Awards and Recognition | College of Media

CU-CitizenAccess team wins two Lisagor Awards

May 14, 2026

CU-CitizenAccess, a community online news and information project overseen by Professor Brant Houston, the Knight Chair in Investigative and Enterprise Reporting in the Department of Journalism, was part of a team that won two Lisagor Awards for exemplary journalism from the Chicago Headline Club on May 8.

The team received both “Best Reporting on Race and Diversity” and “Best Reporting on Crime and Justice” in the student category for their submission titled “At Illinois public universities, campus cops pull over Black drivers at higher rates.”

The student team included Maia McDonald, Nicole Jeanine Johnson, Khadija Ahmed, Isabelle Senechal, Amilia Estrada; Investigative Project on Race and Equity, Chicago Public Media, WBEZ, Chicago Sun-Times, CU-CitizenAccess, Saluki Local Reporting Lab, and The Daily Egyptian.

University of Illinois students who contributed to the project through CU-CitizenAccess included Molly Hughes (MS ’25, journalism), Jordan Butler (BS ’25, journalism), and Courtney Dillon (BS ’25, journalism; BA ’25, LAS).

“Managing editor Dylan Tiger (BS ’19, journalism; MS ’20, iSchool) did an excellent job wrangling difficult data and interviews with local officials and helping to coordinate our part,” said Houston. “It was a great experience for students to be involved in the collaboration.”

CU-CitizenAccess is devoted to investigative and enterprise coverage of social, justice, and economic issues in east central Illinois.

The Lisagor Award entries were judged by an impartial Society of Professional Journalists chapter outside Illinois.

Share on social

Illinois Public Media recognized with four statewide broadcasting awards, including Best Small Market Radio Station

April 21, 2026 | IPM News

Illinois Public Media won four Crystal Mic Awards from the Illinois News Broadcasters Association.

Radio and television stations from across Illinois entered the contest. Winners were tiered by whether the station is in a small or large market. The judges considered material produced between July 1, 2024, and December 31, 2025.

Illinois Public Media is a not-for-profit public media service of the College of Media; IPM is the NPR and PBS member stations licensed to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

The station was honored with the following:

INBA Crystal Mic Award: Best Small Market Radio Station

INBA Crystal Mic Award: Best Small Market Radio – Podcasting

INBA Crystal Mic Award: Best Small Market Radio – Breaking News

INBA Crystal Mic Award: Best Small Market Radio – Political Report

Best Small Market Radio – Podcasting

What We Brought is a limited series exploring the Asian American experience in Central Illinois. Through voices from seven Asian American communities, it shares powerful stories of identity, resilience, and the things carried between countries—be it food, memories, language, or the weight of the past. It was reported and produced by Nidhi Shastri with assistance and editing by Kulsoom Khan, Arielle Raveney, and Arjun Thakkar.

Best Small Market Radio – Breaking News

On October 30, 2024, Illinois Public Media journalist Jim Meadows and meteorologist Andrew Pritchard broke into programming on WILL-AM 580 and WILL-FM 90.9 to report on a fast-moving fire on dried-out farmland in eastern Champaign County. The intense flames and massive smoke decreased visibility, closing Interstate 74 for hours.

Best Small Market Radio – Political Report

In the spring of 2025, 11 people competed in the election to fill five open seats on the Champaign Unit 4 Board of Education. Education reporter Emily Hays created an innovative way to explain the candidates’ positions to the public. She asked the members to answer a questionnaire. In addition to on-air reporting, she created an interactive digital story. Users hovered above the board members’ faces as their quotes about particular issues popped up on the screen.

Best Small Market Radio Station

This entry represents a compilation of spot news, features from an in-depth series before the start of the second Trump administration, and excerpts from our new podcast focused on weather and climate as well as our statewide talk show that aired on six NPR member stations at the time. We also included a feature produced with the Illinois Student Newsroom, which is a unique partnership with the Department of Journalism in the College of Media at the University of Illinois. At least 10 students each semester help us with local reporting, including spots and features. Veteran public radio editor Christine Herman edits them.

