Illini Media

05/13/2024

Illini Media Company is sending condolences to the family of Rick Sallinger, one of our 2022 Hall of Fame Inductees.

During his time at the University of Illinois, Sallinger was a music director and program director at WPGU 107.1FM. He graduated in 1971.

Sallinger's WPGU colleagues readily recall [him] as a person with big dreams. Guiding the station as it moved from a closed-circuit to a commercial enterprise, Sallinger built consensus to make WPGU a market competitor. The radio station began airing commentaries for the first time under his leadership. Sallinger got his professional start in news radio, and reported for WMAQ-TV (Chicago), CNN and most recently at CBS4 (Denver). Sallinger covered the Columbine (Colo.) High School shooting, the Oklahoma City bombing trials and three wars. His work earned him, among other honors, a Peabody award.

We are thankful for Rick's WPGU and Illini Media legacy, and we will carry his memory and passion with us as we continue to build the nonprofit student media of the future.

View Richard "Rick" Sallinger's obituary, send flowers and sign the guestbook.

09/18/2023

05/18/2023

Congratulations to Illini Media Board Vice President and alumnus Jim Schlueter, winner of this year's College of Media Distinguished Alumni Award.

Thanks for all you do for students at the University and Illini Media, Jim!

When it comes to career accomplishments, Jim Schlueter (BS ’80, journalism) could name a few, but none are quite as important to him as his ability to build up others. It’s an honorable trait Schlueter has carried with him throughout his life—as an undergraduate student at Illinois, during his 33-year career in corporate communications, and more recently, as a very generous and passionate alum.

Thanks to his contributions to the college, as well as his notable career achievements, the college’s leadership team agreed no one was more deserving of the 2023 College of Media Distinguished Alumni Award.
▶️ https://bit.ly/3pQyZov

05/01/2023

Another great alumni event!

04/19/2023

IT'S YOUR LAST CHANCE TO CATCH A CUBS GAME AND SUPPORT ILLINI MEDIA IN THE PROCESS!

The Chicago Cubs will donate $4 per ticket to Illini Media for purchases made via the link below as part of their community fundraising program. All remaining upcoming April home games in the Dodgers and Padres series are included in this program.

PLEASE NOTE: Only tickets sold through our custom link will qualify for the donation. Tickets not purchased through the link will not qualify. Find the link in comments.

04/18/2023

Starting them young at the Youth Employment Services Career Fair.

We’ve enjoyed participating in the program for several years, providing a high school summer internship for the front desk and general office work.

04/16/2023

A great visit last week by Illini Media alumni and friends.

04/14/2023

Time is running out! Don't miss this event!

Join us for an afternoon celebrating and socializing as we honor our 2023 Illini Media Hall of Fame inductees at a unique and historic venue, The Cliff Dwellers Club, 200 S. Michigan Avenue in Chicago, on Saturday, April 29, from 12:00-3:00 p.m.

Gather your Illini Media friends and plan to make a day or a weekend of it to reunite, reconnect and celebrate while supporting independent student media (The Daily Illini, WPGU and Illio) at the University of Illinois. This is our only major fundraising event this year to help support and sustain Illini Media for this and future generations.

Tickets are $200 a person and include a chef-crafted full luncheon buffet featuring refreshing salads like tomato and fresh mozzarella or quinoa with roasted butternut squash, and delicious entrees such as Napa Valley chicken or herb-crusted Atlantic salmon. Complete your meal with a slice of the Cliff Dweller’s famous Daniel Burnham deep dish apple pie or cheesecake with berry compote. Sip our signature Illini Hall cocktail as you take in the sweeping views of Chicago’s lakefront.

All attendees will have an opportunity to win media, sports, outdoor and other amazing experiences organized and donated by alumni available exclusively at the event. Everyone at the event will be the first to get access to brand new Illini Media merchandise including the new Daily Illini masthead t-shirt hot off the presses, the WPGU hoodie, an Illio mousepad or a commemorative brick from Illini Hall!

Ticket sales close April 19. Purchase via link in comments.

04/04/2023

There are still a few hours left to donate!
Help us stay in the Top 10 with a donation to The Daily Illini!
Link in comments.

03/29/2023

Gather your family, friends and neighbors for an outing to Wrigley Field this April and support Illini Media!

The Chicago Cubs will donate $4 per ticket to Illini Media for purchases made via the link (in comments) as part of their community fundraising program. All April home games are included in this program (see schedule image below).

Please share this post because everyone is eligible to participate. The more tickets we sell through our link, the more the Chicago Cubs will donate to Illini Media.

PLEASE NOTE: Only tickets sold through our custom link will qualify for the donation. Tickets not purchased through the link will not qualify.

Thank you for your help and for your support!

03/25/2023

The Daily Illini has fallen out of the top 10 in College Media Madness! Help us advance into the elite round with a donation this weekend!

