Driehaus Foundation board member and veteran journalist Laura Washington sat down with Tracy Baim, executive director of Press Forward Chicago, for a wide-ranging conversation on the evolving landscape of local news. Drawing on their deep experience in Chicago news, Washington and Baim discussed the challenges facing community-based reporting, the promise of collaborative funding models like Press Forward, and what it will take to sustain strong, independent local media in Chicago and beyond. The following is an edited transcript of their discussion.
Laura Washington:
Tracy, you’ve been a huge advocate for so many institutions, including the Investigative Project on Race and Equity, which I helped co-found. Wherever you’re asked to go, you go. So thank you for being here.
Let me start by asking: we’ve all seen your bio, but could you tell us more about your personal history and how you found your way into journalism?
Tracy Baim:
I definitely have environment and genes associated with journalism going way back. My grandfather worked for Stars and Stripes during World War I. My mother was a journalist in Chicago. She started out in community media and covered Martin Luther King Jr. in the South during the 1960s — and later became managing editor of the Chicago Defender for 10 years. My stepfather worked at the Chicago Tribune for 29 years.
My first byline was when I was 10, in the Chicago Defender. I graduated from Drake University, came back to Chicago, and started at GayLife newspaper in 1984 and co-founded Windy City Times in 1985. I’ve now been doing this work for more than 40 years.
I often say alternative media is now the new mainstream. I’ve spent my career in independent media, so I understand the hustle—and I have a lot of empathy for people working in that space today and a lot of love for it.
Laura Washington:
You’re not just a journalist anymore. You now lead a program within a foundation to support journalism. What did you bring from your time as a journalist into this role?
Tracy Baim:
One of the biggest things I bring is 41 years of trying to meet payroll every other Friday. I understand the hustle. How can I help folks through that pain and also make sure the work is authentic to what they want to do?
Having done independent journalism but also been a part of the mainstream, I’ve seen all sides, and seen how the mainstream world that my stepfather knew has changed dramatically over time.
For example, I recently visited the Chicago Tribune’s current offices. I used to go to the Tribune Tower as a kid and surreptitiously copy my family newsletter, and it was a beautiful, huge place. It’s around 130 journalists now, versus hundreds, if not over a thousand at its peak. That was emotional to see.
I wouldn’t have necessarily fit into the Chicago Tribune in those days—they didn’t have openly gay reporters when I was looking for work. Women and people of color had some bad experiences in the mainstream.
That perspective helps me support people in a practical way and be realistic. Not everyone will succeed, but we can train people, support them, and meet people where they are. We have a diverse and incredible ecosystem here—an oasis.
Laura Washington:
Let’s talk about Press Forward Chicago. What does it do, and how does it fit into the broader journalism ecosystem?
Tracy Baim:
Press Forward Chicago launched in late 2023, part of a national effort supported by the MacArthur and Knight foundations. Driehaus was one of the founding funders for the first year of the Chicago chapter. There are now 45 chapters in 35 states.
Most of the chapters are pooled funds. Press Forward Springfield, which Driehaus also supports, takes an endowment approach. Most are at community foundations, and about a third of the chapters started in the last year. There are still 15 more states to go, plus a few territories.
Press Forward national supports local chapters but doesn’t dictate. What works in Alaska works in Alaska. The national team is meant to be supportive in the ways each chapter needs.
In Chicago, we act as a kind of “test kitchen” for local journalism in other cities—trying new ideas that can scale elsewhere. For example, we launched emergency funding for immigration coverage during a crisis, and other cities, like Minneapolis, used that model. I am excited that I get to learn as well from these other state and city chapters.
Laura Washington:
You mentioned emergency funding — how much of your work is responding to a situation, versus looking at a bigger picture?
Tracy Baim:
It’s actually a small portion — maybe about 5%. Most of our work is proactive.
We focus heavily on infrastructure support, and worked with media outlets last year to find out what their infrastructure needs are and issued a report on shared services. This helped us understand top needs across outlets: Demographic research, audience growth, advertising, fundraising, and grant writing.
We’ve worked across all five of those areas. We’ve helped outlets grow newsletter audiences, provided shared advertising services, and conducted large audience surveys with thousands of respondents across 35 outlets. These are things individual outlets often can’t afford alone, and funders often can’t fund successfully on their own.
I want Press Forward to leave the media ecosystem with stronger outlets and more funders.
Laura Washington:
How would you assess the funding landscape for journalism in Chicago today?
Tracy Baim:
It’s changed dramatically. In 2018, when I started at the Chicago Reader, there were maybe five or six journalism funders in Chicago. Now there are more than 20 that are funding it in some way.
Some big obstacles used to be that funders didn’t have journalism expertise or were worried about being seen as influencing coverage. A pooled fund model helps solve that—it allows them to support journalism without direct involvement.
We also encourage funders to support journalism through their issue areas—like housing, immigration, or climate—because journalism strengthens all of those sectors. No matter the issue, journalism helps to amplify that work and help it be sustainable.
Laura Washington:
The Driehaus Foundation has a longstanding focus on investigative journalism. How do you assess the climate for investigative journalism and its place within the funding community?
Tracy Baim:
Investigative journalism is essential but harder to fund, so organizations like Driehaus play a crucial role. Driehaus’s investments in other parts of the state are also critical.
What we can do through a pooled fund is complement that funding—helping outlets grow audiences, improve operations, and build sustainability. For example, we’ve helped organizations with social media access, leadership training, and management development. These organizations have been so happy to have this hands-on support to work through problems and become stronger.
Laura Washington:
You’ve emphasized shared services for smaller outlets. Can you talk about that philosophy?
Tracy Baim:
Our goal is simple: either help outlets raise more money or save money.
Press Forward hired an arts fundraiser—the needs between arts groups and journalism outlets are quite similar—for a bootcamp with a cohort of 20 news organizations. Can we do something similar with editors? With HR, payroll, and benefits?
If we can provide initial support for a shared services model and improve the return on investment—if people are getting continuity, professional help, and never miss the deadline for their grant—there will be a clear value in taking part because its saves you time and money and provides you with quality.
Laura Washington:
There’s a lot to be optimistic about — but what worries you?
Tracy Baim:
News deserts, especially outside Chicago. Many areas lack sufficient coverage, and even within the city and the suburbs there are underserved communities.
A piece of the bigger picture is public policy. We have a great tax credit law in Illinois, similar to the film tax credit, that will distribute $4 million this year for hiring and retaining journalists. State Senator Steve Stadelman, the former journalist who sponsored the tax law, is one of the best policymakers for journalism in the country.
There are other possibilities—fellowship programs, government ad spending directed to local media—that could help across all levels.
We also can’t rely solely on philanthropy. It’s a bridge to the future, not the only answer.
Another big experiment is our advertising initiative. If we can redirect major advertisers—like hospitals or banks—back into local journalism through shared sales efforts, it could be transformative. It would be a civic play that is also good for business and could be a part of the future role for public media stations.
Finally, revenue diversification is crucial. Outlets need membership models, multiple funding streams, and a reduced reliance on single large donors. Block Club Chicago is a great example, relying on a ton of small donors every month to power their work.
Laura Washington:
I know from my board experience there, Block Club’s members have been reliable and are strongly supportive. People value their local news and feel a personal ownership.
Thank you, Tracy.
