For the past 26 years, Public Narrative (previously known as the Community Media Workshop) has honored storytellers across the city who center the people of Chicago in the work with the Studs Terkel Awards, presented annually at the Community Media Awards. This year Reader copublisher and co-editor in chief Karen Hawkins was among the esteemed honorees, all of whom “exemplify the values of Studs Terkel’s journalism, by taking risks in covering social issues.” It’s a value that Hawkins has not only instilled with the entire Reader staff during her nearly three years at the helm of this publication, but that she’s exuded throughout her decades-long journalism career.
Best Non-deadline Reporting Maya Dukmasova, edited by Sujay Kumar, for “That lockout you witnessed? It didn’t happen,” an examination of differing accounts from the scene of a lockout to the police report detailing it.
Best Feature Series The Reader staff, edited by Sujay Kumar, for a series of personal essays on dealing with isolation, hopes, and horrors of returning to “normal,” and reflections on 2020 as a whole.
