June 24, 2026
SIU journalism alumna, Chicago Tribune reporter, part of Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Award-winning journalist and senior reporter with the Chicago Tribune, Southern Illinois University Carbondale alumna Christy Gutowski says she realized in high school she wanted to be a journalist.
Her passion for people, desire to help those who are vulnerable, and dogged research ability all contributed to her success as part of a team providing daily coverage and enterprise stories on last year’s “Operation Midway Blitz” immigration enforcement program by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The package of stories — including in-depth analysis of abuse claims and arrests made by DHS officials — earned Gutowski and the staff the profession’s pinnacle award: a Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting — the 29th Pulitzer Prize in the newspaper’s 180-history.
“I’m so proud to be a part of this newsroom. Like all journalism organizations, the Chicago Tribune has ever-fewer resources at its disposal to fulfill its public service mission,” said Gutowski, who has been with the newspaper since 2010. “But my colleagues recognized the importance of this story and worked tirelessly, often putting themselves in harm’s way, to document what was happening. This was a real team effort by a newsroom that was united in one goal: to document this important moment in history with accuracy and fairness.”
‘Broad pattern of disconnect’
Gutowski explained that as federal agents “swarmed the area in the aggressive immigration enforcement program,” more than 100 people were also detained during the public protests, traffic altercations or on residential streets. Fewer than 12% of the protestors who were arrested during Operation Midway Blitz would face criminal charges. Gutowski, and reporters Madaline Buckley and Joe Mahr reviewed “reams of court files” and tried to interview all of the detainees — including adult relatives of minors named on the list — while also being sensitive to those involved.
Gutowski’s primary story was “Rioters? Agitators? Immigration agents’ claims against US citizens mostly fall apart in court.”
“Our work found a broad pattern of disconnect between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s rhetoric of the dangers to agents during Chicago’s Operation Midway Blitz versus the reality borne out in the federal courts,” Gutowski said.
The analysis “found that time and time again, (President) Trump’s DHS claimed horrific abuses at the hands of protestors,” Gutowski said. “Yet time and again, their allegations of abuse did not withstand the scrutiny of judicial review.”
Gutowski hopes the coverage enabled readers to realize that “they can trust their local newspaper and that journalism matters.”
‘Equal access to information’
Gutowski grew up in a household where her parents each read the daily newspaper, watched 10 p.m. newscasts, “and were very knowledgeable about what was going on in the world.”
“I liked the idea that regardless of your background or income, you had equal access to information,” she said, recalling that a newspaper at that time cost 50 cents. “My dad once told me, ‘For 50 cents, you can have the world!’ I never forgot that. Then I fell in love with reading Ernest Hemingway and the rest is history.”
SIU was pivotal in her career
Gutowski graduated from SIU Carbondale in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and minor in political science. While on campus, she was a reporter for the Daily Egyptian — the student-run newspaper — covering business and later higher education. Her most memorable story was a personal interview with Hillary Clinton, who came to SIU to campaign for her husband when then-candidate Bill Clinton was seeking his first term as president.
Gutowski noted the insight gained from her “wise, patient and giving professors,” including Wayne Wanta, Robert Spellman and Walter Jaehnig, and Wanda Brandon, the DE faculty adviser.
“I cannot emphasize enough what a major role SIU played in helping me to realize my dream,” she said. “I had the desire but, frankly, very little writing and reporting skills. So much of what I still practice today was learned at SIU.”
After earning her bachelor’s degree at SIU, Gutowski earned a master’s degree from the University of Illinois-Springfield’s public affairs reporting program. Hired by the Daily Herald after graduating from the program in 1994, she began as a police reporter and covered various municipal beats before being named the newspaper’s DuPage County legal affairs writer.
“This is an amazing accomplishment in the field of journalism to win a Pulitzer Prize,” said Jan Thompson, director of SIU Carbondale’s Charlotte Thompson Suhler School of Journalism and Advertising. “The story that Christy contributed to was a huge undertaking and made an enormous impact. This is what journalism is all about: fair and accurate reporting and giving those without a voice a way to be heard. And we are certainly proud that she is SIU homegrown.”