Molly Parker
Investigative Reporter | Capitol News IllinoisVeteran journalist Molly Parker joined Capitol News Illinois in July 2023 as an investigative reporter. Her hiring further expands the news organization’s presence in southern Illinois.
Parker joins the news organization to bolster its investigative team. Most recently, she was a member of the Lee Enterprises Midwest Public Service Journalism team. Prior to accepting that position last year, she was a reporter at the Southern Illinoisan in Carbondale since 2014. In that role, Parker exposed a housing crisis in Cairo, the state’s southernmost city, that resulted in a federal takeover of the county’s housing authority and the relocation of about 400 people from two dilapidated, WWII-era apartment complexes.
Parker is also an assistant professor of journalism at Southern Illinois University and a distinguished fellow with ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network, which creates partnerships between nonprofit and local newsrooms.
“I’ve watched Capitol News Illinois grow over a few short years into a preeminent media wire service that gives readers a critical view inside the state Capitol,” Parker said. “It’s proven itself capable of deeply reported investigative reporting that holds government officials to account. It understands the importance of revealing how government decisions made under the dome are playing out in cities and towns from Chicago to Cairo. The news team isn’t flashy. It’s small but tough and committed to truth and fairness – as a news outlet should be.”
Parker lives and works in Murphysboro. She is a graduate of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.
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Educators, health officials, lawmakers coming together on Tuesday in East St. Louis, where one in two children live in poverty. -
A machine to build the first new home in Illinois’ southernmost city in 50 years. -
Cairo, once a food desert, welcomed its new market last year with balloons and cheers. But the store is struggling — exposing problems with the programs set up to help. -
While regulations on homeschooling are minimal across the nation, Illinois is among a small number of states with virtually no rules about homeschooling. -
As hearings begin this week, independent court monitor says Illinois' services are ‘in stark contrast to national best practices.’ -
Hundreds of Menard Correctional Center employees and their supporters staged a rally alongside a busy street in Chester, highlighting what they described as perilous working conditions at the state’s largest maximum-security prison. -
While each state has different regulations for homeschooling, Illinois is among a small minority that places virtually no rules on parents who homeschool their children. -
Despite Illinois' plan to reduce poverty in the state, financial problems are worsening for many downstate families as pandemic-era enhanced benefits sunset in the face of rising inflation. -
The state of Illinois is asking for the end of court oversight of its system of care for people with developmental disabilities. But some advocates say it’s too soon. -
The chief judge over the Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center in rural southern Illinois abruptly moved to close it as of Dec. 31, citing staffing shortages that made it difficult to meet new state standards governing the treatment of youth in custody. -
State audits point to troubling conditions in juvenile detention centers, but no agency has strong enough oversight to bring about change. -
A new report by an advocacy agency details how abuse and neglect at Choate have continued despite calls for and promises of reform. Now, the Illinois Department of Human Services has reversed its decision to keep Choate’s top leadership in place.
