Alden K. Loury is the editor & publisher of The Chicago Reporter. He joined the magazine in 1999 as a reporter and won local and national awards for his work examining the effectiveness of community policing and projects documenting racial disparities in drug sentencing, jury selection and jury verdicts. As senior editor from 2002 to 2007, Loury led more than 50 investigative projects examining the impact of race and poverty in lottery ticket sales, retail leakage in black neighborhoods, residential development surrounding the sites of demolished public housing and home mortgage lending, among others. He became editor and publisher on Jan. 1, 2008.

Prior to joining the Reporter, Loury covered government and social services for three years at The News-Gazette in Champaign. He also spent a year as a radio anchor and reporter for WDWS-AM in Champaign. Loury is a 1997 graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A Chicago native, Loury grew up in the LeClaire Courts public housing development and the South Side’s Auburn-Gresham neighborhood.

Blog Entries by Alden Loury

An Olympic Guarantee You Can Count On

Posted September 25, 2009 | 09:47 AM (EST)


If Chicago wins the 2016 Olympics, many will question whether the city's guarantee to cover any financial setbacks from the Games will ultimately hurt taxpayers. But there's one sure-fire guarantee we won't have to question in terms of the Olympics' impact on Chicago: people will be displaced and parts of...

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The Elkhart Double Standard

2 Comments | Posted August 7, 2009 | 05:08 PM (EST)


President Barack Obama recently made his fourth trip to job-starved Elkhart, Ind., a city whose plight has come to embody the American economic crisis. But the nation's sympathy and support for Elkhart might have never materialized if it were an all-black community.

I can say that with confidence since there...

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Incarcerated Fathers Are Still Fathers

6 Comments | Posted June 22, 2009 | 01:58 PM (EST)


I can never hold back the tears when I watch this video. Daniel Beaty delivers this poem with such force and such passion; you can't help but be moved. They are the most powerful words I've ever heard in describing the pain left by a father's absence. I've...

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The Fear Behind Our Fears of the Formerly Incarcerated

11 Comments | Posted May 15, 2009 | 02:56 PM (EST)


When The Chicago Reporter broke the news that the Illinois State Police had ignored thousands of court orders to expunge or seal criminal records of some ex-offenders, all hell broke loose.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan expressed her outrage, demanding compliance. Some black state lawmakers expressed their outrage with...

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Blagojevich, Burris and a Few Broken Hands

Posted March 19, 2009 | 10:49 AM (EST)


Somebody should pay.

Deep down, we've always known that the world of Illinois politics, or more precisely Chicago politics, is a messy place. But we've been able to sufficiently keep a lid on it until former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's arrest, and things just got worse with the controversy surrounding Sen....

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Between a Rock and a Criminal Background Check

Posted March 16, 2009 | 03:48 PM (EST)


Considering all of the jobs lost to the current economic crisis or to cheaper labor overseas, this may be the tightest job market most of us have ever endured. You know things are tough when thousands of people line up to fill out applications for jobs as school custodians or...

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How Much Have We Really Changed?

Posted January 20, 2009 | 11:04 AM (EST)


Once again the eyes of the world are upon us as America swears in its first African-American president--and how fitting that it comes a day after Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. This historic moment has again paved the way for hours of commentary, emotion and tears, all suggesting that change...

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BCS or Just BS?

Posted January 2, 2009 | 03:29 PM (EST)


While many college football fans have called for an end to the Bowl Championship Series in favor of a playoff system, including President-elect Barack Obama, it's the BCS that may actually be the only thing that can finally put an end to the sport's mythical national championship.

The BCS was...

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The Wire: Season 6?

Posted December 16, 2008 | 05:20 PM (EST)


This idea has already surfaced in the blogosphere. But fanatics of the popular cable series The Wire have to act. We may finally have the perfect pitch to David Simon, the journalist who turned his knowledge of Baltimore's underground drug economy and its connections to that city's political and...

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Why Do We Hate the Poor?

Posted November 4, 2008 | 10:48 AM (EST)


No, really, we can't stand poor people.

We pass by them on downtown street corners as if they weren't really there. We price them out of our "new" neighborhoods--also known as their "old" neighborhoods--with little remorse. We don't drive or ride public transportation through poor parts of town. We shun...

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A Prize More Precious Than The Presidency

Posted October 9, 2008 | 10:53 AM (EST)


In case you hadn't noticed, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has already won.

I'm not talking about a debate, or even the election itself. Before a single vote has been counted, or cast for that matter, Obama has captured something that may be far more precious than even the American...

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From One Cubs Fan to the Masses

Posted October 1, 2008 | 04:19 PM (EST)


Here are some thoughtful words for those Cub fans lucky enough to snag tickets to playoff games at Wrigley Field this year: Get the hell out of the way!

If the Cubs are in the field, and you're sitting in the first couple of rows in foul territory, please do...

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The Hidden Treasure of Organic Food ... For Some of Us

Posted September 19, 2008 | 10:45 AM (EST)


I can't tell you much about organic food.

I can't tell you how it's grown. I can't tell you why it's healthier. And I can't tell you where to find it. Until a few years ago, I never thought much about organic food and was pretty content with my diet...

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School Boycott May Not End Funding Inequities, But It Should End The Myth That Black Communities Don't Value Education

Posted September 2, 2008 | 04:47 PM (EST)


There are a lot of questions about the Rev. and state Sen. James Meeks' school boycott to protest inequitable school funding in Illinois. You can question whether asking parents to keep their children out of Chicago's public schools is the right thing to do--for any cause. You can also question...

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