Democrat Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot recently stated that she will only give interviews to non-white journalists.
NBC 5 Chicago political reporter Mary Ann Ahern said on Twitter that she was unable to arrange an interview with Lightfoot because she was white.
“As @chicagosmayor reaches her two year midway point as mayor, her spokeswoman says Lightfoot is granting 1 on 1 interviews – only to Black or Brown journalists,” said Ahern.
“I was told the same thing,” said WTTW Chicago Tonight anchor and correspondent Paris Schutz.
“I can confirm,” said Chicago politics reporter for WTTW Heather Cherone.
“It’s a shame that in 2021, the City Hall press corps is overwhelmingly White in a city where more than half of the city identifies as Black, Latino, AAPI or Native American,” said Lightfoot. “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,” continued Lightfoot. “This is an imbalance that needs to change. Chicago is a world-class city. Our local media should reflect the multiple cultures that comprise it… It’s time for the newsrooms to do better and build teams that reflect the make-up of our city.”
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