Chicago Mayor Slams Media’s ‘Overwhelming Whiteness,’ Defends Decision to Limit Interviews to Minority Journalists

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot defended her policy of only accepting interview requests from “black and brown journalists” on Wednesday, arguing that it is made necessary by the “overwhelming whiteness and maleness” of the city’s media institutions. 

The Democratic mayor sparked outrage after she announced she would not grant one-on-one interviews to white journalists on a temporary basis around the two-year anniversary of her election.

Lightfoot, the first black woman and first openly gay mayor in the city’s history, penned a two-page letter to the media in which she lauded her election for “breaking barriers”...