Invest in journalism

In journalism, communities are not covered and plights remain untold. Look at the history of the Chicago Defender reflecting the voice of a community at one point naming the positives black Chicagoans to join unions which had earlier shunned them. When you look at disinvestment in journalism, you see the scarier side of things, the shooting of Laquan McDonald, was not "broke" by any of the city's major news outlets owned by multimillion-dollar corporations, but by a freelance journalist. That's a shame and a disservice to the broader community and an example why news needs investment.

Many organizations including the Chicago Headline Club and Chicago Community Trusts have created grants to subsidize journalists and media outlets and reinvest in news. The government needs to do the same, the national The News Guild representing newspaper workers voted to request "Public financing for journalism." As President Jon Schleuss said to The New York Times, "One thing we can't remain objective on is our own demise."

I agree, not for the sake of the industry but for the community. On June 27 many journalists lobbied to "Save The News Chicago," I stand in solidarity with them as president of the CWA Unified Council of Illinois.

Raza Siddiqui

Lisle