Professor Brant Houston to be honored at Investigative Reporters & Editors 50th anniversary gala

September 15, 2025 Update 9/19/2025: Pictured above: Professor Brant Houston, left, is honored with awardees Lea Thompson and James B. Steele (far right), with host Scott Pelley, correspondent for 60 Minutes. (Photo by Nathalie Schueller.) The Investigative Reporters and Editors 50th Anniversary Gala raised $1.5 million for journalism training. See more photos from the event. […]

Journalism student Nathan Gonzalez chosen for New York Times Corps

September 4, 2025 Nathan Gonzalez, a junior in journalism, was one of 19 undergraduate students nationwide chosen to join The New York Times Corps, the newsroom’s talent-mentorship program for aspiring journalists. Gonzalez will be paired with NYT Pentagaon reporter John Ismay, receiving career guidance and professional development sessions until he graduates. After completing the program, […]

Media students gain unique, real-world experience through summer internships

September 3, 2025 | Kelly Youngblood From working on film production crews and meeting famous actors to interviewing congressmen on Capitol Hill, several College of Media students ended their summers on a high note after wrapping up internships that offered memorable learning opportunities. Francisco Albarran (MACS), Film Production Intern, Chili Finger When media and cinema […]

New lecturer in advertising Penne Heede brings agency expertise to classroom

September 3, 2025 | Kelly Youngblood Penne Heede, a 30-year veteran in the ad industry, is looking forward to bringing her agency expertise to the classroom this fall as a new lecturer in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising. Heede (MS ’23, strategic brand communication) will be teaching undergraduate and graduate classes including Advertising […]

Media faculty and TAs make list of teachers ranked as excellent

September 3, 2025 Updated 9/22/2025 to include Summer 2025 results. Congratulations to all 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 questionnaire forms completed by students during the Spring 2025 and Summer 2025 semesters. Only those instructors […]

I on the Media: Mike Yao discusses dependence on AI

September 2, 2025 Recently, there has been heightened media attention around the potential misuse of generative AI tools like ChatGPT—ranging from stories about individuals using it in harmful ways to concerns about people becoming overly dependent on it for companionship or therapy. While these accounts may represent extreme cases, they raise important questions about the […]

Grad student Sekhar Padmanabhan champions public service journalism as manager, reporter at life-saving wildfire app Watch Duty

August 27, 2025 | Holly Rushakoff During the historically destructive wildfires in Los Angeles in January 2025, Sekhar Padmanabhan, a graduate student in the online science and technology journalism specialization program, found himself in need of the real-time alerts issued by Watch Duty, a free app where he works as a senior regional reporting manager […]

Luciana Salviano Marques da Silva

Email: luciana8@illinois.edu Research Interests Before joining ICR, I completed my Master’s degree in Media Studies at UFRN (Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte), in Brazil. My dissertation focused in Quality Television and public journalism. My Bachelor’s degree is in Social Communication with emphasis in Journalism and Radio & Television studies. During my undergraduate I […]

2025-2026 student award and scholarship recipients

August 26, 2025 Congratulations to these College of Media students who received campus and college awards and honors, and scholarships and fellowships that were made possible thanks to our donors. AWARDS, SCHOLARSHIPS, & FELLOWSHIPS Anthony J. Petullo Endowment in Design and Advertising Fund Barton A. Cummings Graduate Assistantship / Richard and Audrey Christian Graduate Assistantship Betty […]

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