Indy Star biz reporter hired by Chicago Tribune

John Russell, who covers real estate, architecture, urban planning, new projects and old eyesores for the Indianapolis Star, has been hired by the Chicago Tribune to cover health care.

He will be covering the business of life sciences, such as pharmaceutical companies, biotech companies, hospitals, insurers, and healthcare policy.

“I can’t think of any beat that affects more readers than health care,” said Russell in an email to Talking Biz News. “It’s important, complex and overwhelming at times. My job will be to explain and help, and give them a reason every day to read the Tribune.”

He also loves digging into the money behind the deals, the regulators and officials who approve them and the connections that make it all happen.

Russell joined the Star in 2005 and has covered pharmaceuticals, energy, utilities and special projects. He previously was a business reporter and deputy business editor at the Akron Beacon Journal.

He has won more than 40 journalism awards in the past decade, including Indiana Journalist of the Year in 2011 from the Society of Professional Journalists, and First Amendment awards from every major journalism association in the state. He also serves on the board of the Indy SPJ and the Indianapolis Newspaper Guild.