Welcome to the Chicago Journalists Association

Working journalists of any period-gathering, writing, editing and illustrating the news of the day have always developed a fellowship out of their common experiences.

This has been so even under the stress of competition where the incentives to do good work is the highest. Time may curtain the fatigue, dreariness and frustration which fall to every newsperson, but the passing years do not erase the zest for adventure which sets this occupation apart from all others. Journalists of yesterday and today have a common bond which draws them together after deadline hours for comradeship.

It is this common bond that the Chicago Journalists Association celebrates and has cherished since its inception.

National Press Foundation Journalism Fellowship

Obesity Issues 2012, A 4-Day Journalism Fellowship From NPF

The Complete Skinny on Why We’re Getting Fatter, What it Means, and What We Can Do About It

Application Deadline: February 13, 2012
Date: March 25-28, 2012
Location: Denver, Colorado

Apply now for one of 16 fellowships, which include round-trip transportation and lodging and most food costs. The deadline for applications is February 13th, 2012. For more information, visit their web site or click here!

Chicago Journalists Association announces winners of its Special Awards

CHICAGO--Our Chicago Journalists Association has set the table for its 72nd annual dinner Friday evening, Oct. 14, selecting five outstanding journalists for its Special Awards. They are: Sun-Times columnist Stella Foster, Chicago Tribune arts and jazz critic Howard Reich, CBS News' chief correspondent Lara Logan, Tribune columnist Mary Schmich and artist June Brigman.

(Oct. 14 - Editor's note: Four hundred people gathered to honor this year's awardees. Click for evening's program, stay tuned for pictures and details to come!)

Read Stella's column in the Sun-Times on the night
Read Sun-Times coverage of the event
Read Candice Jordan's event coverage on chicagonow.com!
Right: Stella Foster with Gov. Quinn, Photo Richard Chapman - Sun-Times

Foster is the recipient of CJA's Lifetime Achievement Award. She is not new to the media scene and her "Stella's Column" runs every Tuesday and Thursday, reflecting her personality and high-energy. Born in Chicago and raised in the Englewood community, her journalism career was officially launched in the mid-'80s when she began writing for Sister 2 Sister, a national entertainment magazine founded by her sister, Jamie Foster Brown, and husband. In 1969, Brown told Stella that the legendary Irv Kupcinet was looking for a new secretary. She interviewed for the position and was hired. For the next 34 years, Stella was Kup's assistant , confidant, organizer, and glue that kept the column alive and vibrant.

Reich, Chicago Journalist of the Year, has been a Tribune arts critic and writer since 1983, although his articles on music began appearing in the newspaper six years earlier. He wrote, produced an narrated his documentary film, Prisoner of her Past, inspired by his book on his mother's hidden Holocaust past. It is currently touring the world and can be seen nationally on PBS through 2011. In addition to covering news for the Tribune, he has authored several investigative reports, including articles on the systematic theft of royalties from jazz composer Jelly Roll Morton; the private-diary recordings of Louis Armstrong; and the illicit trade in musical instruments during World War II. He is a longtime correspondent for Downbeat magazine and is married to Pam Becker, an editor at the Tribune.

CJA Awardees 2011

Logan was presented the prestigious Daniel Pearl Award. Born in Durban, South Africa, she began working as a news reporter for the Sunday Times in 1988 and moved to the city's Daily News in 1990. Two years later she joined Reuters Television in Africa, primarily as a senior producer and later branched out into freelance journalism, obtaining assignments as a reporter and editor/producer with ITN and Fox/SKY, CBS and ABC News, among other networks. CBS News offered her a job in 2002, spending the next four years reporting from war zones in Afghanistan and Iraq, often embedded with American Armed Forces. Many of her reports were for 60 Minutes II, CBS Evening News, The Early Show and Face the Nation.

Logan and her CBS crew were arrested and detained for a night by the Egyptian Army on Feb. 3, while covering the revolution there. She said the crew was blindfolded and handcuffed at gunpoint, and their driver beaten. They were advised to leave the country, but later released. On Feb. 15, CBS News released a statement that Logan had been beaten and sexually assaulted four days earlier while covering the celebration in Tahir Square. She was rescued by a group of Egyptian women and men and flown back to the United States the next day.

Schmich and Brigman win a newly-created honor, the CJA Dale Messick Brenda Starr Award. Brenda Starr, the redheaded comic heroine created by Dale Messick in 1940, was put to rest by the Tribune Media Services Jan. 2, 2011. Schmich and Brigman decided it was time to end their work on the seven-day-a week comic strip which appeared in about three dozen newspapers. Schmich had written the soap opera cartoon for 25 years, inheriting the strip from Ramona Fradon. Brigman was the illustrator since 1985, taking over from Linda Sutter.

The Chicago Journalists Association 2011 Charitable Fund

Oct, 2011. CJA Charitable Fund Awardees at 72nd Annual Awards Dinner: $1,000 scholarships to Lauren Stark and Sarah Maslar-Donar (Read more)

The Chicago Journalists Association annually awards scholarships to high school seniors accepted to college programs or to students enrolled in undergraduate college courses. Awards are intended to support individuals who want to work in the field of journalism and communications.

Turning back the clock: A Dutch journalist looks for answers

Amsterdam, The Netherlands-- Huib Afman is seeking additional background on William Elroy Curtis (1850-1911), a Washington correspondent between 1887 and 1901 for the Chicago Record. He was also chief of the Latin American department of the historical section at the World's Columbian Exposition. Afman is a Dutch editor and professional writer and member of the Dutch National Association of Journalists (NVJ).

"I found his short biography on the Internet, but it is not enough for my research," he said. "I am especially interested in Mr. Curtis activities during 1892 and am hopeful some historian or old-timer can recall hearing about him." Afman found several books written by Curtis but wants to know if there is a complete list, especially one that contains his biography. He has several questions about the Chicago Record as it existed in 1892, Who was the newspaper's chief editor, its circulation and whether it employed female journalists?

If you have any information on Curtis, pleases contact Afman at: hk.afman@upcmail.nl.

Photo of Chicago Record Herald Building, 1906, by John Chuckman

A Letter from the President | Allen Rafalson

Allan Rafalson If you had read reports in the daily newspapers shortly after our 72nd annual dinner on Oct. 14, you should know that this event broke all our previous attendance records. Some 400 people were present. As a matter of fact, our newsletter editor and historian Dan Friedlander tells me that there has not been this large a gathering at any similar journalism event in the Chicago area during the past 21 years.

We have Sun-Times columnist Stella Foster to thank for this huge turnout. (Read more)

Allen wants to hear from you! He can be reached by e-mail (Click here).

Classifieds: A new section for CJA members!

Post a personal message to the CJA membership in the new Classifieds section! Contact Allen Rafalson to submit your post! (Read more!)

Note: The Chicago Journalists Association was formerly the Chicago Press Veterans Association