The Illini Media Company is a nonprofit, student

media company A media conglomerate, media company, media group, or media institution is a company that owns numerous companies involved in mass media enterprises, such as music, television, radio, publishing, motion pictures, video games, amusement parks, or ...

based in

Champaign Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in the state outside the Chicago metr ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. The company owns several student-run media outlets associated with the

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

: the general newspaper, the ''

Daily Illini Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

''; the entertainment paper, ''

Buzz Magazine Eden Collinsworth is an American writer of fiction and non-fiction, whose career has been in media and international business. Career Eden Collinsworth is a writer, essayist, novelist, former media executive, and business consultant. At twent ...

''; the engineering quarterly, '' Technograph''; the U of I

yearbook A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a type of Annual publication, a book published annually. One use is to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school. The term also refers to a book of statistics or facts published annually ...

, the '' Illio''; and the commercial radio station,

WPGU WPGU (107.1 FM) is a fully commercial, student-run college radio station on the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Champaign, Illinois. It broadcasts an alternative rock radio format and other programming throughout Champ ...

. The Illini Publishing Company was chartered by the State of Illinois in 1911. In 1984, it became the Illini Media Company. The company helps students prepare for and careers in print media and broadcasting and to inform and entertain the University of Illinois community. Revenues exceed $2.5 million. In 2012, the Illini Media sought support to keep its business running. Prominent alumni, such as film critic

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

, urged alumni to donate to the corporation. Additionally, a referendum passed to allow a fee on student's tuition to go towards the company.

Location

The Illini Media Company is housed at what was previously the Illini Media Building, located at 512 East Green Street in Champaign. Illini Media has since sold the building and moved all of its units to the third floor.

Media

''Daily Illini''

The ''Daily Illini'' (commonly known as the DI) is a student-run newspaper that has been published for the community of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign since 1871. Weekday circulation during fall and spring semesters is 20,000; copies are distributed free at more than 200 locations throughout Champaign-Urbana. Although the Daily Illini claims to be "The independent student newspaper...since 1871," questions about the independence of Illini Media arose after the student fee was imposed – it is estimated that revenue from mandatory student fees accounts for "10-12% of Illini Media's annual budget."

WPGU 107.1

WPGU 107.1 is a fully commercial student-run radio station located at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. It is operational 24-7, broadcasting alternative music and other programming throughout Champaign-Urbana and surrounding communities.

''Buzz Magazine''

''Buzz'' is a weekly entertainment magazine published every Friday by the Illini Media Company. The magazine was previously included as a weekly insert in ''The Daily Illini'', but is now considered a stand-alone publication. ''Buzz'' is the only alt-weekly print publication in Champaign-Urbana. Covering film, television, music and theatre reviews, and local events, ''Buzz'' contains feature stories on the local entertainment scene.

''Illio Yearbook''

''Illio'' is the official yearbook of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Since 1894, ''Illio'' has been documenting and preserving the campus through yearbooks. Today's yearbook has many different sections, including Groups & Greeks, Campus Life, Senior Pictures, and more.

''Technograph Magazine''

''Technograph'' is an engineering quarterly at the University of Illinois. It began in 1855 as the ''Selected Papers of the Civil Engineers' Club of the University of Illinois''. The magazine covers engineering and new technology and features profiles of leaders in the field. ''Technograph'' is available as a quarterly insert in the ''Daily Illini''. Additionally, more than 1,000 copies are sent to high school libraries across the state of Illinois.

Famous alumni

Iris Chang Iris Shun-Ru Chang (traditional Chinese: 張純如; March 28, 1968November 9, 2004) was an American journalist, historian, and political activist. She is best known for her best-selling 1997 account of the Nanjing Massacre, ''The Rape of Nankin ...

, author of the international best-seller, ''

The Rape of Nanking The Nanjing Massacre, or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians, noncombatants, and surrendered prisoners of war by the Imperial Japanese Army in Nanjing, the capital of the Republ ...

'', was a features writer for the ''Daily Illini'' from 1987-89. *

, film critic, was editor-in-chief of the ''Daily Illini'' in 1963–64, when he attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He also worked for Illini Media's terrestrial radio station

. *

Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles. Hefner extended the ''Playboy ...

, editor in chief and chief creative officer of Playboy Enterprises, worked as a cartoonist for the ''Daily Illini'' from 1946 to 1949. *

Will Leitch William F. Leitch is an American writer and the founding editor of the Gawker Media sports blog '' Deadspin''. Leitch is a national correspondent for MLB.com, a contributing editor at '' New York'', film critic at ''Grierson & Leitch'', contrib ...

, editor of the online magazine ''

Deadspin ''Deadspin'' is a sports blog owned by Lineup Publishing. Founded by Will Leitch in 2005 and originally based in Chicago, it was then sold to Gawker Media, Univision Communications and G/O Media. Lineup Publishing acquired it in March 2024, t ...

'' and author of ''God Save The Fan'', was the managing editor of the ''Daily Illini'' in 1996.

Competition

''The Hub'', published between April 2004 and October 2006, was the last of a series of non-university affiliated alternative weeklies that competed with Illini Media. Previous alternative weeklies include ''The Paper'', closed in 2004; ''The Octopus'' (under Yesse! Communications and then under the Saga Communications radio conglomerate), published from 1995–2002; ''C-U Cityview'', 2002–2003; and ''The Optimist'', 1994–1995.