User:Trottie

L. Nicole Trottie (29 April 1969) is an American businesswoman and founder of [West Suburban Journal Newspaper] http://www.westsuburbanjournal. Trottie has distinguished herself as a media pioneer by becoming the first African American woman to own and publish an accredited weekly newspaper in Illinois history. Trottie’s career blossomed from her love of politics, law and journalism. She graduated Eastern Illinois University with a Bachelors Degree in Political Science and a minor in English. She later received a scholarship award by the Illinois Board of Governors for the Program For Minority Access to Law School (PMALS) to attend Northern Illinois University College of Law in DeKalb, IL. Her transition into the publishing industry followed her tenure in management and marketing in the telecommunications industry. Trottie initially set out in 2002 to publish a faith-based magazine. In the same year, she landed a job with the Chicago Sun Times subsidiary Pioneer Press as an advertising representative. Her objective while employed at the paper was to gain experience in the publishing field. That experience changed her course and that of history.

Trottie observed the lack of diversity among the writers and editors at Pioneer Press. The West Zone of the Pioneer Press served the Proviso Township community of which a large segment of the population is African American. However the paper did not employ a single black writer or editor. Trottie saw an opportunity to fill an unmet need. She recognized the need for balanced representation among African American communities, rather than stereotypical portrayals of blacks in mainstream newspapers. In 2004, she founded and launched the West Suburban Journal Newspaper. The weekly serves over 120,000 readers in Proviso Township, the second largest township in the Cook County suburbs.

Trottie became known for her investigative reporting and gained the reputation as a hard-hitting journalist. Trottie believes that the few black newspapers serving black communities pander too often to black politicians rather than hold them accountable. She believes the practice is an “injustice to the communities and the politicians who serve them”.

Among Trottie’s distinctions is the 2006 NAACP Civic Excellence in Journalism. In 2006, upon the written recommendation of Sen. Barack Obama’s administration, she joined the membership of the U.S. Congressional Press Corp. She covered Obama’s historic journey from Illinois State Senator to U.S. Senator to the Presidency among the Traveling Press Corp.

In April of 2009, Trottie’s membership into the [Illinois Press Association] http://www.il-press.com/ (IPA) was accepted by a unanimous board vote of 15 members. The IPA is the nation’s largest state press association serving over 500 weekly and dailies.

Born in Philadelphia, Trottie is the only daughter of Frank Trottie, the first African American President of Labor Relations and Litigation for Keebler Company and Bertha Trottie. She was adopted by her parents at the age of 6 months. In 2008 she reunited with her biological family; Virtel Green, mother and siblings Steve, Sharron, [Vivian] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivian_Green and Solomon Green.