Your gift will go directly to supporting our independent student journalists and bolstering our resources so we can continue to provide the best coverage of the University for students, faculty/staff, the C-U community and the entire Illinois alumni family.

Only a few hundred dollars separate us from the other newsrooms, so let's go, Illini!

Follow the link in comments in donate.

03/21/2023

Illini Media is proud to present our new student managers for The Daily Illini and WPGU!

DI Editor-in-Chief Lika Lezhava is a junior in Advertising. Originally from Tbilisi, Georgia, Lika attended high school in Lincoln Park, Chicago. She previously held positions as staff writer, assistant news editor and news editor.

"I am excited to start this new position with so many fresh ideas and opportunities. The Daily Illini has so much potential and will continue to thrive and be the number one news source for students on campus. I am ecstatic to be apart of this amazing journey!" Lezhava said.

WPGU Program Director Collin McCarthy is a junior in Accounting. He attended Glenbrook South High School in Glenview, Ill. Collin previously held positions as on-air talent and assistant program director.

"I have been on the air at WPGU for three years now, and have come to love the station for what it brings to the community and the opportunities that it provides for the students. As we enter an exciting and transformative time at WPGU, I am looking forward to providing the students with more creative outlets than ever before, and serving the community in new and unique ways," McCarthy said.

Lika and Collin officially assumed their roles this week and will serve through March 2024. Please join us in congratulating them!

03/19/2023

Our Fighting Illini may be out of the tournament, but The Daily Illini is still going strong in College Media Madness!

Thanks to generous donations from alumni like Eric and Carrie Schmidt, owners of the Orange & Brew Bottle Shop and Tap Room in Downers Grove, Ill., we have cracked the $1,000 threshold and Top 10 in the field of 30+ universities!

Let's keep up the momentum! Go to collegemediamadness.com to help us on our road to the championship! 🏆

03/16/2023

College Media Madness is an annual fundraising competition for student newsrooms. This year, we're bringing together student journalism outlets from across the United States to see which newsroom can raise the most money from March 12 through April 3, 2023, when the confetti falls.

03/16/2023

Let the Madness begin!
College Media Madness, that is!

Show your support for The Daily Illini and Illini Media as we compete against 31 other colleges in the third annual nationwide fundraising tournament!

Your donations will help with the purchase of new digital camera and video equipment to help us better cover the Illini sports teams and generally support our mission of providing high-level, real-world experiences for the next generation of media professionals.

Visit collegemediamadness.com to donate and track our progress. The contest runs concurrent to the NCAA men's tournament until April 3.

Let's go, Illini!

College Media Madness is an annual fundraising competition for student newsrooms. This year, we're bringing together student journalism outlets from across the United States to see which newsroom can raise the most money from March 12 through April 3, 2023, when the confetti falls.

03/14/2023

03/01/2023

WPGU alumnus Craig Beardsley and Illini Media executive director Jordan Dziura recently travelled to western Tennessee to pick up a transmitter donated by Grace Media Group.

The transmitter—a 3,000-watt Broadcast Equipment FM3C—is a bigger sister to our 2,000-watt BE FM2C and uses most of the same components. With six RF modules, three power supplies and an extra exciter, we intend to part out the donated transmitter to keep the WPGU unit humming as it reaches the end of its normal lifespan.

It was a very rainy trip, but we got a perfectly timed break in the downpours to load up the transmitter in Bells. After 14 hours on the road, we lugged the unit up to our TX site at the top of the Tower at Third. One of the RF modules and one of the power supplies were immediately pressed into service, and the result was well worth the effort.

Huge thanks to Craig Beardsley for seeking out and securing the donation (via a broadcast engineering FB group) and then lending him time and expertise to move and reuse the equipment. Thanks also to Tom Nichols and Lacy Ennis from Grace Media for their generosity and assistance.

02/21/2023

Congratulations, Vivian!

We are excited to announce that , a junior in journalism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been awarded the David Ibata Print Scholarship to intern at this summer. Congratulations, Vivian! Read more about her here:

https://aajachicago.org/2023/02/19/aaja-chicago-announces-2023-david-ibata-print-scholarship-recipient/

02/18/2023

Members of the WPGU news team visited the WBBM NewsRadio studios and newsroom on Friday.

Thanks to managing editor Zac Weber and illini Media alumna and board member Carolina Garibay for being such gracious hosts.

02/14/2023

Our alumni are the GOAT!

Hope to see you this Friday!
GO TO THE GOAT!

02/01/2023

DI KRUSHING IT

01/14/2023

01/01/2023

Even Southwest can’t keep a good team down.

The Illini Media crew has arrived in Tampa and is ready to bring the news!

Join us for the pregame show today at 5 Central, and go to dailyillini.com for complete coverage of tomorrow’s game.