Read original story: Illinois Public Media recognized with four statewide broadcasting awards, including Best Small Market Radio Station – IPM Newsroom

Share on social

Professor Julie Turnock receives Guggenheim Fellowship

April 14, 2026 | Jodi Heckel, University of Illinois News Bureau

Julie Turnock, professor of media and cinema studies, was one of two University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professors to be awarded a 2026 Guggenheim Fellowship.

English professor Christopher Kempf also received the prestigious award. They are among 223 individuals working across 55 disciplines chosen through a rigorous peer-review process from nearly 5,000 applicants, according to the announcement of the fellows. The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation awards fellowships to exceptional individuals in pursuit of scholarship in any field of knowledge and creation in any art form, under the freest possible conditions.

Turnock’s project, “Beyond King Kong,” is a technical, industrial, and aesthetic history of the special-effects industry in the Hollywood studio era, circa 1915-1960, well before the digital era. It goes beyond 1933’s special effects landmark King Kong to examine the historical economic structures that organized personnel and production of this distinctive sector of studio-era filmmaking. Attending to the material conditions of special visual effects production and informed by extensive archival research, it centers on the labor performed by unsung “below-the-line” effects workers rarely considered in cinema histories but whose skills make much of “movie magic” possible.

Turnock is the director of the Roger Ebert Center for Film Studies and the author of the books The Empire of Effects: Industrial Light and Magic and the Rendering of Realism and Plastic Reality: Special Effects, Technology, and the Emergence of 1970s Blockbuster Aesthetics. She is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship and is a 2020-2022 College of Media Scholar.

Read original press release.

Share on social

Advertising students named to AAF’s Most Promising Students program

April 6, 2026

Four seniors in the University of Illinois chapter of the American Advertising Federation were named to the American Advertising Federation’s Most Promising Students Class of 2026—an honor given to select students each year throughout the United States. Honorees include advertising majors Odinakachukwu (Odi) Ogbuefi, Claire-Michelle Sweet, and Kara Yoo. Valerie Zapata, a marketing major, was also selected.

The students were invited to an industry immersion program in New York on March 23-27, where they visited various agencies and brands, saw customized billboards of themselves displayed on Times Square, and networked with countless individuals at some of the top advertising, marketing, and media companies in the country.

Before the conference, students were split into five teams to participate in the annual pitch competition. In partnership with dentsu and Adobe, students were presented with a brief that challenged them to use various Adobe products to build an activation plan for a fictitious coffee brand. During the week in New York, students presented their pitches to executives from both dentsu and Adobe. Sweet was part of the winning team.

At the completion of the Most Promising Students program, students were honored and celebrated at the Building Bridges Brunch, where they had the opportunity to share their personal taglines and connect with their mentors. The event ended with a Recruiters Expo, where students engaged in one-on-one conversations and interviews with companies eager to connect with the next generation of talent.

The Most Promising Students Program began in 1997 and serves as part of AAF’s mission to ensure that the advertising industry is led by a wide variety of informed perspectives, cultural influences and diverse backgrounds.

Since the program’s inception, nearly a thousand students from colleges and universities across the country have participated in this premier event. Students attribute the success in obtaining a job after graduation to the distinction that comes from participating in the Most Promising Students program.

Share on social

ICR student selected for 2026-27 Humanities Research Institute Fellowship

March 6, 2026

Anirban Mukhopadhyay, a student in the Institute of Communications Research, has been selected as a 2026-27 Humanities Research Institute Graduate Student Fellow.

Mukhopadhyaym will join six other graduate students and seven faculty members who will meet at the Humanities Research Institute throughout the year to address how they are rethinking research paradigms.

The theme for this year’s Fellowship is “Up Against Erasure,” which invites researchers to persuade others of the stakes of identifying processes of erasure, of being up against it, and of working in opposition to it. Mukhopadhyay’s research narrative is “Governing the AIR: Radio, Polity, and Nationalism in Postcolonial India, 1950–2023.”

