On Oct. 3, the Illinois Journalism Education Association held its annual Fall Conference at Illinois State University in Normal, Ill. This marked the third consecutive year the event took place on campus. Over 200 students gathered at the State Farm Hall of Business for write-offs and workshops covering topics from broadcast reporting to yearbook design.
Carol Marin, former NBC5 Chicago political editor and senior faculty fellow at DePaul University’s Center of Journalism Integrity and Excellence, delivered the keynote address at this year’s event, speaking about her experiences in the industry.
“Journalism is just not like any other job,” Marin said. “Where you see police and you see popes, you see possibilities. Right now, student journalists — you are the new warriors as far as I’m concerned.”
In the write-off competitions, Audrey Noring of Kaneland High School won in News Writing, Faith Maschman of Kaneland High School won in Editorial Writing and Zoe Zars of St. Charles North High School won in Feature Writing.
In addition to the write-off awards, IJEA presented the Illinois Farm Bureau with the Friend of Scholastic Journalism award. Jeff Rogers, Illinois Press Foundation’s Executive Director nominated them for the award because of their continued support of the Illinois Press Foundation’s annual High School Journalism Grants Program, which provides equipment grants to scholastic programs throughout the state. Sierra Henry accepted the award on behalf of the IFB and encouraged the students to continue pursuing their passion for journalism.
Advisers said the conference offered both students and educators a chance to exchange ideas with peers and explore journalism beyond a high school setting. Similarly, organizers noted that hosting the conference on a college campus allowed students to experience the resources available to collegiate journalists and envision themselves as the next generation of storytellers.
Written by: Alan Tai, Northwestern University Freshman, Teach for Chicago Journalism Student Assistant
