far-right activist Dan Proft has proved time and time again that he is very effective at calling attention to himself and getting under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s skin in the worst way.
Proft’s newspapers have, for instance, published several articles with photos of Pritzker’s daughter. Sometimes the stories were wrong, like when a false claim was made that Pritzker’s daughter was sitting outdoors at a Chicago restaurant with several friends in violation of the 10-person rule during the pandemic.
“It wasn’t her,” Pritzker told reporters back in November 2020, when COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations were rising sharply. “But the picture falsely identifying her started making the rounds on social media, helped along by the trolls who permeate these social media platforms these days. My office put out a statement making clear this wasn’t my daughter. But that didn’t stop Republican elected officials, a network of propaganda publications in the state and some radio shock jocks from telling people that the picture was of my daughter, despite knowing that this was a lie.”
“Put yourself in the shoes of a high school girl who is being weaponized against her father by his political opponents. Weaponized with lies,” Pritzker said. Even so, the photo and the story are still online.
The papers, owned by parent company Local Government Information Services (LGIS), have run articles showing the young woman partying in the Bahamas outdoors, riding on a horse outdoors and having fun with friends outdoors at Lollapalooza.
Proft also co-hosts a morning radio show with Amy Jacobson, who spoke at a public rally against the governor’s pandemic mitigations and regularly showed up to Pritzker’s press conferences to ask loaded questions, to the point where she was eventually banned from the pressers, although the ban was lifted not long after.
Proft’s exact affiliation with LGIS is not clear. The print version is being mailed unsolicited on a regular basis to large numbers of registered voters. The latest edition features a front-page claim that Pritzker and his transgender aunt (a wealthy Republican who supported Bruce Rauner) are in league to eliminate the “myth” of gender, a claim that has been circulated by far-right websites for months.
The papers have also been accused of publishing incendiary, racist stories about accused criminals who would soon be released into suburban communities. Pritzker himself addressed that edition, calling it “messaging that’s coming from a racist political consultant.” The paper also printed wildly false claims by a state’s attorney who warned that the reforms in the now-notorious SAFE-T Act would bring the “end of days.”
It’s unclear who is funding the papers, but Proft also heads the People Who Play by the Rules PAC, an independent expenditure committee backing Darren Bailey’s gubernatorial campaign and funded solely by far-right billionaire Dick Uihlein.
Last week, a Shaw Local newspaper story about the Proft papers noted in passing that LGIS was using Paddock Publications’ postage permit. According to a recent Illinois Press Association news release, Paddock’s Schaumburg printing facility is owned by the Daily Herald Media Group.
Many journalists and others were stunned by the revelation. Proft’s papers have been accused of deliberately spreading disinformation and amplifying racism and homophobia. The Illinois Press Association has tried its best to point out that LGIS is not a member and the company’s papers are not actually news. That a respected publisher was printing and mailing those papers came as a shock, particularly since the Daily Herald has taken an active role in the Illinois Press Association.
Pritzker then goosed the story into overdrive by backing out of a debate hosted in part by the Daily Herald. Hours later, Paddock Publications announced that it had dropped its printing and mailing contract with LGIS, claiming it wanted no part in the fight between Pritzker and Proft, but denying that it did anything wrong. In a bitter response, Proft claimed that he was a “longstanding client” of the Daily Herald, so you gotta wonder how long the Daily Herald has been doing this.
The big loser in all this is the Daily Herald, which lost an incalculable amount of respect for its integrity that it may never regain because of its active participation in a tsunami of viral disinformation during dangerous times. Pritzker prevailed and was able to keep the focus off other important campaign issues. And Proft got attention for himself and his radio show and a platform to say things like calling Pritzker a “bedwetting, spoiled brat.”
* Crain’s editorial…
“Many critics cannot or refuse to differentiate between a commercial printing operation . . . and the Daily Herald’s editorial mission to be unbiased and fair,” the letter states, without addressing the still-unanswered question of whether LGIS mailed these materials on Paddock’s dime. “The perception for some has become that the Daily Herald favors one party over another and by printing for LGIS, it’s somehow promoting its message. That is not true.”
Actually, producing and apparently providing postage for this stuff is pretty much the definition of promoting this message. And, to be clear, the look would be just as bad if Paddock had printed and lent its postal permit to sham newspapers that amounted to unlabeled ads for Pritzker or Lightfoot.
We’re not talking about slick pamphlets, brochures or posters here—the kind of material that voters are accustomed to finding in their mailboxes, stuck into their doorjambs or pressed into their hands as they run for the train during campaign season. We’re talking about deceptively designed mailers that are clearly meant to simulate newspapers—printed and evidently distributed by a company that, however inconveniently in this case, happens to be in the news business.
* Related…
* Pritzker, Bailey gubernatorial forum on after controversy
* ‘Deceptive’ Chicago City Wire Hitting Mailboxes Looks Like A Newspaper. But It’s Really A Conservative Campaign Mailer: While media law experts said that the publications were protected by the free speech provision of the First Amendment, they agreed that they were essentially political mailers, intentionally disguised as newspapers. “I don’t call them newspapers for a very good reason,” said Don Craven, president of the Springfield-based Illinois Press Association. “They’re not.”
*** UPDATE *** Money will always find a way around impediments, but that doesn’t mean the Daily Herald had to sully itself…
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Monday, Sep 26, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
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