Chicago—Block Club Chicago, the nonprofit newsroom that relies on reader contributions to cover the city’s neighborhoods, is a finalist for three Online News Association (ONA) Online Journalism Awards. The awards recognize excellence in digital reporting worldwide.
Award categories
The newsroom earned nominations in General Excellence in Online Journalism, the Gather Award for Community‑Centered Journalism, and the Immigration Reporting category. The latter two honors recognize the investigative series “Chicago Under Siege: How Operation Midway Blitz Changed Our City.” General Excellence is ONA’s top honor.
“Chicago Under Siege” investigation
The series combines investigative, archival and analytical methods to create a permanent record of the federal immigration enforcement action known as Operation Midway Blitz. Reporters Francia Garcia Hernandez and Madison Savedra interviewed more than 60 residents, examined hundreds of pages of court documents, and reviewed hours of video footage. Their work revealed that the federal government’s account of events often conflicted with the lived experiences of Chicagoans.
The project also earned the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi Award for Investigative Reporting and the 2026 Eugene S. Pulliam First Amendment Award for defending First Amendment rights while covering the operation.
Additional recognitions
“Chicago Under Siege” was a finalist for the Scripps Distinguished Service to the First Amendment Award, won the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Investigative Reporting, and secured three Peter Lisagor Awards from the Chicago Headline Club. The series is also nominated for two LION Publishers’ Sustainability Awards in Public Service and Community Engagement.
Garcia Hernandez received the Uplifting Voices Award from Public Narrative and the Nonprofit Newcomer of the Year Award from the Institute for Nonprofit News for her reporting. Director of Photography Colin Boyle was honored with the LoSAH Center for Hope Community Champion Award.
Growth of Block Club Chicago
Since its launch in 2018 with eight staff members, Block Club Chicago has expanded to a sustainable team of 42 reporters and editors. The newsroom publishes more than 32,000 stories, covering dozens of neighborhoods, and has been recognized as Editor & Publisher’s Best News Site, Local Independent Online News Publishers’ Business of the Year, and Publisher of the Year, among other honors.
The ONA winners will be announced in a virtual ceremony at 1 p.m. CST on Thursday.
Original reporting: Block Club Chicago — read the source article.
