CHICAGO, IL – Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has announced she will only allow one on one interviews with journalists who aren’t white. In a letter to reporters, Lightfoot announced she will only be granting interviews with reporters and journalists “of color”.
Lightfoot said she will grant interviews going forward with priority to non-white reporters. White reporters will be placed at a lower priority in the back of the line.
“I have been struck since my first day on the campaign trail back in 2018 by the overwhelming whiteness and maleness of Chicago media outlets, editorial boards, the political press corps, and yes, the City Hall press corps specifically,” she said. “Diversity and inclusion is imperative across all institutions including media. In order to progress we must change. This is exactly why I’m being intentional about prioritizing media requests from POC reporters on the occasion of the two-year anniversary of my inauguration as mayor of this great city.”
Latino reporter Gregory Pratt took one for the team, standing up to Lightfoot’s racism.
“I am a Latino reporter @chicagotribune whose interview request was granted for today. However, I asked the mayor’s office to lift its condition on others and when they said no, we respectfully canceled. Politicians don’t get to choose who covers them,” Pratt said.
The mayor also called upon newsrooms to make room for reporters of color in a cash strapped industry, which would require terminations of white employees or city funding to fulfill a possible race mandate.
“I am issuing a challenge to you,” Lightfoot said. “Hire reporters of color — and especially women of color — to cover Chicago politics, and City Hall in particular.”