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.
-
Tiny homes are a growing solution to homeless veterans and vulnerable youth, especially those who identify as LGBTQ. But the movement faces challenges from regulations and neighbors across the nation. -
The tap draws from Lake Huron. Eatery owners have bought ice, bottles and expensive filters. Large signs in windows post lead-free test results. But diners in this Michigan city are still leery. -
An Illinois school district came to an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education and voted to allow a transgender student, born a male, access to the girls' locker room.
-
Laura Martinez defied many skeptics when she opened up her Chicago restaurant, La Diosa, this year. It helps that she used to work for the late Charlie Trotter, one of the city's most acclaimed chefs. -
Despite other gains, New Orleans' murder rate, which hit a 40-year low last year, is on the rise again and remains nearly quadruple that of other cities its size. Residents say police need to do more. -
Last year, many businesses in Ferguson, Mo., were looted and vandalized in unrest that gripped the city. Customers are starting to return, but some owners don't feel positive about staying here. -
Chicago plans to replace its Lathrop Homes public housing project with a mix of condos and affordable housing. Residents say it doesn't need a revamp — and that the overhaul will displace too many. -
There are 13 presidential libraries and soon there will be a 14th, for President Obama. Places vying for the prize stretch from Hawaii to New York. Chicago is so eager it's pitched multiple proposals. -
Star Wars creator George Lucas wants to build a museum full of movie memorabilia and fine art. But where? Both his hometown of San Francisco and Chicago, his "second home," are vying for it. -
Activists say a federal law that allows employers to pay people with disabilities pennies per hour is out of date and should be changed. But some say the law is a lifeline for the disabled.
