Apr 25th 2019

This week, we’re exploring the intersections between personal storytelling and journalism. How can personal storytelling and journalism come together to challenge dominant narratives, and how they can be used as a tool for building community?

To explore those questions, we’re bringing together a panel with WBEZ’s South Side Reporter Natalie Moore, Free Street Theater’s Artistic Director, Coya Paz, and 2nd Story company member Eric May. Moore is the author of The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation as well as monthly columns for the Sun-Times, where she draws from her personal and family history to ground current issues. In 2017, Paz collaborated with ProPublica Illinois to lead a series of workshops across the state that utilized theater practices to engage residents on ProPublica’s reporting. A former journalist with the Washington Post, May has taught fiction writing at Columbia College since 1993 and published his debut novel, Bedrock Faith, in 2014.

After the conversation, attendees will have a chance to participate in an activity that will connect personal history with broader news.

This event is a collaboration with 2nd Story, a storytelling nonprofit celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and is part of their “Open Space” series. “Open Space” makes room for conversation, learning, and healing around a particular issue or an outside form of art-making. This new series utilizes 2nd Story’s approach to empathy building through story making to convene, challenge, and empower our audience to be active participants as catalysts for real change in their lives and communities. Learn more at 2ndstory.com


City Bureau’s #PublicNewsroom is a series of free, weekly workshops and discussions aimed at building trust between journalists and the communities they serve while shaping a more inclusive newsroom.

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