The Chicago Journalists Association recognized Windy City Times managing editor Jake Wittich with its Chicago Journalist of the Year award during its 86th anniversary ceremony on Nov. 14.
The award recognizes a local journalist who has produced exemplary work throughout the year. Wittich was selected for his leadership in revitalizing Windy City Times’ digital strategy by launching a series of newsletters while providing in-depth reporting on Chicago’s LGBTQ+ community.
The evening also featured a keynote from Windy City Times cofounder and owner Tracy Baim, who now leads Press Forward Chicago, and the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award to CBS News Chicago’s Jim Williams.
Curtis Lawrence, a former Block Club Chicago editor who has known Wittich since his time as a student journalist at Columbia College Chicago, introduced Wittich to accept the award on Friday.
During his acceptance speech, Wittich reflected on the role of community-centered journalism and the turning point that brought him to Windy City Times after nearing burnout two years ago.
“I am not your capital-I investigative reporter, nor am I chasing national scoops or breaking headlines from the halls of power. But I am a community journalist—and I’ve come to realize that can be just as important,” he told the audience.
The recognition comes after a standout year for Wittich’s career, which has included growing Windy City Times’ newsletter operation from the ground up, building partnerships with queer media outlets across the country, and training others in community journalism through Windy City Times’ inaugural “Our Stories, Our Power” cohort.
Wittich has also spent the year doubling down on LGBTQ+ reporting, covering everything from transgender health care access and LGBTQ+ policy in City Hall to the impact of federal actions affecting queer and trans people.
Wittich’s professional development this year was also shaped by two journalism cohorts that played key roles in Windy City Times’ renaissance. Through the Medill Local News Accelerator, he worked alongside newsroom leaders from across Chicago to expand the publication’s newsletter operation. Later, in the Local Media Association’s Lab for Journalism Funding, he sharpened his fundraising skills and secured his first grant as a newsroom leader to support Windy City Times’ digital transformation.
Those opportunities, Wittich said, helped him become a stronger newsroom leader and contributed directly to the momentum that culminated in Friday’s honor. Wittich credited the award to Windy City Times’ team and contributors and Chicago’s LGBTQ+ community.
“This recognition is for each and every one of you, [including] every queer person who came before us, who blazed the trail so a reporter like me can stand authentically on this stage and tell these stories today,” Wittich said in his speech.
Wittich now joins a roster of Chicago Journalist of the Year honorees that includes Mike Lowe, Kelly Bauer, John Conroy, Ben Joravsky and Carol Marin, among others.
