Reporter Hires Circulation Manager

Chicago Reporter, The, Sept-Oct, 2001 by Tonika G. Lewis-Johnson

Charles Willett Jr. has joined The Chicago Reporter as the publication's first full-time circulation and marketing manager.

Willett spent three years as circulation manager for NewCity, a Chicago arts and entertainment weekly. The south suburban Robbins native earned a bachelor of arts from Eureka College in Eureka, Ill. "Charles is an enthusiastic, energetic and knowledgeable professional who fully understands and embraces the Reporter's mission," Editor and Publisher Laura S. Washington said. "He already has a lot of exciting ideas on how to take the Reporter to 'the next level' to reach bigger and more diverse audiences."

Mick Dumke, Brian J. Rogal and Sarah Karp, along with Dan Weissmann, Maureen Kelleher, Brett Schaeffer and Elizabeth Duffrin of CATALYST: Voices of Chicago School Reform, earned a 2001 Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism for the series "Chicago Matters: Education Matters," published last spring. The award honors "distinguished" coverage of U.S. children and families.

And the Ford Foundation has awarded the Reporter a two-year, $170,000 grant to underwrite its 2000 census coverage. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has also approved a $125,000 grant to support general operating expenses and a study of ways to increase circulation and marketing potential.