Alum Brings Hands-On Community Journalism Seminar to Campus

Campus Communications Staff / Feb 18, 2026

group sitting at table in classroomMatt Simonette (far left), publisher of “Windy City Times,” teaches a guest lecture on pitching stories to editors during the first meeting of "Our Stories, Our Power." Former Editor-in-Chief of “The Columbia Chronicle” Patience Hurston is one of the six participants (back, right). Photo by Jake Wittich.
Journalists Jake Wittich ‘17, managing editor of “Windy City Times,” Anna DeShawn, founder of E3 Radio, and guest speakers share their expertise in a six-week program on community journalism at Columbia College Chicago.

Columbia College Chicago is proud to host “Our Stories, Our Power,” a six-week community journalism seminar developed by "Windy City Times" and E3 Radio. Over the next several weeks, participants will come to Columbia’s campus to receive hands-on training in key community journalism practices, culminating in a published piece in “Windy City Times.” 

"Community journalism builds one of the closest relationships a reporter can have with an audience,” says Jake Wittich ’17, managing editor of “Windy City Times."

“You're there consistently — through celebrations, crises, and everything in between—making sure the complete story of a community's experience is told.” 

Columbia Connections 

The Columbia connection to “Our Stories, Our Power” is strong, with alum Wittich co-leading the program along with Anna DeShawn, founder of E3 Radio and writer of “Windy City Times’” BLACKlines newsletter. 

person standing in front of columbia chronicle sign

“Anna DeShawn and I are training emerging community journalists, but the goal is bigger than the people in the room,” Wittich says. “We hope they carry these tools back to their neighborhoods, workplaces, friends and networks, creating a ripple effect of stronger, more responsive storytelling across Chicago.” 

This is the second year for “Our Stories, Our Power,” a program made possible thanks to a grant from Press Forward National, a funder collaborative led by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation that is dedicated to strengthening and sustaining local news, as well as Columbia.  

This year’s cohort comprises six participants, including former Editor-in-Chief of "The Columbia Chronicle,” Patience Hurston who is pursuing their master’s degree in Media for Social Impact at Columbia. 

“I was attracted to this program because I had been dying to write for ‘The Windy City Times,’ says Hurston. “Jake Wittich and I both served as editors for ‘The Columbia Chronicle,’ and I admired his trajectory in the space a lot. We're both queer and as Chicago Chapter president of NLGJA: The National Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists, I just was really inspired by the work he had been doing, so I jumped at the chance to work with and learn from him.” 

A Shared Commitment to Journalism 

As Columbia is home to degree programs for journalism — the Journalism and Communication undergraduate degree and Media for Social Impact graduate degree — partnering on this effort made sense.  

“Columbia College Chicago laid the foundation for my journalism career. It pushed me to grow by giving me real-world reporting experience through coursework and my time at ‘The Columbia Chronicle,’ while also surrounding me with working journalists — professors and guest speakers — who helped me understand what the industry actually demands,” Wittich says. “Partnering with Columbia felt natural, and it's a full-circle moment to bring the next generation of reporters into the same kind of environment that shaped me.” 

As part of the program, participants will hear from guest speakers currently engaged in community journalism, including Matt Simonette, publisher of Windy City Times, Mauricio Peña of Borderless Magazine, Jake Cox of Block Club Chicago, and Tiffany Walden, co-founder of The Tribe. 

Cohort members, who receive a $400 stipend at the program’s completion, will participate in every step of the community newswriting process, from pitching to publishing, with a focus on underserved communities. And on the final day of class, they’ll produce a podcast about all the students’ stories using one of Columbia’s recording studios. 

For participants like Hurston, the seminar is already having an impact.  

“I got into journalism to tell the stories of people like myself who felt silenced by legacy media in the city and I want my career to be more about the people whose hearts I've touched than the awards I've won,” Hurston says. “After our first session, I'm already sure the cohort is helping me with that.” 

 

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