Laura Washington

Laura Washington hired me for my first journalism internship.

It was summer 1995, and I had just finished my freshman year of college. I needed to find a job in the field and I cold-called The Chicago Reporter, a local investigative magazine.. 

I came to the office on South Michigan Avenue, where Laura, the editor and publisher, showed me around. I’m pretty sure she offered me an unpaid internship on the spot. I begged my parents to let me accept even though I wouldn’t be paid.

That summer proved transformative. Working in a newsroom in which staff were unafraid to investigate issues of race and class solidified what I wanted my journalism career to mirror. I learned data analysis skills and urban policy. Laura led a team that covered issues in a way unlike any other newsroom in Chicago. I’m not being hyperbolic. 

We looked up to Laura, a tall and regal woman who wears colorful, funky jewelry. A convener and commentator, one night she might be organizing a public dinner and another night she might be on local television offering astute political analysis. Laura’s illustrious career includes stints as a producer at CBS-2/Chicago, a correspondent for WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight,” and a contributing columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times.

In 1985, she served as a deputy press secretary for an unrelated Washington: Mayor Harold Washington. 

From 2003 to 2009, Laura was the Ida B. Wells-Barnett University Professor at DePaul University She’s in the Chicago Women’s Journalism Hall of Fame.

Over the years, Laura’s been a role model for me, and not just for her insightful racial and political analyses. She has a love for art and fashion as well as journalism. I’ve followed her in a lot of ways – as a columnist for the Sun-Times and on the boards of the Arts Club of Chicago and the erstwhile Neighborhood Writing Alliance. Laura paved the way and set a civic example, while also looking ever-so-stylish.

The Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism alum has also earned Emmys, Lisagors and a Studs Terkel Community Media award.

These days, Laura writes a column for the Chicago Tribune. And she has returned to her investigative roots as co-founder of the Investigative Project on Race and Equity, a digital publication that’s the spiritual successor to The Chicago Reporter and continues the Reporter’s tradition of helping to train the next generation of budding journalists.