Illinoisan of the Year Selected
This year’s Illinoisan of the Year, as nominated by and voted on by past-presidents of the Illinois News Broadcasters Association, is Chicago Sun-Times CEO Edwin Eisendrath.
In nominating Eisendrath, former INBA president Marc Magliari said:
“Assembling a group of investors to buy the smaller and scrappier of Chicago’s daily general circulation newspapers is hard, but leading the Sun-Times to success will probably be harder. Edwin Eisendrath is the CEO of the newspaper now calling itself The Hardest-Working Paper in America and he has vowed his labor union-backed group will not interfere with the news or editorial pages. Eisendrath, a former Chicago alderman and the husband of a former TV news director, also admits he might not succeed in keeping Chicago a two-newspaper town. But for trying, he deserves to be an INBA Illinoisan of The Year. Let’s be a journalism group that recognizes him for his work in support of competitive daily news and sports reporting before it is too late.”
Other comments in support of Eisendrath's recognition for the award that was first granted by INBA back in 1959 noted the long-term challenges to our profession, both broadcast and print. His recognition for his past efforts and current work can be seen as encouragement for him to “continue toward providing an information platform that benefits all of us,” as another past INBA president noted.
Other nominees for the 2018 Illinoisan of the Year award were former First Lady Michelle Obama, Illinois tourism director Cory Jobe, inventor Don Bitzer, and meteorologist Tom Skilling.
Thank you to all who participated in this year’s selection. The Illinoisan of the Year award will be presented at the fall INBA convention in Springfield.