Host | Producer | Editor | Reporter | Researcher

Objective

James is a multi-talented journalist and creative with a passion for the arts, a track record of award-winning work, and a commitment to impactful and engaging storytelling. Most recently he’s been a news producer for the HBO late night series Game Theory with Bomani Jones. Before that he hosted, reported, and co-produced the investigative audio documentary Un(re)solved (FRONTLINE), a National Murrow Award winner and a Narrative Nonfiction Official Selection at the 2021 Tribeca Festival. Un(re)solved explores a U.S. Department of Justice effort to investigate over 150 unsolved civil rights era killings. It is one part of an Emmy-winning and Peabody-nominated multiplatform project in which James served as one of its lead reporters. While at FRONTLINE, he also co-produced the FRONTLINE Dispatch and its 2020 Covering Coronavirus series, which garnered nominations from both the Ambies (The Podcast Academy) and Webby Awards. His past work includes producing and reporting roles (TV, radio, digital) at WBEZ Chicago, Public Radio International, WGBH, and the newsmagazine Need To Know on PBS. Working in WBEZ’s content development unit, James was the lead producer for the critically acclaimed audio series 16 Shots, a collaboration with the Chicago Tribune about the police shooting of Laquan McDonald. He later developed and produced the narrative comedy South Side Stories. Inspired by the TV show South Side, the WBEZ and Comedy Central partnership marked the first collaboration between a public media station and a major cable network. In 2020 the Chicago Headline Club (the city’s chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists) honored South Side Stories with three Peter Lisagor Awards and seven nominations. The series, along with 16 Shots, also earned international recognition from the Publisher Podcast Awards in London. In addition to his journalism work James has been a research consultant on TV, film, and documentary projects, including the feature films Candyman (2021) and The Good Nurse (2022), the HBO drama Lovecraft Country, and various nonfiction series for A+E Networks.  

Honors include:
 

• Winner – Peter Lisagor Award (Best Podcast Episode, Best Music Coverage, Best Business or Consumer Reporting) – Chicago Headline Club, 2020

 

• Winner – Publisher Podcast Award (Best Local & Community Podcast) – Media Voices, 2020

 

• Winner – Sarah Brown Boyden Award (Best Series) – Chicago Journalists Association, 2019

 

• Winner – Amnesty International USA Media Awards (Domestic News), 2019

 

• Winner – National Headliner Award (Best Podcast) – Press Club of Atlantic City, 2019

 

• Winner – Herman J. Kogan Media Award (Broadcast) – Chicago Bar Association, 2019

 

• Winner – Peter Lisagor Award (Best Feature Series, Best Multimedia Collaboration, Best Public Affairs Programming, Best New Podcast) – Chicago Headline Club, 2019

 

• Finalist – Scripps Howard Awards (Radio/Podcast), 2019

 

• Broadcast Finalist – Religion Newswriters Association Contest, 2014

 

• Winner – Investigative Reporting Award – Massachusetts/Rhode Island Associated Press, 2014

 

• Journalist Law School Fellow – Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, 2013

 

• Silver Dome Award Finalist – Illinois Broadcasters Association, 2013

 

• Phillip L. Graham Fellowship – Investigative Reporters & Editors, 2012

 

• Ottaway Fellowship – Investigative Reporters & Editors, 2010

 

• First Place – Reality Bytes Film Festival (Northern Illinois University), 2006

 

• Official Selection – Black Harvest International Film & Video Festival, 2006

Total Years Experience:

16 years

Skills:

Experience with digital videography, audio production, and both field and segment producing. Proficient in Final Cut, Adobe Premiere, Sony Vegas, Adobe Audition, Cubase, Audacity, Microsoft Word, Excel, and Google Drive. Well-developed research skills in computer-assisted reporting, public records requests, LexisNexis, PACER, and Westlaw.

Occupations:

Audio Editor, Communications Director/Head of Communications, Digital Content Producer/Editor, Editor General, Editor-News, Editor-Projects Editor, Editor-Senior Editor (AME, Executive, Managing), Editorial Supervisor, Media Director, Multimedia Specialist/Multimedia Digital Journalist, News Director, On-Air Talent/Anchor/Talk Show Host, Producer/Field, Producer-General/Executive, Professor/Instructor/Teacher, Programmer/Progaming Executive, Reporter-Crime, Reporter-Digital, Reporter-General, Reporter-Investigative, Reporter-News, Researcher/News Research, Video Journalist/Videographer, Writer