As an HRI Graduate Student Fellow, Mukhopadhyay will receive a $25,000 stipend and a tuition and partial fee waiver.

HRI grants fellowships to Illinois faculty and graduate students, who spend the year engaged in research and writing. All HRI Fellows participate in HRI activities, including the yearlong Fellows Seminar.

Share on social

Margaret Ng selected as Center for Advanced Study Associate for 2026-27 academic year

January 28, 2026 | Kelly Youngblood

Margaret Ng, associate professor of journalism and a faculty member in the Institute of Communications Research, has been selected as a Center for Advanced Study Associate for the 2026–2027 academic year.

As a CAS Associate, Ng will take time off from teaching in Fall 2026 to advance her research on “platform migration,” focusing on how regulatory bans, algorithmic shifts, and geopolitical tensions drive user migration between social media platforms. She argues that these shifts are fueling digital nationalism and reshaping digital sovereignty in an increasingly fragmented society.

Ng said recent events highlight the urgency of this topic, including the restructuring of TikTok in the U.S. and regulatory restrictions in Taiwan, the decline of Twitter/X use among journalists and academics, and the rise of Truth Social as the de facto official channel for the U.S. Presidency. These events reveal how global tensions and local politics are transforming the platforms people choose and the public spheres they build.

“We live in an era of rapid digital migration. We are seeing a wave of “digital migration” where users are trading in the dominant platforms for new communities that match who they are and what they care about.” Ng said.

“This project examines the forces behind this shift—from algorithmic decay and privacy concerns to political polarization and digital fatigue—and how these movements are reshaping the social, political, and cultural dimensions of online life.”

Ng said her study will particularly investigate digital migration across the United States, Hong Kong, and Taiwan by integrating large-scale computational analysis, surveys of thousands of users, and in-depth interviews with college students, journalists, tech workers, and elderly users. Drawing from those insights, the project will develop a framework that explains how political systems, institutional pressures, and everyday user practices intersect to shape modern migration patterns.

Ng said the findings promise to advance both theory and policy by documenting how these digital migrations create new forms of labor precarity, fragment public discourse, and erode the shared information environment essential for democracy. As users segregate into platforms that reflect their personal identities, the project explores how this new “digital mobility” challenges Big Tech dominance, redefines national sovereignty online, and ultimately reshapes the future of media, regulation, and public life.

Ng was appointed a CAS Associate for the Fall 2026 semester upon the recommendation of CAS professors and with concurrence of campus and university administrations.

CAS Associates are tenured Illinois faculty members whose project proposals are selected in an annual competition. They are granted one semester of teaching release time to pursue an individual scholarly or creative project.

The Center for Advanced Study works with every department on campus to identify and support the most productive, high-achieving, and innovative faculty at Illinois, providing them with connections and funding to pursue their work. Members of this accomplished community are invited to participate in CAS activities throughout the year and given opportunities to present their work to the CAS community. See CAS’s upcoming events.

Share on social

ICR faculty and students receive honors at 2025 National Communication Association convention

December 10, 2025

The Institute of Communications Research marked a highly productive year at the 2025 National Communication Association convention from November 19-23 in Denver, Colorado, with faculty members, students, and alumni presenting research, chairing panels, and contributing to programming at the 111th annual event.

In addition to this strong scholarly presence, several members of the ICR community were recognized with some of NCA’s most prestigious awards.

“These achievements underscore ICR’s enduring leadership in communication scholarship and its commitment to fostering impactful research across generations of scholars,” said Mike Yao, director of ICR and professor of digital media in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising.

One of this year’s standout accomplishments came from ICR doctoral student Nansong Zhou (pictured above), whose paper “Serious Games as Digital Mental Health Tools: Increasing Depression Literacy and Reducing Stigma,” co-authored with Donghan Fu (University of Missouri-Columbia), was selected as a Top Student Paper in the Game Studies Division. Zhou was also elected to serve as the Division’s next Student and Early Career Representative, a leadership role that reflects his growing visibility and influence within the field.

