DePaul's journalism program made a strong showing at the Chicago Headline Club's 49th annual Peter Lisagor Awards on May 8, 2026. Across the Advanced Reporting students with the Center for Journalism Integrity & Excellence, The DePaulia and La DePaulia, and Good Day DePaul, students brought home eight awards recognizing excellence in journalism. 

Also recognized was junior Grace Logan, who received the 2026 Les Brownlee Memorial Scholarship for promising emerging journalists. Adjunct faculty member and Good Day DePaul advisor Sean Keenehan also won a Best Social or Short Form Video award with his colleagues.

Congratulations to all of the winners!

Student Awards

Best Community Reporting, Student: “DePaul students attend mass at ICE facility to stand with immigrants”; Isabella Siemaszko, Sofia Joseph; La DePaulia and The DePaulia.

Best Campus Coverage by Student Journalists: Good Day DePaul – Full Episode – November 12, 2025; Francesca Corona, Marie Kane, Riley Moulton, Josh Patt, Laine Wyatt, Bing Wang, Alexander Eberhage, Sarah McFeely; Good Day DePaul.

Best Political/Government Reporting, Student: “Illinois quietly increases cost of online betting, and Chicago may be next”; Peter Jurich, Anna Barth, Jeremy Battle, Laine Wyatt, Riley Sommers, Jake Cox, Francesca Corona, Laura Vazquez David, Sofia Joseph, Bing Wang; Center for Journalism Integrity & Excellence.

Best Sports Reporting, Student: “Illinois quietly increases cost of online betting, and Chicago may be next”; Peter Jurich, Anna Barth, Jeremy Battle, Laine Wyatt, Riley Sommers, Jake Cox, Francesca Corona, Laura Vazquez David, Sofia Joseph, Bing Wang; Center for Journalism Integrity & Excellence

Best Investigative Reporting, Student: “‘Heartbreaking’: Rideshare drivers say they were suddenly deactivated, left jobless”; LiLi Jarvenpa, Nupur Bosmiya, Kiersten Riedford, Rose O’Keeffe, Alana Eve Schacher, Matthew Warakomski, Ryan Hinske, Aaliyah McFadden, Josh Patt, Sabrina Castle; Center for Journalism Integrity & Excellence.

Best Education Reporting, Student: “Parents, lawmakers battle over Illinois Homeschool Act. What to know”; Sabrina Castle, Bing Wang, Francesca Corona, Sofia Joseph, Laura Vázquez David, Jake Cox,  Sofia Joseph, Kiersten Riedford, Nupur Bosmiya, LiLi Jarvenpa; Center for Journalism Integrity & Excellence.

Best Feature Reporting, Single Story, Student: “‘Heartbreaking’: Rideshare drivers say they were suddenly deactivated, left jobless”; LiLi Jarvenpa, Nupur Bosmiya, Kiersten Riedford, Rose O’Keeffe, Alana Eve Schacher, Matthew Warakomski, Ryan Hinske, Aaliyah McFadden, Josh Patt, Sabrina Castle; Center for Journalism Integrity & Excellence.

Faculty Award

Best Social or Short Form Video: “Chicago Stories | Architecture Gems: The Marshall Field and Company Building”; Sean Keenehan, Wayne Kumingo, Tim Boyd, Maureen Waller, Anne Gleason, Anna Gardner, Meredith Francis, Heidi Zersen; WTTW Chicago.

Student Scholarship

Grace Logan, 2026 Les Brownlee Memorial Scholarship recipient, the Chicago Headline Club Foundation.