At the Chicago Journalists Association’s (CJA) annual awards ceremony held at Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton St., on Nov. 11, The TRiiBE was among the media outlets that won.
Co-founders Tiffany Walden and Morgan Elise Johnson won the Sarah Brown Boyden Award in the Arts category for the article “Chance The Rapper is ready to take his next creative risk.”
About the article, judges commented, “It’s easy to do a profile piece on a musician or an artist and highlight their genius. It’s far more difficult, as this multimedia piece did, to show them in new, risky areas and out of their comfort zone. Chance the Rapper draws you in, but the reporting, writing and elements keep you there.”
In a statement, Johnson said, “I entered into this work as a documentarian when I co-founded The TRiiBE in 2017. I was interested in exploring how the best parts of film and journalism could work together. It’s been affirming to be recognized as an award-winning journalist for the first time. No matter if you want to call me co-founder, publisher, filmmaker or journalist, I’m a storyteller seeking to redefine what community-centered news can do for Black liberation.
“The Chance interview was the first time that I put my directing hat on in three years—but the video form is my first love and there will be more of this type of storytelling in The TRiiBE’s future.”
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Chance the Rapper is ready to take his next creative risk
Chance is in a period of enlightenment. He’s studying fine arts, experimenting with sound and buying film equipment to produce some of his best work to date.
Other nominees in the category included Joseph Pete of The Times of Northwest Indiana and Stefano Esposito of The Chicago Sun-Times.
The TRiiBE also received another nomination, in the sports category, for Lee Edwards’ piece “How Morgan Park High School’s 2022 baseball season was nearly washed away.”
Among other honors, outgoing Chicago Reader Publisher Tracy Baim received the 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award while Chicago Reader staff writer Kelly Garcia, who was a freelancer for The TRiiBE as well, was recognized as Chicago Emerging Journalist of the Year.
Ismael Perez, a Chicago Sun-Times columnist, won the Dorothy Storck Award, earning $1,000 in the process. He is the first Latino and gay writer to receive the honor. The other finalists were also from the Sun-Times: Rummana Hussain and Lynn Sweet.
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How Morgan Park High School’s 2022 baseball season was nearly washed away
Morgan Park’s baseball team struggled to defend its 2021 Chicago Public League championship because its home field is ill-equipped for the wet spring weather.
The TRiiBE is owned and operated by Johnson (publisher), Walden (editor-in-chief) and David Elutilo (head of operations); all three are alums of Northwestern University. Since its launch, The TRiiBE has earned three 2021 Peter Lisagor Awards, a 2020 CHIRBy Award, a 2019 ADWEEK Rising Brand Stars of Chicago Award and more.
The TRiiBE launched in 2017 with a vision to reshape the narrative of Black Chicago through innovative and solutions-driven journalism. Over time, the vision grew, along with continued financial support from community subscribers and foundations such as the Field Foundation of Illinois, Borealis Philanthropy, Chicago Community Trust and more.
