# Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Will Only Give Interviews to ‘Black or Brown Journalists’ On Inauguration Anniversary

By Brent Hamachek · Published 2021-05-19 · News & Analysis › Media · https://humanevents.com/news/chicago-mayor-lori-lightfoot-will-only-give-interviews-to-black-or-brown-journalists-on-inauguration-anniversary

> In a move that can only be viewed as one of overt bigotry, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is only granting interviews to journalists of color. According to NBC 5 Chicago political reporter Mary Ann Ahern, Lightfoot is marking the “midway point” of her first term in office by disallowing some from doing their own jobs. \[…\]

In a move that can only be viewed as one of overt bigotry, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is only granting interviews to journalists of color.

According to *[NBC 5 Chicago](https://www.foxnews.com/media/local-reporters-say-chicago-mayor-lori-lightfoot-will-only-grant-interviews-to-black-or-brown-journalists)* political reporter Mary Ann Ahern, Lightfoot is marking the “midway point” of her first term in office by disallowing some from doing their own jobs.

“As \[Mayor Lightfoot\] reaches her two year midway point as mayor, her spokeswoman says Lightfoot is granting 1 on 1 interviews - only to Black or Brown journalists,” Ahern wrote in a tweet.

Unfortunately, Ahern wasn’t the only one experiencing trouble.

“I was told the same thing,” WWTW Chicago Tonight anchor and correspondent Paris Schutz said in response to Ahern’s tweet.

And another one.

[Social media](https://humanevents.com/2021/05/18/martyred-space-force-commander-speaks-out-says-hes-supported-by-thousands-of-troops/) had a field day with this one, as users accused Lightfoot of racism for choosing to speak with journalists based solely on skin color.

“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,” Lightfoot wrote on Wednesday. “Diversity and inclusion is imperative across all institutions including \[the\] media. In order to progress we must change.”

“This is exactly why I’m being intentional about prioritizing media requests from POC reporters on the occasion of the two-year anniversary of my inauguration as mayor of this great city. This is an imbalance that needs to change. Chicago is a world-class city. Our local media should reflect the multiple cultures that comprise it...It’s time for the newsrooms to do better and build teams that reflect the make-up of our city,” she added.

Apparently to Lightfoot, the best way to solve the problem of a lack of diversity in the media is to punish people for something they can’t control: their skin color.

But, this overtly obvious case of selective bigotry will not solve anything, only make things worse.