Chicago City Wire

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is apparently standing by her vow to not allow white journalists to interview her at the midway point of her mayoral term.

“As ⁦@chicagosmayor⁩ reaches her two year midway point as mayor, her spokeswoman says Lightfoot is granting 1 on 1 interviews - only to Black or Brown journalists,” NBC News journalist Mary Ann Ahern tweeted.

Reporter Paris Schutz confirmed Ahern’s tweet.

“@MaryAnnAhernNBC @chicagosmayor I was told the same thing,” Schutz said.

Alderman George Cardenas was incredulous about the news.

“@MaryAnnAhernNBC @chicagosmayor How is that even true, be serious,” Cardenas tweeted.  

AM 560 The Morning Answer co-host Amy Jacobson said she was shocked.

“I heard that news and was appalled. Can you imagine if a white mayor did that and said they're only granting interviews to white journalists?” Jacobson said Lightfoot’s actions do not follow her statements.

“It’s petty and it's racist coming from the mayor of the third largest city in America where, you know, she's tried, you want to try to unite people? No, you're separating people,” Jacobson said.

Lightfoot took to Twitter to decry the "whiteness" of the journalists. 

"I ran to break up the status quo that was failing so many. That isn't just in City Hall. It's a shame that in 2021, the City Hall press corps is overwhelmingly White in a city where more than half of the city identifies as Black, Latino, AAPI or Native American,"

Dan Proft said Lightfoot’s actions were the next generation of “equity.”

“What she's doing is applying equity in a journalistic context. The journalists, the journalists quotation marks, well, love equity in every other sector, why not journalism?” Morning Answer co-host Dan Proft said in response to tweets from Ahern and others. 

Jacobson has had her own dust-ups with Lightfoot who has played favoritism based on politics before.

In February Lightfoot refused to directly answer Jacobson who was asking her about when children would be allowed play sports again.  

At that time Jacobson said Lightfoot’s press secretary wouldn't to allow her to join the journalist pool.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has employed similar tactics, though it appears he has not based his selection of journalists based on race as Lightfoot has.