2024 Data Reporting & Visualization (All Newsroom Sizes) Winners

About the Winners:

More than a year ago, Chicago Public Media, which includes WBEZ Chicago and the Chicago Sun-Times, committed to helping voters cast an informed ballot in the city’s first school board elections. It was arguably the most important local election in Chicago and Cook County last fall. The goal was to collect and analyze original data on all 31 candidates and the issues surrounding the election and deliver it to the organization’s audiences in an accessible and engaging way. The reporting team accomplished that in spades. 

Chicago Public Media also collaborated with Chalkbeat Chicago to produce its School Board Voter Guide, which was also produced in Spanish. To build it, reporters surveyed every candidate, asking 25 biographical questions and 18 policy questions. They tracked down every candidate and devoted considerable reporting time to fact-checking the biographical information provided by candidates, so readers would not be deceived.

Comments From the Judges:

“This is a really complete package with a user-friendly voter guide, a money tracker and an interesting who-will vote story. It showed an impressive use of data displayed in ways that were helpful to readers and compelling. Outstanding work on the candidate questionnaire.”

“Every voter should be so fortunate to have such a smart, comprehensive and well-designed guide to help them make sense of the candidates and issues at stake. The presentations of candidate bios were super reader-friendly and useful. And the analysis showing who was most likely to vote in the election – and how it’s probably not the families with most at stake – was clever and forward-thinking. Love the teamwork between print and radio too”

Photo credit: Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times; Chicago Public Media