Multi-media journalist Ash-har Quraishi to report on-air, in print and online for both CNC and Chicago Tonight
WTTW, Chicago’s premier public television station, and the Chicago News Cooperative, a new local multi-media news organization that debuted last fall, are pleased to welcome Chicago native Ash-har Quraishi as an on-air, online, and print reporter serving both organizations.
CNC and WTTW are collaborating in this relationship with Quraishi as an enhancement of their effort to work together to leverage the talent and resources of their news rooms to produce public-service journalism serving the Chicago metropolitan area.
Quraishi, a Kansas City investigative television reporter and former CNN Correspondent and Bureau Chief in Islamabad, Pakistan, will alternate working for WTTW and CNC each week. His primary role will be as a multi-media correspondent and content producer. At WTTW, his work will appear on WTTW’s flagship news magazine Chicago Tonight and its website (wttw.com/chicagotonight). At CNC, Quraishi will write for CNC’s two pages of Chicago news in the Friday and Sunday editions of The New York Times, produce reports for the website chicagonewscoop.org, and help other CNC journalists broaden their talents for video-based reporting.
Quraishi’s extensive background in broadcast, digital media and investigative journalism prepare him well for serving these vital news organizations. Prior to coming to WTTW11 and the CNC, Quraishi was Chief Investigative Reporter for KCTV5 in Kansas City, MO where he was responsible for providing in-depth, long-form investigative pieces, special reports, and breaking news. Before that, as Bureau Chief and Correspondent for CNN in Islamabad, he was responsible for all of CNN’s daily news coverage of Pakistan, and broke the story of 9/11 architect Kalid Shaikh Mohammed’s capture. Quraishi is a native Chicagoan, born and raised on the northwest side, and is a product of the Chicago Public School system. He attended Von Steuben High School and later graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in journalism.
“Sharing a journalist is one of the initial steps in cementing a collaborative relationship between the excellent journalists at WTTW and the Chicago News Cooperative,” said James O’Shea, editor of CNC. “We hope to build on this step with other initiatives designed to create an even more effective news team, one that will provide Chicagoans with quality public service journalism in print, on the airwaves and on the Internet. We already share the values and integrity that WTTW journalists provide to Chicago, and now we are taking the initial steps to better serve the public by sharing resources. We are excited and pleased that this excellent journalist will be joining the WTTW/CNC team.““Ash-har Quraishi brings to WTTW and the CNC an impressive depth of experience reporting both domestically and in strategically critical areas of the world,” said Dan Schmidt, President and CEO of WTTW. “With his investigative reporting experience, his superior digital skills, and the fact that he was raised in Chicago and is a product of our public schools, we expect he will be a major asset to Chicago Tonight, wttw.com and the Chicago News Cooperative. We hope to achieve our mutual goal of producing the finest public affairs journalism in Chicago — on television, on the web, and in print,” he added.
After 25 years and numerous awards, WTTW’s flagship newsmagazine Chicago Tonight is still destination viewing for engaged Chicagoans and newsmakers alike. It covers the Chicago stories and issues that matter — in politics, the arts, culture, science, local history, and more. Each weeknight at 7:00 and online, Chicago Tonight, hosted by Phil Ponce, provides our region with in-depth and balanced reporting — and a unique local perspective on the news.
Last November, the Chicago News Cooperative began reporting in The New York Times and on the Web. James O’Shea, a former managing editor of the Chicago Tribune and editor of the Los Angeles Times, leads a news room that combines veteran Chicago journalists with Web-savvy younger reporters. In its brief time in operation, CNC has broken major stories detailing the finances of the city’s parking meter contract, published a news-breaking interview with Cook County Board President John Stroger, and brought readers sophisticated and in-depth coverage of Chicago area schools, culture and the arts, and issues affecting the city’s many neighborhoods. Timely and insightful columns about politics, sports and business round out CNC’s report.
About CNC:
The Chicago News Cooperative provides substantive, enterprising journalism focused on the Chicago metropolitan area — on the Web, in print and over the air. In a first-of-its kind relationship, CNC last November began providing complete reports about Chicago, twice a week, to The New York Times. A not-for-profit news organization, CNC is building partnerships with WTTW and other leading journalism and civic organizations. CNC journalists, who are concerned about the serious problems facing metropolitan media and committed to innovative solutions to address them, are building a Web site that will inform and engage people in the community with news that has an impact on their daily lives. CNC reporting is on the Web at www.chicagonewscoop.org.
About WTTW:
For more than 50 years, audiences have turned to WTTW11 for distinctive programming that informs, inspires, educates and entertains. It reaches two million weekly viewers over a four-state area, making it the most-watched public television station in America. Recognized for its award-winning local and national productions, WTTW11 is committed to presenting the very best in cultural, nature, science, public affairs and children’s programming across its four distinct television channels: WTTW11, WTTWD, its Spanish-language channel V-me, and WTTW Create.
For WTTW: Julia Maish – 773.509.5551 – jmaish [at] wttw.com
For CNC: Connie Dickinson – 312.239.1103 – cdickinson [at] dickinsongroup.com