Chicago Sun-Times, WBEZ awarded 18 top honors from Chicago Headline Club

Chicago Sun-Times staffers earned 12 top honors in the Chicago Headline Club’s yearly Peter Lisagor Awards for Exemplary Journalism.

One of those awards recognized a Sun-Times collaboration with colleagues at WBEZ Chicago, which notched six of its own honors, bringing a total of 18 Lisagors to the Chicago Public Media newsrooms.

The Headline Club, an affiliate of the national Society of Professional Journalists, presented the awards Friday night at the Union League Club of Chicago. The honors are named for the former Washington bureau chief of the Chicago Daily News and commend the city’s top print, web and broadcast journalism work.

Here are the winning Chicago Public Media entries for work published in 2023:

Best investigative reporting: Dan Mihalopoulos of WBEZ, Tom Schuba of the Sun-Times and Kevin Hall of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project; “Extremism in the Ranks.”

Sun-Times awards

Best data journalism: Andy Grimm, Jesse Howe, Ashlee Rezin, Quinn Harris and Andy Boyle; “Voices from Chicago’s most violent neighborhood.”

Best news photo: Pat Nabong, “Tornado tree.”

Best illustration or graphics: Bryan Barker, “Creative Chicago special section cover.”

Best use of news video: Stephanie Zimmermann and Brian Ernst, “Inside Chicago’s catalytic converter theft epidemic.”

Best use of data visualization: Jesse Howe, “Where the money has come from in Chicago’s mayoral race.”

Best column or editorial from a large print or online publication: Rummana Hussain.

Best sports commentary: Rick Morrissey.

Best reporting on crime and justice by a large newsroom: Neil Steinberg, “The community stood behind us.”

Best business reporting by a large newsroom: Stephanie Zimmermann, “Inside Chicago’s catalytic converter theft epidemic.”

Best political and government reporting by a large newsroom: Frank Main and Oscar Lopez, “They were 2 Chicago pizza delivery guys. Then, they ran a Mexican drug cartel, feds say.”

Best community reporting by a large newsroom: Andy Grimm, “Voices from Chicago’s most violent neighborhood.”

WBEZ awards

Best featured reporter or host: Erin Allen, “The Rundown.”

Best investigative reporting by a large newsroom: WBEZ Chicago and the Investigative Project on Race and Equity; “Profiled: The State of Traffic Stops in Illinois.”

Best reporting on crime and justice (audio): Mawa Iqbal, “Downstate Illinois leaders ask for help with end to cash bail.”

Best reporting on race and diversity (audio): Matt Kiefer, Ola Giwa, Leslie Hurtado, Taylor Moore, Angela Caputo, Jim Ylisela, Michael Liptrot and Alden Loury; “Profiled: The State of Traffic Stops in Illinois.”

Best political and government reporting (audio): Dave McKinney, “How admittedly corrupt ex-Illinois lawmakers get to keep their pensions.”

Best arts and entertainment reporting (audio): Greta Johnsen, Anna Bauman and Brendan Banaszak; “Nerdette: Undercover.”