Cheryl Corley
Cheryl Corley is a Chicago-based NPR correspondent who works for the National Desk. She primarily covers criminal justice issues as well as breaking news in the Midwest and across the country.
In her role as a criminal justice correspondent, Corley works as part of a collaborative team and has a particular interest on issues and reform efforts that affect women, girls, and juveniles. She's reported on programs that help incarcerated mothers raise babies in prison, on pre-apprenticeships in prison designed to help cut recidivism of women, on the efforts by Illinois officials to rethink the state's juvenile justice system and on the push to revamp the use of solitary confinement in North Dakota prisons.
For more than two decades with NPR, Corley has covered some of the country's most important news stories. She's reported on the political turmoil in Virginia over the governor's office and a blackface photo, the infamous Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida, on mass shootings in Orlando, Florida; Charleston, South Carolina; Chicago; and other locations. She's also reported on the election of Chicago's first black female and lesbian mayor, on the campaign and re-election of President Barack Obama, on the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina and oil spills along the Gulf Coast, as well as numerous other disasters, and on the funeral of the "queen of soul," Aretha Franklin.
Corley also has served as a fill-in host for NPR shows, including Weekend All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and defunct shows Tell Me More and News and Notes.
Prior to joining NPR, Corley was the news director at Chicago's public radio station, WBEZ, where she supervised an award-winning team of reporters. She also worked as the City Hall reporter covering the administration of the city's first black mayor, Harold Washington, and others that followed. She also has been a frequent panelist on television news-affairs programs in Chicago.
Corley has received awards for her work from a number of organizations including the National Association of Black Journalists, the Associated Press, the Public Radio News Directors Association, and the Society of Professional Journalists. She earned the Community Media Workshop's Studs Terkel Award for excellence in reporting on Chicago's diverse communities and a Herman Kogan Award for reporting on immigration issues.
A Chicago native, Corley graduated cum laude from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, and is a former Bradley University trustee. While in Peoria, Corley worked as a reporter and news director for public radio station WCBU and as a television director for the NBC affiliate, WEEK-TV. She is a past President of the Association for Women Journalists in Chicago (AWJ-Chicago).
She is also the co-creator of the Cindy Bandle Young Critics Program. The critics/journalism training program for female high school students was originally collaboration between AWJ-Chicago and the Goodman Theatre. Corley has also served as a board member and president of Community Television Network, an organization that trains Chicago youth in video and multimedia production.
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Newly Elected DAs Vow To Continue Reforms, End Policies Deemed UnfairReform-minded prosecutors who want to change the criminal justice system from the inside won big in November. It's momentum for a small, but growing movement. -
Some communities established or expanded powers used by civilian commissions designed to ensure police accountability. -
Months of protests over police brutality has brought some change, but major reform has so far eluded many communities. -
President Trump has tested positive for the coronavirus. NPR traces where he and his team have been recently. That includes Cleveland, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and New Jersey.
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Police Settlements: How The Cost Of Misconduct Impacts Cities And TaxpayersPayouts range from multi-million-dollars to far less but the financial impact is often overlooked. One argument in the protests over policing is that funds for police could be better used elsewhere.
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Law enforcement has responded differently to protests continuing across the U.S. NPR reporters in Portland, Ore., Beacon, N.Y., and Chicago discuss ways these cities have dealt with civil unrest.
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But state officials say the threat of COVID-19 remains strong and they need to continue wearing facemasks and social distancing.
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Chicago's mayor calls the pandemic a public health red alarm. The city's new "racial equity rapid response team" is crafting strategies to ward off the disease in Black and Latinx neighborhoods.
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Since the protests sparked by George Floyd's killing in police custody, many have called for overhauling police departments and policies. Efforts underway in some cities have had mixed success.
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The mayor calls the coronavirus a public health "red alarm." She has deployed a Racial Equity Rapid Response Team to fight the disease in black and Latinx neighborhoods.
