Molly Parker
Investigative ReporterVeteran journalist Molly Parker joined Capitol News Illinois in July 2023 as an investigative reporter.
Parker was a member of the Lee Enterprises Midwest Public Service Journalism team. Prior to that, 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.
Parker lives and works in Murphysboro. She is a graduate of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.
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From funding freezes to visa terminations, higher education is a focus of the Trump Administration. -
Illinois hosts one of the largest international student populations in the nation, ranking fifth -
The administration’s research funding and DEI cuts present an existential threat to regional public universities like Southern Illinois University, the economic backbone of the conservative rural region it serves. -
Investigation includes Choate and other state-operated developmental living centers -
Thousands pack the Capitol to voice their opposition to the measure -
Opponents say bill is a slippery slope to more regulation -
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. -
Though flooding left homes waist-deep in water and submerged cars, officials said the dam system operated as designed for flooding emergencies and no injuries were reported -
In this special State Week episode, we discuss the problems facing the news industry and what the future may hold.
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At 9 years old, L.J. started missing school. His parents said they would homeschool him. It took two years — during which he was beaten and denied food — for anyone to notice he wasn’t learning.
