Quick Hits and Deep Dives: Consumer Investigations Any Newsroom Can Do

Quick Hits and Deep Dives: Consumer Investigations Any Newsroom Can Do is a virtual Audience Engagement professional development session on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, 2:00–3:00 PM EDT via Zoom (link in confirmation email). Everyone is a consumer, rich or poor, red or blue; veteran Chicago reporters Stephanie Zimmermann (Chicago Sun-Times) and Jason Knowles (ABC7Chicago) share practical consumer story ideas, easy and more difficult, to replicate locally and ways to establish coverage without a dedicated beat reporter. Award-winning investigator Zimmermann covers credit/debt, insurance, food, housing, health, transportation, technology, unsafe products, scams/frauds and everyday concerns, has extensively covered mental health and the criminal legal system, and previously worked at ABC News’ Investigative Unit and Florida and Illinois outlets; Knowles joined ABC 7 in 2004 as a special projects producer pursuing 10 PM News exclusives and was a General Assignment reporter from 2009–2014.

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