ICR Professor Sang-Hwa Oh and ICR alum Seo Yoon Lee receive NCA award.

ICR’s reputation for shaping the field was further affirmed by the recognition of Sang-Hwa Oh, associate professor of advertising, whose article—co-authored with former ICR doctoral student Seoyoon Lee (PhD ’23)—received the inaugural Teri Thompson Outstanding Article Award from Health Communication (pictured above). This rare honor is especially notable: Out of the journal’s 35-year publication history, only three papers were selected for this distinction. Receiving the award directly from the journal’s founding editor, Teresa Thompson, underscored the lasting influence and methodological rigor of Oh’s research on social media, public risk perception, and preventive health behaviors.

Professor Angharad N. Valdivia wins NCA Distinguished Scholar Award

The conference also celebrated the contributions of Angharad Valdivia, ICR professor emerita, who was honored with NCA’s Distinguished Scholar Award during the President’s Award Ceremony (pictured above). One of NCA’s highest honors, the award recognizes a career of groundbreaking scholarship and mentorship in media studies, Latina/Latino studies, and global communication. Valdivia’s presence throughout the conference—as panel chair, respondent, mentor, and presenter—reflected both her continuing intellectual leadership and her deep commitment to supporting emerging scholars. Valdivia’s NCA participation included:

Senior Mentor, 2025 La Raza Mentoring Panel
Member, Publications Council Meeting
Chair and respondent, “The Complexities of Elevating Latinidad and the Media”
Respondent, “Audiences Navigating Disney and Popular U.S. TV Shows”
Presenter (with ICR doctoral student Kendra Williams), “Barbie as a Cultural Phenomenon: Doll, Brand, and Media Icon”

ICR faculty and students also contributed important new research to the conference program. Kevin Wise, professor of advertising, and doctoral student Alice Ji collaborated on the study “Reimagining the Presentation of Important Safety Information (ISI) in Social Media Pharmaceutical Advertising,” co-authored with ICR doctoral student Veranika Paltaratskaya and Erin Willis (University of Colorado, Boulder), presented in the Health Communication Division. Their work adds to ICR’s growing presence in research addressing digital health communication and public understanding of risk information.

Ji contributed an additional presentation on ISI in pharmaceutical social media advertising as part of the Health Communication Division’s paper session. ICR doctoral student Jennifer Zhang presented her dissertation research, “More Vivid, More Deeply Processed: Exploring the Roles of Message Format in Misinformation and Correction of Health Misbeliefs,” in the Health Communication Division.

Two ICR alumni were also recognized with major awards at NCA:

Mel Stanfill (PhD ’15), University of Central Florida, won the Diamond Anniversary Book Award for the book Fandom Is Ugly: Networked Harassment in Participatory Culture (NYU Press, 2024).

Diana Leon-Boys (PhD ’20), University of Wisconsin-Madison, won NCA’s New Investigator Award in the Critical and Cultural Studies Division.

See NCA’s full list of 2025 national and interest group award winners.

Share on social

Senior lecturer Carrie Wilson-Brown receives Larine Y. Cowan Make a Difference Award

December 10, 2025

Carrie Wilson-Brown, senior lecturer of media and cinema studies and advertising, received the 2025 Larine Y. Cowan Make a Difference Award for Teaching and Mentoring in Diversity from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Access, Civil Rights & Community.

The Teaching and Mentoring in Diversity award honors faculty, instructors, or lecturers who have consistently contributed to the promotion of understanding critical issues related to diversity and equity in teaching and/or the mentoring of diverse students.

Wilson-Brown was nominated in part by students, including Odi Ogbuefi, a senior in advertising, pictured at right.

The Larine Y. Cowan Make a Difference Awards celebrate the achievements of faculty, academic professionals, and civic service employees who made significant contributions in creating and sustaining an inclusive living, learning, and working community at Illinois.

