Renowned Chicago Journalist Renee Ferguson Passes Away at 75

CHICAGO, Ill. — Renee Ferguson, the groundbreaking investigative reporter who became the first Black woman in Chicago television reporting, died Friday at the age of 75, her family announced. Ferguson passed away while under hospice care.

Ferguson, who spent over 25 years in journalism, was a co-founder of the Chicago chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists. She won seven Chicago Emmy Awards and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for her investigative work, establishing herself as one of the city’s premier reporters.

Monroe Anderson, former director of community affairs at WBBM-Ch. 2 and a longtime friend of Ferguson, reminisced, “Renee had this incredible ability to convince the powers that be in the newsroom to give her these really interesting assignments.”

Originally from Oklahoma, Ferguson graduated from Douglass High School in Oklahoma City in 1967, later earning her journalism degree from Indiana University in 1971. She was one of only two Black students in the journalism department there, as recalled by Anderson.

Her journalism career began as a writer for the Indianapolis Star before she moved to WLWI-TV in 1972. Five years later, she joined WBBM-Ch. 2, where she gained acclaim for an investigative report that challenged the credibility of Marva Collins, a nationally recognized educator.

Ferguson left Channel 2 in 1983 to become a correspondent for CBS News in Atlanta and returned to Chicago in 1987 as an investigative reporter for NBC affiliate WMAQ-Ch. 5.

In 1981, she began hosting the public affairs talk show “Common Ground.” Frank Whittaker, retired vice president of news at NBC Chicago, praised her authenticity, stating, “People trusted her. She had this uncanny ability to create a space that made people really open up to her.”

One of her notable projects involved taking nine children from tough Chicago neighborhoods to Africa, where they experienced a cultural exchange that Ferguson described as “an extremely special time.”

Ferguson later covered critical events, including the 1994 elections in South Africa. Her work gained attention for exposing the wrongful strip-searching of Black women at O’Hare Airport, which won her the duPont Award.

Tyrone Hood, a young Chicago man wrongfully convicted of murder, was another case Ferguson advocated for throughout her career. “Her work was able to get him out of prison,” Whittaker said.

After retiring in December 2008, Ferguson continued to influence journalism as a spokeswoman for former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun during her unsuccessful mayoral campaign in 2011.

Ferguson was also a mentor to future U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg during his internship at NBC 5. She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 2007 and continued to inspire future generations of journalists.

She is survived by her son, Jason Smikle. Funeral services are pending.