Initiated and funded by The Chicago Community Trust, Chicago Matters is an annual exploration—via television, radio, print, and community dialogue—of an issue of broad concern to the Chicago region.
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Chicago Public Radio sponsors a radio journalism and training project called the “Ear to the Ground Mentorship Program.” In 2005, four rookie journalists participated as reporters in a two-week boot camp, working alongside an individual mentor—a veteran Chicago Public Radio correspondent or producer. Each participant conceives, develops, reports, and produces a three- to six-minute radio story in conjunction with the annual public information series Chicago Matters.

Meet the 2005 Mentorship Participants Click on the images below to learn more about each participant, their mentor, the story they created, and listen to their story.         Steven Mosqueda Dulce Maria Mora Jemimah Noonoo LaDonna Redmond Listen to all four stories.

Ear to the Ground's Mission

Ear to the Ground was developed as another arm of Chicago Public Radio’s contribution to the Chicago Matters series. The goal of the series is to engage diverse voices from the Chicago-area community in a discussion over a chosen topic of concern. In this way, Ear to the Ground seeks to forward the goal of community-wide discussion by expanding who is being talked about—and who's doing the talking.

We’ve sought out participants who can contribute to our series’ topic by illuminating overlooked Chicago communities and subjects. We believe this mentorship program serves the mission of the Chicago Matters series by enabling a diverse group of Chicagoans to participate in a larger community-relevant discussion as both reporters or subjects.

Moreover, we are looking to train rookie journalists committed to community service writing and reporting. We are looking for new voices who will continue with what they learn in our program and honor these goals in their professional lives (careers in public broadcasting, we hope). Another part of our mentorship program goal is to introduce participants to the community of public radio reporters and producers.

Ear to the Ground
In Action