Named in honor of the past Assistant Chancellor and Director of what is now the Office for Access & Equity, the Larine Y. Cowan Awards were created to reflect the commitment to human rights advocacy, social justice, and diversity that defined her leadership for nearly 20 years at Illinois.

Share on social

Illinois Public Media’s magazine program ‘Prairie Fire’ wins five regional Emmys

October 28, 2025

Prairie Fire, a magazine program produced by WILL-TV at Illinois Public Media, was awarded five regional Emmys across five categories at the 2025 Mid-America Regional Emmy Awards, including “Best Magazine Program” in the region.

“Our win for Magazine Program for the second year in a row is a real thrill for the Prairie Fire team” said host and producer Sarah Edwards, “because it really underscores the excellence and thought we put in to making every episode as good as it can be. Prairie Fire represents the best of PBS programming produced at the local level.”

The team, which was nominated for 10 awards, also earned regional Emmys in the following categories:

Human Interest – Short Form Content (up to 10 minutes): “Meet Shannon Voss”
Education/Schools – Short Form Content (up to 10 minutes): “Illinois Hip Hop Camp”
Entertainment – Short Form or Long Form Content: “Leah Marlene Live”
Informational/Instructional – Short Form Content (up to 10 minutes): “Fresh Press Paper”

The Prairie Fire Emmy-winning production team includes Edwards, fellow producers Taylor Plantan, DJ Roach, and Tinisha Spain, along with cinematographer Daniel Clarke, and audio engineer and cinematographer James Treichler. (Pictured below: Producers Tinisha Spain, Taylor Plantan, and Sarah Edwards, who also hosts Prairie Fire, with one of the Emmys they won for their program.)

“As producers of the show, we carefully curate and construct the stories of Illinois’s local characters to highlight the very best creatives, small business owners, and innovators our state has to offer,” said Plantan. “The success of the program is a testament to the charisma and talent of the Central Illinois community.”

Spain pointed to the significance of the work done by the Prairie Fire team. “Being honored with an Emmy is a deeply humbling reminder that local storytelling is important—that the stories we tell do matter,” she said.

“We’re incredibly proud of the Prairie Fire team and their dedication to telling authentic, locally grounded stories,” said Moss Bresnahan, Illinois Public Media’s executive director. “These awards reflect the quality, creativity, and heart that exemplify Illinois Public Media’s work.”

About Prairie Fire

Reimagined and brought to life once more, Prairie Fire is a new take on WILL-TV’s beloved magazine program from the mid-1990s. Rooted in storytelling, Prairie Fire brings viewers cinematic documentaries, profiles, and performances from downstate Illinois. The show airs on local PBS stations across the state of Illinois, including Nine Network St. Louis and WTTW Chicago.

Illinois Public Media is a not-for-profit public media service of the College of Media at the University of Illinois, enriching people’s lives through programs and services that educate, entertain, inspire, empower, and address community needs and concerns. Additional services include WILL-AM 580, Illinois Soul (FM 101.1) WILL-TV, Illinois Public Media News, and many more.

Professor Leona Yi-Fan Su chosen as Sandage Scholar in Advertising Research

October 6, 2025

Leona Yi-Fan Su, associate professor of advertising, has been selected to become the next Charles H. Sandage Scholar in Advertising Research for 2025-2027.

Su was chosen based on her proposal, “Digital marketing in the agricultural sector, with emphasis on how farms can leverage emerging technologies such as social media and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance advertising and marketing effectiveness.”

The Charles H. Sandage Scholar in Advertising Research was established in 2021 to honor outstanding associate professors in the department who are accomplished researchers in the field of advertising, media, or communication research with the potential for continued achievement.

The Sandage Scholar designation is for two years, with recipients receiving $12,000 per year in discretionary funding for research. In line with the fund’s guidelines, full professors in the department provided evaluations on the research proposals.

Share on social