Daily Kos series named as a finalist for Chicago Lisagor Journalism Awards.

by GretchRHammond

I was already proud of the work my team accomplished last year investigating the alleged abuse and exploitation of Michigan’s most vulnerable by probate judges and attorneys.

I’m even prouder of them today.

The five-part series “The Fortress”, published in the Daily Kos on August 23, 2019, was today named as one of three finalists for a Chicago Headline Club Peter Lisagor Award for Best Investigative/Public Service Reporting in the Online category.

This was a story that no one wanted.

As one national editor told me when I pitched the idea, “no one wants to read about the elderly.”

It was a story that I eventually self-funded, at the cost of my savings and my apartment. But I believed in it, as did each member of my amazing team.

For Ellen Chamberlain, Slone Terranella and Hope Winkles; each at the time journalism students at Wayne State University and Tim Mulholland, a Chicago-based CPA, this nomination has been earned ten times over.

For myself, after struggling with depression after the story’s publication, it has gone a long way towards showing me something I refused to believe: that what my team and I accomplished and that all the sacrifices it took to do so, were worthwhile.

I am pretty sure this is a first for the Daily Kos in Chicago. Regardless, it means the world that we were able to find a home for the story here and that it has been honored alongside the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Suntimes.

Especially in times like these, for those of you who feel as I did in the fall of last year, please know there is always hope and that there are still ideas and dreams worth chasing. 

Full Article & Source:
Daily Kos series named as a finalist for Chicago Lisagor Journalism Awards.