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Members of the Chicago Independent Media Alliance share a laugh during a recent Zoom event to promote the organization. CIMA recently raised more than $160,000 for its member news organizations with a fundraiser that had been planned for 2021 but was bumped way up the calendar because of the impacts the COVID-19 pandemic was having on their revenue.
By CHRISTOPHER HEIMERMAN For Illinois Press Association
CHICAGO – The writing has long been on the wall for plucky, vital weekly newspapers: If new revenue streams aren’t created, the light that media outlets shine on their communities, many of them underserved, will be dimmed if not put out altogether.
Tracy Baim, a legendary journalist who co-founded her first publication in the city in 1985, is the publisher of the Chicago Reader, which has covered the city with a unique literary voice and a fine focus on the arts. Unearthing corruption is a hallmark of the Reader, as well.
“We’ve seen corruption increase, and scandals and politicians that have gone unchallenged,” Baim said. “Corruption loves when newspapers die.”
Seeing the plight of her publications – she also owns the Windy City Times – and her colleagues throughout the city, she hatched an idea last year to form an alliance that would unite outlets in the spirit of collaborating and, in turn, becoming more viable.
The kickstarting initiative for what would become the Chicago Independent Media Alliance, was a mass fundraiser that would happen in 2021.
Then the pandemic hit, and Baim buried the accelerator on a project that was rolling along at a comfortable pace. A website needed to be built, just one of several proverbial plates that needed to start spinning.
“I was really worried it wasn’t going to play out,” Baim said. “Lots of things could go wrong, so all I could think of was the worst-case scenarios. There was a lot of stress because of all the need that was there at a very scary time, and we had three weeks to get ready to launch.”
Not only did it play out; the public donated more than $100,000 – about $40,000 more than the goal. Additionally, the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, The Joyce Foundation, the Joseph & Bessie Feinberg Foundation, the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation and two anonymous foundations matched funds to the tune of $60,000.
“It’s honestly way more than we could have expected,” said Yong Lee, marketing manager for the Korea Times which, like the Reader, has been in business since 1971.
He said the Times, which prints in Korean only and serves about 10,000 readers, received about $8,000 from the fundraiser.
Baim said the alliance plans to develop ways for the outlets to raise funds individually, but also as a collective. In the meantime, those looking to support local media may find a list of all 43 outlets at the campaign’s website, savechicagomedia.org.
Yazmin Dominguez (Credit: GlitterGuts)
Fast-riser helms rapid-fire rollout
Baim said the only concerns with the launch were technological. Most notably, the website needed to be built and launched. She otherwise was confident because she had a rising star in Yazmin Dominguez, who’d joined the Reader less than a year ago as an administrative assistant and risen to the role of media partnerships coordinator in six short months. She became the project coordinator of CIMA.
She contacted about 160 local organizations, the list was narrowed to 103, and eventually the alliance had 62 members, 43 of which participated in the fundraiser.
“She masterfully herded cats,” said Charlie Meyerson, who has worked in Chicago media since 1979 and launched the independent news site Chicago Public Square in January 2017. “I’ve been very impressed with the way Yazmin kept the wheels on the tracks.”
“Impressive is not enough,” Lee said. “There has to be another word to describe the awesomeness of how she pulled this off.”
Dominguez said many publications lost 90 percent of their advertising revenue “overnight” – including the Reader, where that loss was more than $250,000.
Ron Roenigk is publisher of Inside Publications, which features three papers on the North Side: Skyline, Inside Booster and News-Star. Much of its revenue vanished along with its summer activity guide.
“Until this year, we had a North Side summer activity guide, and now since there’s no activity, there’s no guide,” he said during one of three Facebook Live videos Dominguez moderated in the last week of the fundraiser, a last-ditch push that she said drove up donations significantly.
Baim said two-thirds of the fundraiser’s donors asked that their contributions be split among the 43 outlets.
“I was pleasantly surprised,” she said. “That really shows that people wanted to support a strong journalism ecosystem.”
