Kane County Chronicle reporter Brenda Schory was named Reporter of the Year by the Illinois Press Association.
Schory will be honored at an awards banquet Friday, Aug. 12, in Springfield.
Schory was chosen among six qualified candidates for Reporter of the Year by a panel of three members of the Illinois Press Foundation Board who reviewed all of the candidates’ materials. She was nominated for her work on Kane County’s audit of Information Technology Director Roger Fahnestock’s county-issued procurement card, which found the county paid nearly $60,000 of taxpayer money for one employee’s college tuition.
Schory began working for Shaw Media in 1993 and has covered a variety of beats and communities during her tenure with the company. Schory currently covers Geneva, as well as Kane County in general.
“Brenda is an exceptional reporter and someone who can be counted on to do whatever is asked of her,” said Aimee Barrows, Kane County Chronicle editor. “Brenda has worked tirelessly over her years at Shaw Media while covering some of the biggest stories in the TriCities and truly is a pleasure to work with.”
Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns said Schory has an “unalterable commitment to journalistic integrity and storytelling.”
“If it’s true that journalists write the first draft of history, then we owe Brenda a debt of gratitude for helping discover, capture, report and even secure the history of the Fox River Valley,” Burns said.
Much of Schory’s investigative work, for which she has received statewide recognition, is the result of Freedom of Information records requests that become the basis of her reporting.
“Readers and taxpayers benefit from Brenda’s commitment to getting to the bottom of a story through her determination, source building and love of reporting,” said Dennis Anderson, Shaw Media vice president of news and content development. “Brenda is a fighter and is committed to making sure public records stay just that, public. We are so proud of her and the recognition she so richly deserves.”
