The Global Chicago Center of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, with support from the Ford Foundation, has created the Midwest Media Project to bring greater depth and scope to the coverage of international news by Midwestern newspapers.

Globalization is transforming the Midwest on all levels. But the newspapers that serve the region recognize that they often fall short in telling their readers how these global trends are affecting their lives. The purpose of this project is to work with Midwestern newspapers to help them fill this gap by covering global news more effectively -- in short, to help them connect the global to the local.

The primary vehicle is a series of monthly two-day seminars, held in Chicago, which bring together editors and reporters from Midwestern newspapers with experts in manufacturing, science, farming, immigration, politics, education and other areas affected by globalization. Ten newspapers participated in these monthly seminars in 2006 and another ten will be chosen for a similar series in 2007. The papers were chosen on the basis of expressed interest, journalistic excellence and a willingness to commit to monthly participation.

The papers chosen for the first year of the Midwest Media Project were:

Click here to view all of the session topics, agendas, and speakers.