Chicago – The nonprofit, reader‑funded newsroom Block Club Chicago received the 2026 Eugene S. Pulliam First Amendment Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. The award recognizes the newsroom’s “extraordinary courage” in covering the 2025 federal immigration crackdown, known as Operation Midway Blitz, and its steadfast defense of First Amendment rights.
Legal victories protect journalists
In October 2025, after four Block Club reporters were tear‑gassed and hit with pepper‑spray projectiles by federal agents at the Broadview detention facility, the newsroom joined the Chicago Headline Club and other media groups in filing a lawsuit against the federal government. Represented pro bono by attorneys from Loevy + Loevy, the ACLU of Illinois, and other firms, the suit led U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis to issue a temporary restraining order. The order affirmed journalists’ First Amendment protections and barred federal agents from using force against reporters covering protests in more than a dozen Northern Illinois counties. Judge Ellis also found the government repeatedly misled the public about the use of force.
FOIA action forces transparency
Earlier, in May 2025, Block Club sued Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security for failing to comply with the Freedom of Information Act after the agencies ignored requests for Chicago immigration arrest records. While some documents have been released, the lawsuit remains active, underscoring the newsroom’s commitment to transparency.
Extensive coverage despite intimidation
Despite the hostile environment, Block Club published more than 230 stories about Operation Midway Blitz. Reporters documented how attorneys helped secure the release of at least 17 detained individuals and used newly obtained records to deepen their reporting. The newsroom’s investigative project, “Chicago Under Siege: How Operation Midway Blitz Changed Our City,” combined archival research, interviews, and video analysis to create a permanent record of the federal enforcement action.
National recognition and awards
The project earned the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi Award for Investigative Reporting and was a finalist for the Scripps Distinguished Service to the First Amendment Award. It also won the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Investigative Reporting, three Peter Lisagor Awards, and nominations for two LION Publishers’ Sustainability Awards in Public Service and Community Engagement.
Individual journalists received honors as well. Reporter Francia Garcia Hernandez, who covers Southwest Side immigrant neighborhoods, earned the Uplifting Voices Award from Public Narrative and the Nonprofit Newcomer of the Year Award from the Institute for Nonprofit News. Director of Photography Colin Boyle was recognized with the LoSAH Center for Hope Community Champion Award.
Since its launch in 2018, Block Club has grown from eight staff members to a sustainable team of 42, publishing more than 32,000 stories and expanding coverage to dozens of Chicago neighborhoods. The newsroom has been named Editor & Publisher’s Best News Site, Local Independent Online News Publishers’ Business of the Year, and Publisher of the Year, among other accolades.
Block Club and fellow award‑winning newsroom Stocktonia will be honored at the Society of Professional Journalists’ national convention in Columbus, Ohio, Oct. 1‑4.
Original reporting: Block Club Chicago — read the source article.
