Media faculty receive SHIELD Illinois grant to study public attitudes of COVID-19 testing

Three College of Media faculty have received a $25,000 research grant from SHIELD Illinois for a project that will examine public attitudes, news framing, and online engagement about SHIELD COVID-19 testing. The analyses will help inform best practices and strategies for future campaigns addressing public health crises. SHIELD is the University of Illinois System’s statewide […]

Political journalists from CNN, NPR, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune to speak on politics and elections

The Richard and Leslie Frank Center for Leadership and Innovation in Media at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will host four of the country’s top political journalists—David Chalian from CNN, Domenico Montanaro from NPR, Vivian Salama from the Wall Street Journal, and Alice Yin from the Chicago Tribune—for a panel discussion on what it’s like to […]

What do we know about political advertising?

It can be challenging to distinguish between a paid political ad and one that is not in today’s media environment, especially on social media. News Bureau editor Lois Yoksoulian spoke with advertising professor Michelle Nelson about the topic. New research from Nelson and her colleagues found that most adults—even those who are politically engaged and educated—do not fully understand online targeting, […]

Mark L. Brandt Public Engagement Fellows program funds eight fall projects in the College of Media

October 4, 2022 | Holly Rushakoff Eight projects led by College of Media faculty and staff have been selected to receive funding as part of the Mark L. Brandt Public Engagement Fellows program, established this year to provide undergraduate Media students with professional experience in public engagement activities. It also provides opportunities for students to participate […]

ICR team creates Spurlock Museum exhibit on quinceañeras

Following a Fall 2020 doctoral seminar on intersectional Latina feminist media issues at the Institute of Communications Research, Angharad Valdivia, a research professor who is also a professor of Latina and Latino studies, and her students were inspired to create a museum exhibit on quinceañeras. The team of Valdivia, ICR doctoral students Ariana Cano and […]

Wagner wins ‘Rising Star’ award from PRNEWS

Melissa Wagner (BS ’18, journalism), a public relations senior at Zebra Technologies, was recently recognized as a “Rising Star” in PRNEWS’ Top Women Awards program.  Some of her accomplishments at Zebra include launching the company’s first-ever Global Week of Service during the pandemic, which engaged nearly 150 employees who volunteered more than 1,000 hours in 11 countries […]

Hill teaches sports reporting after decades-long career as journalist

After 43 years as a journalist, Bill Hill (BS ’75, journalism) teaches sports reporting to graduate students at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He previously served as assistant managing editor at MLB.com, directing coverage of 10 West division teams and coordinating MLB’s internship program.

Media faculty and TAs make list of teachers ranked as excellent

Congratulations to all of the College of Media faculty and teaching assistants who were ranked as excellent by their students! This list is based on Instructor and Course Evaluation System (ICES) questionnaire forms completed by students during the Spring 2022 semester. Only those instructors who distributed ICES forms at least once during this time period and who […]

Brand Ambassador Program to assist Fighting Illini student-athletes in building personal brands

August 31, 2022 More than 30 student-athletes and student brand ambassadors, including 21 advertising students, are part of a new Brand Ambassador Program on campus. A select group of students from the University of Illinois College of Media will be paired with individual Fighting Illini student-athletes as a part of the new Brand Ambassador Program, […]

New professor Garza connects journalism history to the present

August 22, 2022 | Vivian La, Communications Intern Melita Garza, an award-winning journalist, media historian, and a new associate professor and Tom and June Netzel Sleeman Scholar in Business Journalism, sees a reporter as a detective investigating a larger story. And she’s most interested in the stories that haven’t been told. “The idea of trying […]

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