Jesus Del Toro, director general of La Raza Newspaper, has worked in local media for 16 years, since moving to the U.S. from Mexico. He’s seen damning signs of the times. So while the funds raised can only help, he’s optimistic for what the alliance can mean for local media’s sustainability.
“The most important thing is that the fundraiser is the first step toward a much wider benefit, given the struggle of local media,” he said. “We needed a transformation of the local media model. We need to show advertisers the value of our product, and that they need to preserve it. The fundraiser helped, but of course what’s more valuable is what will happen in the long run, with collaboration and a unified front.”
A future built on trust
It’s a scary place these days. Revenue was dwindling before the pandemic, and the rise of armchair journalists has hamstrung the industry with fake news, Baim said.
In 2019, the Chicago Defender closed its legacy print paper and the weekly Latinx paper Hoy has been shut down by the Tribune.
“We knew before COVID that journalism wasn’t in the best shape in Chicago,” Dominguez said. “A lot of newsrooms are closing – a lot of papers we really admired. We knew we had to do something about it.”
Baim said she’s relieved that, thus far, no CIMA member has had to close its doors or cease production.
Meyerson said media outlets, large ones in particular, have long used the term right-sizing – “which means layoffs, basically,” he said – but like it or not, it’s reality. What’s yet to be seen is what that right size is for the media landscape at large.
“Is it going to be the big companies shrinking, or the small companies growing?” Meyerson said. “This is an opportunity for small, digital organizations to grow. That’s what I love about this campaign. This was a chance for those small organizations to grow. And for the bigger organizations, like the Reader, their audiences can be convinced to get involved monetarily in ways they weren’t before.”
“The fundraiser gives hope for news outlets like ours,” Lee said. “It was completely built on trust. And we don’t even know each other, but we have the same mission.”
“The communities that are most affected, their papers tell a unique story, in an authentic way than the mainstream has never been able to do,” Baim said. “I’m an evangelist for local media of any kind. It could be the only paper in a rural area, or a paper that serves the black, Asain or LGBTQ community. The papers are part of their ecosystem.”
Baim said evidence of fast-built trust is encouraging, given that the alliance was spearheaded by the Reader specifically.
“It’s kind of an odd duck when an alliance is created by one of its members, to have one paper raising money for another paper,” she said. “But we all needed to survive. We need each other.”
The power of good
Baim said feel-good stories do more than make readers … well … feel good. She said showcasing the hard work businesses, nonprofit organizations and individuals are putting in to better their communities creates a contagious buzz of good will. And having local media eager to preach the gospel of good not only engenders trust, it strengthens all parties involved.
“We don’t just tell the stories when they’re bad. We tell the stories when they’re good,” Baim said. “When you tell a story about a business, a nonprofit, there are many residual benefits to that. You develop partnerships and allies.”
Dominguez is proud, but not satisfied with the alliance’s immediate success.
“This has been attempted many times in the past, alliances of this sort in Chicago media,” she said. “Now we have a lot of public attention. CIMA is such a baby project right now, and the fundraiser put us in the public eye. Two months ago, only the Chicago Reader and member outlets knew about the alliance.”
A key goal going forward is to create a pooled journalism fund featuring multiple funding streams, including public and private foundations, private donors, and government.
More than half of the alliance’s members are unable to offer insurance to their full-time employees, so a pooled insurance fund for Chicago-area journalists – full-timers and freelancers alike – is in the works.
“We have way bigger goals for 2021,” Dominguez said. “This is just the beginning.”
