Chicago Reader co-publisher/co-EIC is leaving

Karen Hawkins, co-publisher and co-editor-in-chief of the Chicago Reader is leaving to join the nonprofit newsroom The 19th as story editor.

Hawkins previously served as digital managing editor of the Reader. She was also a senior content creator at Yodelpop, Inc., in Chicago. She also worked at Infosys and has reported for The Associated Press.

Hawkins has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a master’s degree from Northwestern University.

Hawkins leaves in the wake of the historic weekly clearing a period of turmoil with former co-owner Len Goodman, a defense attorney. Reader staff reacted negatively after Goodman wrote a column on COVID-19 riddled with factual errors; in response, Goodman allowed the paper’s transition into a nonprofit lapse, nearly killing it in the process. After staff protests, sharp criticism and major media coverage, Goodman stepped down in April.