Headline Club cites lifetime achievers

Bill Kurtis

Bill Kurtis

Veteran Chicago journalists Bill Kurtis, Karen Meyer and Tracy Baim will be honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Chicago Headline Club at its 37th annual Peter Lisagor Awards ceremony May 2.

Karen Meyer

Karen Meyer

“This year’s awardees exemplify journalism at its best,” the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists said in announcing the recipients Thursday.

Kurtis is the legendary former anchorman of CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2, where he first started in 1966. An acclaimed documentary host and producer, he established Chicago-based Kurtis Productions and created some of television’s longest running and most successful non-fiction series.

Meyer has reported on disabilities for ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7 since 1991. Deaf since birth, she is president of a consulting firm specializing in disability issues and directs DePaul University's Office of Students with Disabilities. She has taught at DePaul since 2003.

Tracy Baim

Tracy Baim

Baim, who co-founded Windy City Times in 1985, is publisher and executive editor at Windy City Media Group, which produces Windy City Times, Nightspots, and other gay media in Chicago. She is the editor and co-author of Gay Press, Gay Power: The Growth of LGBT Community Newspapers in America.

Andy Shaw, president and chief operating officer of the Better Government Association, will emcee the dinner at the Union League Club of Chicago, 65 W. Jackson Boulevard.

The awards honoring outstanding journalism are named for Peter Lisagor, the Chicago Daily News' Washington bureau chief from 1959 to 1976. Finalists in more than 100 categories, including newspapers, magazines, television, radio and digital media, were announced March 18.

For ticket information see headlineclub.org. Deadline for reservations is April 25.