The Chicago Tribune has won the prestigious Toner Prize for local political reporting for its coverage of Operation Midway Blitz, the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement mission in the Chicago area last fall.
Awarded by the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, the judges cited the newsroom’s in-depth reporting on the blitz, including a story examining the federal government’s raid on a South Shore apartment complex and another about the growing resistance that formed among local residents against the operation. The Tribune’s capstone piece, “64 days in Chicago: The story of Operation Midway Blitz” also was included in the winning entry.
Reporters Andrew Carter, Caroline Kubzansky, Gregory Royal Pratt, Laura Rodríguez Presa and Jason Meisner will be honored for their work at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., next month.
“Riveting narratives documenting the human impacts of federal immigration raids on local communities,” Toner judge Rick Rodriguez, former executive editor and senior vice president of The Sacramento Bee, wrote. “Stories like these take extensive research and effort to gain the trust of people in the super-charged environment. The writing was clear and compelling.”
The judges also praised the Tribune photo staff for its work during Midway Blitz.
“Spectacular work, beautifully written and reported — made all the more powerful by the photography,” wrote Maralee Schwartz, a former Washington Post political editor and reporter.
The same judging panel also named “Inside Illinois Senate President Don Harmon’s Campaign Contributions,” a series by Ray Long, Rick Pearson, Addison Wright, Dan Petrella and Jeremy Gorner, as a finalist in the local political reporting category.
