Community Investigations Hub – South Side Weekly

Send us a confidential tip

The Weekly’s Community Investigations Hub pairs residents with journalists to help you investigate issues affecting your community. Our investigations have uncovered police misconduct, housing inequality, City expenditures, and more.

We offer several ways to send us a tip, including an online form and, for confidential communications, secure text messaging and encrypted email.

We also host workshops on using the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to request records from government agencies. FOIA allows people to obtain records created by the government for inspection and analysis. While it is a powerful tool for investigative journalists, FOIA can be used by anyone. Our workshops are presented in partnership with the Better Government Association, and they equip you with the tools you need to file successful FOIA requests.

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INVESTIGATIVE STORIES

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SEND US A TIP

To get in touch with our investigations team, fill out our tips form, and a Weekly journalist will get back to you.

We also offer several ways to send confidential tips and documents:

Signal

Signal is a free, end-to-end encrypted messaging app. You can use it to send text messages, images, and video directly to our investigations editor. It can also be used to securely call. Signal does not retain metadata, and it can automatically delete messages after a set period of time.

The Weekly’s Signal number is (773) 793–9948

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Secure email

Send email to our encrypted email address at [email protected]. ProtonMail is a secure, end-to-end encrypted email server based in Switzerland. The contents and metadata of emails sent to our address are protected from data breaches and government surveillance. We recommend setting up a free ProtonMail account to send us confidential emails.

Postal mail

Mail letters, packages, and documents directly to our newsroom. We recommend using a mail box instead of a post office to protect your anonymity. Our mailing address is:

South Side Weekly
6100 S. Blackstone Ave.
Chicago, IL 60637

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