National awards

See our award-winning blog

Illinois Issues’ Statehouse Bureau Chief Bethany Carson (now Jaeger) and our Public Affairs Reporting intern Deanese Williams-Harris took the top prize in online beat reporting. The awards were announced at the national conference of Capitolbeat, the association of capitol reporters and editors. They won for the blog they produced during the long-running spring legislative session.

Illinois Issues took honors in print journalism, as well. Charles N. Wheeler III, our Ends and Means columnist, won his fourth first place award in magazine commentary. Bethany won second place in that category for her column State of the State. She also won a third place in magazine single report for her story on the Illinois Commerce Commission, “Small panel, major players,” which appeared in this year’s February edition.

For more information about awards see Editors Note.

Illinois Issues, 2007

Illinois Issues honors, 2006

Illinois Issues columnist Charles N. Wheeler III won a first place in magazine commentary/news analysis from Capitolbeat, the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors. The national award was presented last month at the group's conference in Columbus, Ohio. It recognized Wheeler's assessments of policy and politics in Illinois government, including wind farming and the governor's All Kids health insurance program. This is the third year in a row he has taken top honors in the annual contest. He won for columns that appeared in the magazine over the past year.

Illinois Issues, 2006

Our Statehouse bureau is a winner

Illinois Issues won three first place awards and a second place award for magazine journalism at the annual conference of Capitolbeat, the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors.

The awards, given August 19 in Seattle, recognize excellence in state government reporting.

Pat Guinane, the magazine's Statehouse bureau chief, won the top honor for in-depth magazine reporting for his investigation into the Blagojevich Administration's practice on contracting out government work. The main article in that investigation, "Public work, private gain," appeared in our February issue.

Guinane also won first place in the single report category for his article on the politics of guns. "Under lock and key" appeared in the September issue.

And he won second place for magazine column writing.

First place in magazine column writing went to longtime Illinois Issues columnist Charles N. Wheeler III.

The Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors, now called Capitolbeat, is an organization of journalists who cover Statehouses throughout the nation.

For more information on the group and a list of other winners, go to www.capitolbeat.org

Illinois Issues, 2005

Illinois Issues writers win awards from national journalist group

Two Illinois journalists earned First Place awards from the national Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors for pieces published in Illinois Issues, a monthly public affairs magazine published by the University of Illinois at Springfield.

The awards recognize excellence in state government reporting. Charles N. Wheeler III was awarded First Place for three of his Ends and Means columns about significant public policy issues. Wheeler, whose commentary appears each month in the magazine, is director of the graduate Public Affairs Reporting program at UIS. He was a longtime Statehouse reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times.

Kate Clements was awarded First Place for "Risky math," an assessment of challenges facing the state's public pension systems. Her analysis appeared in the May issue of the magazine. Clements is Statehouse bureau chief for The News-Gazette of Champaign.

The association is an organization of journalists who cover Statehouses. In 2001, the association also honored the magazine for "outstanding work in state government journalism." These latest awards were announced at a November 12 conference in Columbia, S.C.

Illinois Issues, 2004

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