ChicagoTalks is a non-profit, local news source featuring stories from all corners of Chicagoland. Our reporters are budding journalists learning to cover various Chicagoland communities and the people in each of them.
Founded in the fall of 2006, Columbia College Chicago professors Barbara Iverson and Suzanne McBride, with grants from J-Lab and the Knight Foundation, established the site as a working lab for journalism students. Columbia College continues to support ChicagoTalks.org and its sister publication, AustinTalks.org, which covers Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. Our goal is to showcase the voices of talented, aspiring journalists and allow them to gain professional experience they can add to their portfolio.
We welcome interested students to submit work from both in and outside of the classroom. While the Columbia Chronicle is campus and Loop-focused, ChicagoTalks looks for stories from all of Chicagoland. We are based in the third-most populous city in the country, giving us the opportunity to tell millions of stories. Our mission is to encourage journalists to get out and tell these stories. Our site welcomes submissions of many varieties, including the arts, culture, business, politics and more.
MEET THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
CJ Claypoole will begin her role as editor-in-chief in September.
MEET THE FACULTY ADVISOR
Betsy Edgerton, associate professor, Journalism, School of Communication and Culture, is the faculty advisor for ChicagoTalks. Contact her at bedgerton@colum.edu
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