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.
-
Nicknamed "the General," Knight spent nearly three decades at Indiana University and several seasons at Texas Tech. His teams racked up wins, but he was controversial on and off the court.
-
Hundreds of women aged 40 and older gathered in Chicago recently to jump rope and play other games from their youth. It was the 3rd national playdate held by the Double Dutch Club.
-
Hundreds of women gathered in Chicago to relive their youthful days of jumping rope at the 40+ Double Dutch Club's National Play Date. (Story aired on Weekend Edition Sunday on Sept. 17, 2023.)
-
The Reverend Jesse Jackson is stepping down as the leader of the Rainbow-Push Coalition after more than a half century of activism.
-
Over the last three decades, singer-songwriter Iris DeMent has gained a cult following of folk, gospel and country music fans.
-
NPR's Cheryl Corley talks to singer-songwriter Amanda Shires about her new album.
-
Departments across the country have pledged to recruit more women in order to diversify their staffs and potentially reduce use of force by police. It's called the 30x30 initiative.
-
The 21-year old charged in the mass shooting during a July Fourth parade in Highland Park, Ill., showed up for a bail hearing while the community struggles to recover.
-
A gunman on a rooftop in Highland Park, a Chicago suburb, opened fire on the crowd that came together to celebrate. At least six people were killed. Police say a person of interest is in custody.
-
At least six people are dead and at least two dozen are injured after an an active shooter incident in the city of Highland Park, Ill.