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 7, 2025 Contact Information: Kevin Hunsperger, executive director of public information & marketing (618) 634-3270 kevinh@shawneecc.edu
OPINION A Degree of Agreement: Why Illinois needs the Community College Baccalaureate By Dr. TIM TAYLOR President, Shawnee Community College
ULLIN, Illinois - In today’s divided political climate, finding common ground often feels out of reach. But every so often, a solution comes along that bridges red and blue, reflects the values of both parties, and speaks directly to the needs of everyday Illinoisans. The Community College Baccalaureate (CCB) is that solution. It’s a policy bold enough to carry the red banner of fiscal responsibility and local control, the blue banner of equity and opportunity, and – here in deep Southern Illinois – the maroon of community commitment and practical action. At Shawnee Community College, we know firsthand what’s at stake and what’s possible. For Illinois – especially in rural and underserved regions – allowing select community colleges to offer applied bachelor’s degrees is not just smart policy; it’s a necessary evolution in how we serve our students, meet workforce needs, and build resilient local economies. The case for the CCB is compelling under both traditional Republican and Democratic values. When policy reflects both fiscal restraint and expanded opportunity, local control and equitable access, it deserves broad support. A Conservative Case for the CCB: Efficiency, Self-Reliance, and Local Empowerment The Republican platform has long championed local governance, fiscal responsibility, and workforce self-sufficiency. The CCB embodies each of these principles. At Shawnee Community College, located in deep Southern Illinois, we serve a geographically large district where students often commute 30 to 60 miles to attend class. For many, relocating to attend a university is simply not an option. By offering applied bachelor’s degrees in high-need areas like operations management, data science, and allied health, we can help students advance their careers and incomes – without increasing state bureaucracy or taxpayer cost. We already have much of the infrastructure, faculty, and community trust. The CCB allows us to use existing resources more efficiently, giving place-bound students a pathway to prosperity that reflects the realities of their lives and responsibilities. It’s a cost-effective, locally governed solution that aligns perfectly with conservative principles. A Progressive Case for the CCB: Equity, Access, and Economic Justice From a traditional Democratic perspective, the CCB aligns with long-standing priorities around social mobility, educational equity, and economic empowerment. Community colleges enroll the majority of first-generation college students, students of color, adult learners, and low-income residents in Illinois. Yet these same students face systemic barriers to completing a four-year degree – barriers made worse in rural districts like ours where the closest public university is 45 miles away. Many are working parents or caregivers who cannot uproot their lives to finish their education elsewhere. The CCB helps level the playing field by delivering bachelor’s degrees directly into the communities that need them most. It’s a practical step toward reducing disparities in degree attainment and building a more inclusive economy – not just in Southern Illinois, but in dozens of rural and underserved regions across the state. Addressing the Critics: Common Concerns, Real-World Rebuttals Despite broad support, several criticisms are often raised. While worth considering, each falls short under scrutiny – especially when viewed through the lens of real communities like ours. “It’s mission creep for community colleges.” Not at all. Community colleges were created to serve local needs – and those needs have evolved. Offering applied bachelor’s degrees in targeted workforce fields does not change our mission; it fulfills it more fully. We are not trying to become research universities. We are working to meet critical labor shortages and support economic development in our own backyards. “It will duplicate programs offered by universities.” In many parts of Illinois, including our district, there is no university offering these programs nearby, or the university is not producing enough graduates to meet local demand. In fields like cybersecurity, emerging digital technologies (AI, VR, MR, etc.), nursing and teacher education, the shortage is not theoretical – it’s real and immediate. We don’t need duplication; we need complementary capacity. The CCB builds it, affordably and effectively. “Community colleges can’t maintain bachelor’s-level quality.” We already exceed quality expectations in the associate-degree programs we offer, many of which are subject to professional accreditation, licensure standards, and employer review. CCB programs would be subject to regional accreditation and state oversight, just like university programs. In other states, such as Florida and Washington, community college bachelor’s degrees have shown strong outcomes in both employment rates and student satisfaction. “It’s an unfunded expansion that risks existing programs.” In fact, CCB