After five years covering Chicago City Hall, Tribune reporter Greg Pratt is joining the newspaper’s “investigative team.”
“I feel good about the work I’ve done to inform, expose and entertain, but it’s time for a new adventure,” Pratt posted on social media.
The news comes five months after City Wire reported Pratt solicited donations in a GoFundMe.com fundraiser benefiting his family. The fundraiser proceeds included at least $1,790 donated by sources he covers, including elected officials, political consultants and lobbyists.
One of the donors, Cook County States’ Attorney Kim Foxx, pitched in $150 to the fundraiser soliciting donations for the wife of Pratt’s father, who had recently died.
After Foxx made that donation, she granted what Pratt called an “in depth, exclusive interview.”
Chicago’s Morning Answer radio talk show co-host Dan Proft responded to the news that top Democrats and lobbyists publicly donated money to benefit Pratt’s family.
“Greg Pratt, Tribune City Hall reporter, solicited and accepted donations from pols like Kim Foxx and principals (e.g. lobbyist for Lincoln Yards developer) he covers,” Proft said in an April 26 tweet. “Donors were happy to disclose their names, b/c, hey, they’re all friends. Journalism.”
Pratt responded to the initial tweet with a Twitter post of his own.
“You’re lying: I didn’t create, control or receive anything from that GoFundMe,“ he tweeted. “What I did was write about my dad’s sickness and death, on social media and for the Tribune. I’ll be sure to ask for your opinion the next time my dad dies.“
Proft answered back in a later tweet, maintaining that Pratt’s promotion of the fundraiser was a violation of ethical journalism.
“Your family benefited from people you cover at your behest,” he said. “You can protest and obfuscate all you want. You cannot get around that simple ethical breach. But I know you’re ‘just trying to make my city a better place’ and you’re a proud Tribune guild member so that absolves all.”
In June, Pratt announced he has written a book chronicling a behind-the-scenes look at former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s single term in office.
“The City Is Up for Grabs: How Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Led and Lost a City in Crisis” is expected to be published in April by Chicago Review Press, which ironically has as special focus on “celebrating Black experience,” feminism and LGBTQ+ non-fiction books.”
Pratt did not say what his role would entail. The Tribune website does not include a list of reporters on the “investigative team.”
“Thank you to the public servants doing their best, the officials who return phone calls and have candid discussions, the whistleblowers who let us know when someone’s being a goof or worse. I will be in touch,” Pratt posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
