Safe Housing. Loss. Passion. The WNIJ news team took their microphones to all reaches of northern Illinois to bring listeners the voices and sounds from people and places affected by change in 2019.
Social Justice reporter Sarah Jesmer filed FOIAs and spent hours talking with residents and property owners about the challenges of maintaining safe living conditions for the area’s most vulnerable tenants. This reporting culminated with an event inviting residents to come to WNIJ’s Studio A to share their concerns and brainstorm solutions.
Education reporter Peter Medlin took deep dives into challenges teachers and students face each day in classrooms across northern Illinois. Sometimes, these topics showed how perspectives differ on how to best serve children. Other times, he uncovered inspirational moments that show how education changes communities for the better.
Arts reporters Guy Stephens and Connie Kuntz employed rich sound to take listeners into the soul and passion behind familiar and emerging artists.
Outside of these primary beats, reporters were mobilized to cover breakings news. This included a tragic shooting at Aurora’s Henry Pratt Company and the loss of a deputy in the line of duty.
There were other losses in 2019 to share with listeners -- dozens of homeless members of the Rockford community and a longtime newspaper columnist.
There were lighter moments too as basketball standout and Rockford native Fred VanVleet celebrated his NBA championship with a homecoming celebration. Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen also made a successful public pitch to secure a casino, which had been decades in the works.
Each individual moment gave the listener a sense of place to understand their community in a new way and to stay true to the mission of WNIJ, “to enrich, inspire and inform adults in northern Illinois through programs and services that share ideas, encourage thought, give pleasure and create community.”