programs are typically self-sustaining through tuition, grants, and private sector partnerships. They are carefully scoped to ensure they don’t drain existing resources but rather add value to the institution and to the community. At Shawnee, for instance, offering a local applied bachelor’s degree in operations management; entrepreneurship could retain students currently lost to out-of-district options while attracting new adult learners who never would have enrolled otherwise. “Why not just improve transfer pathways?” We support strong transfer pathways and have dozens of articulation agreements. But in practice, only a small percentage of community college students who intend to transfer actually complete a bachelor’s degree. Barriers include distance, cost, childcare, and job constraints. The CCB provides another ladder—not a replacement, but a realistic option for the many students for whom transfer isn’t viable. A Call to Act – Together In rural Southern Illinois, our challenges are not unique – they are simply more visible. We face shortages of nurses, teachers, and skilled professionals. We serve students who are hardworking, resourceful, and determined – but often one barrier away from dropping out. The Community College Baccalaureate is not a threat to the university system. It is not a partisan stunt. It is a practical, bipartisan solution that puts education, workforce readiness, and community prosperity within reach for thousands of Illinois residents. This isn’t about red or blue. And it’s certainly not about politics as usual. It’s about doing what works – locally, responsibly, and urgently – for the people of this state. At Shawnee, we wear maroon with pride. But we believe in a future where red and blue come together to serve the public good. I urge Illinois legislators from both sides of the aisle – along with employers, local governments, and education leaders – to support the CCB. Our students, neighbors, and friends don’t have time to wait for perfection. They need progress. And they deserve the chance to finish what they started – right here, at home. Dr. Tim Taylor has worked in higher education for more than 36 years and serves as president of Shawnee Community College in Southern Illinois. He is a longtime advocate for rural workforce development, educational access, and bipartisan solutions that strengthen local communities.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 7, 2025 Contact Information: Art in Motion (773) 820-9426 or (901) 482-9329 ntatum@distinctiveschools.org
Art In Motion High School 9th - 12th students become published authors
Publishing party and book viewing planned
CHICAGO – Art In Motion is proud to announce that 18 of its students have become published authors, with 14 additional students becoming published illustrators, through the national Studentreasures Publishing program. This initiative allowed students in the 10th and 11th grades to conceive, write, and illustrate their own books. Entitled "Ink and Impact," the project began as an extension of a general education writing enhancement activity led by Mr. Paul Grossman, which aimed to refine students' writing abilities and foster creative expression. Special education (Diverse Learner) teacher Mr. Nicholas Tatum, the co-teacher, contributed by initiating the idea to use the Studentreasures Publishing Company and ensuring that diverse learners were fully included and supported throughout the project.
Dr. Maria Freeman, the school’s principal, commented on the project’s success, "Watching our students turn their imaginative concepts into published works has not only filled me with immense pride but has also reinforced our commitment to integrating real-world creative tasks into our curriculum. This achievement speaks volumes about our students' abilities and our faculty’s dedication." Media Invite Only You’re invited to the red carpet for our student authors! A publishing party, book viewing, humanities vanity fair event will take place at 5 p.m. May 16, featuring a book signing and a Humanities Vanity Fair to celebrate this remarkable achievement. For more information on our event or to plan a visit, please call (773) 820-9426 or email ntatum@distinctiveschools.org About Art In Motion Art In Motion, located at 7415 S. East End Ave, Chicago, is a progressive charter school offering a comprehensive education through a unique blend of academic and artistic disciplines. Founded in partnership with the Grammy, Emmy, and Academy Award-winning artist Common, the school is dedicated to empowering students by enriching their educational experiences with deep arts integration. Aimed at fostering both personal and community growth, Art In Motion provides a dynamic learning environment where innovative methods meet traditional learning. About Studentreasures Publishing For more than 25 years, Studentreasures Publishing has helped more than 16 million students across the U.S. and Canada become proud published authors. The program offers free publishing resources, turning student artworks and writings into bound books, helping to boost creativity and writing skills in an engaging and tangible way. Learn more at https://studentreasures.com/. Thank you, Nicholas Tatum, M.Ed. Diverse Learner Teacher Art in Motion