Frank Main

For the Canadian chemical engineer, see Frank Maine.

Frank Main is a Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter from Chicago, Illinois.

Early life

Main was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, in 1964. He grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and graduated from Bishop Kelley High School in 1982. He graduated from Emory University and earned a master's degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

Career

Main writes for the Chicago Sun-Times, focusing on crime and investigative stories.

He began his career with The Tulsa World in 1987. He later worked for the Baton Rouge State-Times, the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, and The Kentucky Post. He has reported from conflict zones in the Persian Gulf, Bosnia and Colombia. He covered the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks and Hurricane Katrina.

Main has been an adjunct professor at Loyola University Chicago, teaching media law.[1]

He was the host of the first season of the award-winning podcast 'Motive' produced by WBEZ Chicago and the Chicago Sun-Times in 2019.[2]

Awards and recognition

Main won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting with Mark Konkol and John Kim for articles documenting violence in Chicago neighborhoods and the culture of silence that allows it to continue.[3] The entry included two series that examined the same issue: how many assault and murder cases in Chicago go unsolved because victims, witnesses and neighbors refuse to cooperate with police. Main spent four months shadowing homicide detectives as they tried to solve the gang-related murder of a teenager only to be stymied by a "no-snitch" culture. The series showed "originality and community expertise," the judges said.[4]

In 2017, Main won the APME national storytelling award for 'Life on a Ledge,' which detailed a suicide he witnessed in Chicago. The piece explored the life, mental illness and death of Kendra Smith.[5]

In 2021, Main was a health journalism fellow at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.[6]

Personal life

Main shuttles between Chicago and Michigan with his wife, Alice.[7][8]

References

  1. ^ "Frank Main at Loyola University Chicago | Coursicle Loyola". www.coursicle.com. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
  2. ^ "Winners of the 2019 Peter Lisagor Awards, other Chicago Headline Club honors announced - Chicago Headline Club". Archived from the original on 2020-07-21. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
  3. ^ "The Pulitzer Prizes".
  4. ^ "The Pulitzer Prizes".
  5. ^ "APME announces the 2017 awards honoring excellence and innovation in journalism - APME - Associated Press Media Editors". Archived from the original on 2017-06-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. ^ "Center for Health Journalism".
  7. ^ https://www.wsj.com/articles/AP538c4b030ce8453293b96e42bc648fa2. [dead link‍]
  8. ^ "Glen Ellyn journalist wins Pulitzer for crime work at Sun-Times - Glen Ellyn, IL - Glen Ellyn News". Archived from the original on 2011-10-03. Retrieved 2011-06-13.