Laura Washington

Laura S. Washington is the Ida B. Wells-Barnett University Professor at DePaul University and has been a contributing columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times since 2001. She is also a senior editor for In These Times and a regular commentator on National Public Radio and Chicago Public Radio. At DePaul, she specializes in areas including journalism ethics, the coverage of race and ethnicity, and investigative reporting. She is the former editor and publisher of The Chicago Reporter, and served as deputy press secretary to Harold Washington, Chicago's first black mayor. Washington earned bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Washington has received more than two dozen awards, including two Emmys, the Peter Lisagor Award for outstanding journalism, and the Studs Terkel Award for Community Journalism. Newsweek magazine named Washington one of the nation's "100 People to Watch" in the 21st Century. Newsweek said: "Her style of investigative journalism has made (The Chicago Reporter) a powerful and award-winning voice." She has been widely featured in the national media, including Time and Newsweek magazines, the New York Times, NBC Nightly News and The Lehrer NewsHour.