The Chicago Headline Club is heartbroken to learn that DNAinfo Chicago and Chicagoist have shut down today. Their departure is terrible news for journalism, Chicago and democracy at large.

The two publications — along with their sibling outlets in New York, Washington, San Francisco and Los Angeles — have been an incredibly valuable source of news and information, providing a vital look at the cities we live in.

During DNAinfo’s five-year history in Chicago, its staff and reporters have won more than a dozen of the Headline Club’s Peter Lisagor Awards. Chicagoist’s pithy and incisive coverage of news and culture has captured the city’s collective id better than many other outlets in the city.

Their disappearance leaves a huge hole in the local and national media fabric that will be hard to refill.

The Headline Club stands ready to help the reporters affected. Our website, headlineclub.org, offers a Chicago-centric list of media jobs through JobFile. Our Watchdog Fund can also compensate journalists for costs related to the reporting of an investigative story.

We’ll also waive registration fees for any employee of DNAinfo or Chicagoist who wants to attend any of our educational programs, like FOIAFest, through the end of 2018. Email programming@headlineclub.org to sign up.

Our hearts go out to the hard-working journalists and the readers who depended on them. Stay strong.

Sincerely,

The Chicago Headline Club Board