Our Elders’ Stories Bridge the Past to the Present. This Mother’s Day, Let’s Honor Them by Listening 

May 9, 2025 | Newsweek Stories of the past might be whitewashed, rewritten, or replaced in official spaces, but people’s consciousness of the past can’t be stripped away. Melita Garza, Associate Professor and Tom and June Netzel Sleeman Scholar in Business Journalism In this Newsweek opinion piece, Melita Garza, associate professor and Tom and June […]

Tom Burrell, renowned Black advertising visionary, to receive honorary degree from Illinois

May 5, 2025 Tom Burrell, a renowned Black visionary who changed the face of the ad industry for African Americans, will receive an honorary degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign during the university-wide Commencement ceremony on May 17, 2025. The honorary degree award recognizes individuals who have shown exemplary, extraordinary, and distinguished contributions to […]

Students from UI7 Newsroom win NATAS Mid-America Emmys, SINBA awards

April 29, 2025 Students from the UI7 Newsroom were recently recognized for their outstanding work by both the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Mid-America Chapter, winning two Crystal Pillar awards, and the Student Illinois News Broadcasters Association awards. “Both awards are contested greatly by surrounding schools and programs. Their accomplishments with wins, even […]

Journalism Professor Emerita Nancy Benson passes away

April 28, 2025 Nancy Benson, professor emerita of journalism, died on April 21, 2025. She was 72 years old. In 1996, she was hired as a visiting professor in the Department of Journalism and became an assistant professor in 1997. She was promoted to associate professor in 2003 and to full professor in 2014. Before […]

Media students present at 2025 Undergraduate Research Symposium

April 15, 2025 Update May 29, 2025: Congratulations to the students who presented “Uman Tok: Tailoring Hope, Renewing Futures in Sierra Leone” for receiving an award for Outstanding Oral Presentation at the Undergraduate Research Symposium from the Office of Undergraduate Research! Some of these students previously won an award in 2024 for Outstanding Exhibit on this same research […]

Excerpts from ‘Engaging in a Divided Society’

April 14, 2025 On February 25, 2025, the Suburban Illini Club hosted the College of Media for “Engaging in a Divided Society: Lessons from Journalism,” a panel discussion on how to engage with others in an age of polarization. Moderated by College of Media Dean Tracy Sulkin, panelists included journalism faculty and alumni:  The webinar […]

Netflix director Emma Miller to be alumni speaker at Media Convocation

April 11, 2025 | Kelly Youngblood Netflix director Emma Miller (BS ’08, media studies) says returning to campus to speak at the 2025 College of Media Convocation ceremony feels like a full-circle moment for her. As a Media student at Illinois, she remembers renting DVDs through Netflix’s mail subscription service for her film classes. “I […]

Media studies scholar Denise Bielby inspired to support Ebert Center through blended gift

April 11, 2025 | Kelly Youngblood It’s no surprise that renowned media studies scholar and two-time University of Illinois alum Denise Bielby (BS ’71, MA ’72, ACES), Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Emerita, at the University of California, Santa Barbara, was interested in fellow alum Roger Ebert’s work and helping preserve his legacy. Bielby, whose research […]

College of Media
119 Gregory Hall
810 S. Wright St.
Urbana, IL 61801
217-333-2350