Journalism professor wins Lisagor award for columns in Chicago Sun Times

Roosevelt Journalism Professor John Fountain, a weekly columnist for the Chicago Sun Times, has received the prestigious Peter Lisagor Award for Exemplary Journalism for columns he published in the Sun Times, the nation’s tenth largest newspape, during 2010.

Fountain, who has also written and reported for the New York Times, Washington Post and Chicago Tribune, won the award in May for news column or commentary in the category of daily newspapers with a circulation of 250,000 or more from the Chicago Headline Club, which is the largest local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists in the country.

“Being acknowledged by your peers for an award like this is the next greatest thing to actually writing about people and accurately capturing their stories,” said Fountain. “To win this award in the hometown I grew up in means a lot to me,” added Fountain, who grew up on Chicago’s west side.

The publisher of a new book of essays celebrating fathers and fatherhood, which is titled Dear Dad: Reflections on Fatherhood, Fountain has been a frequent guest speaker in his community and on radio and TV, including WTTW-TV’s Chicago Tonight, where he recently spoke at length about the important role fathers have in the lives of their children and family.