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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are pleased to congratulate the Chicago
4Tribune for winning the 2016 Worth Bingham Prize and receiving
52017 Pulitzer Prize Finalist recognition for Investigative
6Journalism; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The Chicago Tribune received the prestigious
8recognition from Harvard for its three-part series, "Suffering
9in Secret"; the result of a yearlong investigation into the
10abuse and neglect of adults with disabilities in Illinois; and
 
11    WHEREAS, The report identified 1,311 cases of documented
12harm since July of 2011, and determined at least 42 deaths
13linked to abuse or neglect in group homes or their day programs
14over the last seven years; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Tribune reporters, Michael J. Berens and Patricia
16Callahan, revealed mistreatment inside Illinois
17taxpayer-funded group homes and their day programs; and
 
18    WHEREAS, The Tribune articles came to light thanks to the
19Murray Parents Association, which worked with the newspaper to
20expose the abuse and neglect which took place in group homes
21throughout the State; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, In the course of their reporting, Berens and
2Callahan worked with more than 100 Freedom of Information Act
3requests, thousands of pages of court records, investigative
4files from multiple agencies, state email records, law
5enforcement reports, and medical records to identify cases and
6patterns of abuse; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The Chicago Tribune staff worked as a team to
8produce the series which includes reporters, Michael J. Berens
9and Patricia Callahan; investigations editor, George Papajohn;
10watchdog editor, Kaarin Tisue; photographer, John J. Kim; copy
11editor, Colleen Kujawa; digital design and presentation
12editor, Rebecca Halleck; assistant data and graphics editor,
13Ryan Marx; and visuals editor, Andrew Johnston; and
 
14    WHEREAS, The 2016 Worth Bingham Prize will be presented to
15the Chicago Tribune on May 4, 2017 at the Nieman Foundation for
16Journalism at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts;
17this year marks the 50th anniversary of the prize, which many
18of the country's best investigative reporters have won since
19the award was established in 1967; therefore, be it
 
20    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
21HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
22recognize the Chicago Tribune staff for winning the 2016 Worth

 

 

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1Bingham Prize and receiving 2017 Pulitzer Prize Finalist
2recognition for Investigative Journalism; and be it further
 
3    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
4presented to the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune reporters,
5Michael J. Berens and Patricia Callahan, and the Murray Parents
6Association as a symbol of our esteem and respect.