The media relations team at Illinois works to coordinate with the news media, locally and nationally, to advance the university and respond to interview requests. The team also serves as a resource for marketing and communications colleagues across the university.

This team works in partnership with the News Bureau, a team of discipline-specific editors who work with faculty members and other scholars and researchers to produce and distribute news stories about published, peer-reviewed research and faculty expertise. Read more about this team and the news releases, Expert Viewpoints and Behind the Scenes stories they produce on the News Bureau website.

Support

• Media relations strategy and planning
• Media trainings for MarCom teams or faculty
• Interview preparation
• Thought leadership assistance
• Additional amplification and pitching for stories that meet criteria

Shareable One-Pagers

• General interview notes and reminders
• Media briefing document for faculty and staff
• Media briefing document for journalists

StratCom Pitching Criteria

Strategic Communications and Marketing uses the following criteria to determine when to help pitch unit stories to news media.

1. Does it have news value? We define “news” as a story that has:
   • Impact
   • Proximity
   • Timeliness
   • Prominence or conflict
   • Progress
   • Consequences
   • Human interest/drama/emotion

2. Is it a leadership priority?
   • Access and affordability to higher education
   • The value of an Illinois degree
   • Faculty excellence
   • Student safety or mental health/wellbeing
   • Diversity
   • Impact in Chicago
   • Service to the state of Illinois
   • Artificial intelligence/GenAI
   • Quantum computing technology
   • Health
   • Climate resiliency
   • Environmental health/sustainability
   • Food security
   • Arts and humanities
   • Nontraditional/online students
   • The Global South (From Vision 2030 Global Strategy: “(W)e must focus our global vision on enhancing relationships in Africa, Latin America and parts of Asia where the university has historically not been engaged.”)

3. Does it support our university values (empowerment, collaboration, inclusivity) and brand pillars (innovation, community, momentum, discovery)?
4. Does the story idea have a broad impact, involve or encourage interdisciplinary collaboration or involve multiple university units?

Send us your Ideas to Pitch

If you have a story or idea that you feel meets the above criteria, please email mediarelations@illinois.edu and include the following information:

1. What’s the background or premise of the story/idea?
2. Who are the faculty/staff/students involved?
3. What news value qualities does it have?
4. What is the timeline and any relevant optimum dates to publish the story?
5. What leadership priority area(s) does it include?
6. Are there any opportunities for visuals, such as photos or video?
7. Is there anyone involved who is comfortable speaking to the media? If yes, what is their availability and personal contact information (including cell number)?

Illinois in the News

Illinois in the News is a daily sampling of university media mentions that is compiled and curated by the media relations team. We include stories about Illinois research; important media coverage of faculty, staff, students and alumni; and issues critical to the university.

Some links may require a NetID and login to view. Some links are short-lived by design of the publisher. In most cases, articles are archived on the publisher’s website and can be retrieved electronically. Access to some sites may require registration. Some articles may be archived on sites that are fee-based, and some articles may have re-distribution restrictions. In some cases, first-time users of a publisher’s website may be asked to register or to subscribe to it.

If you have a media mention that you would like to share, please email mediarelations@illinois.edu for consideration. If you would like to receive this daily email, please subscribe to Illinois in the News.