Beyond the Byline: Christopher Placek
Senior writer Christopher Placek joined the Daily Herald in 2010, and currently covers news in the Northwest suburbs, with a focus on Arlington Heights, Rolling Meadows, Elk Grove Village and Rosemont.
His interest in becoming a reporter was sparked at age 9. By age 12, he was publisher of his very own family newsletter, the Placek Press. It was only fitting that he held the position of Scribe in his Boy Scout troop, where he went on to earn the rank of Eagle Scout.
Chris worked on his school newspapers at Notre Dame High School in Niles and Marquette University, where he graduated with a journalism degree in 2010. During college, he held internships with a Chicago real estate public relations firm, WBBM-TV and the Daily Herald.
Chris leads the paper's news coverage of the Bears and Arlington Park, for which he earned first place honors for public affairs reporting from the Northern Illinois News Association and was a finalist in the Chicago Journalists Association awards. He is also a four-time Peter Lisagor award winner for his coverage of political/government and business/consumer issues, as well as breaking news.
Chris is a lifelong resident of Chicago’s Jefferson Park neighborhood, but remembers reading the Daily Herald at a young age when he would visit his relatives in the suburbs.
He spends most of his free time watching Seinfeld reruns and Cubs, Bears and Marquette basketball games.