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  • The postmark deadline has passed for the 2024 IJEA Yearbook Contest! Books were to be mailed and entry forms submitted by Oct. 15. Please contact us if you ran into any problems or have questions!
  • A big thank you to everyone who attended our 2024 Fall Conference, which took place Sept. 20 at Illinois State University. The sessions were amazing! Thank you to all of our presenters! Now let's get ready for contest season!
  • High school seniors! Get your portfolios ready for the 2025 Illinois Journalist of the Year Contest! Entries will be due Feb. 15.
  • Advisers! Join IJEA today! Annual memberships and lifetime memberships are available. Use our online form or fillable PDF to join!
Illinois Journalism Education Association, 2501 Chatham Road, Suite 200, Springfield, IL 62704

Illinois JEA

Illinois Journalism Education Association, 2501 Chatham Road, Suite 200, Springfield, IL 62704

Illinois JEA

Illinois Journalism Education Association, 2501 Chatham Road, Suite 200, Springfield, IL 62704

Illinois JEA

North side of Illini Union facing Green Street.

IJEA cancels 2021 Fall Conference

September 2, 2021
The Illinois Journalism Education Association's 2021 Fall Conference, originally scheduled for Friday, Sept. 17, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been canceled due to complications related to COVID. Check inside for IJEA President John Gonczy's statement explaining the reasons for the decision.
Ted Land, an Emmy Award-winning reporter and video journalist for KING 5 News in Seattle, will be the keynote speaker at the 2018 IJEA Fall Conference. The event will take place Friday, Sept. 14, in the Illini Union at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Broadcast journalist Ted Land to headline IJEA Fall Conference Sept. 14

August 1, 2018
Join us Friday, Sept. 14, for the 2018 IJEA Fall Conference at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Ted Land, an Emmy Award-winning broadcast reporter and video journalist for KING 5 News in Seattle, will be our keynote speaker.
Hundreds of student journalists and their advisers gathered at the IJEA Fall Conference at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on Sept. 15, 2017.

Advisers, student journalists learn, collaborate at 2017 IJEA Fall Conference

By Amanda C. Bright, Co-Secretary and At-Large Board Member September 19, 2017

Student journalists and advisers from across Illinois were able to share ideas and enjoy like-minded conversation during this year's IJEA Fall Conference on the campus of the University of Illinois...

Advisers gather together after a luncheon at the 2017 IJEA Fall Conference.

Holley-Bruns, Doerner receive IJEA honors for their service

By Amanda C. Bright, Co-Secretary and At-Large Board Member September 18, 2017

For one, it was her final year directing the IJEA Fall Conference at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. For the other, it was a lifetime of service as past president of the Illinois Journalism...

IJEA Blog: Encourage your news and feature writers to compete at the IJEA Fall Conference!

IJEA Blog: Encourage your news and feature writers to compete at the IJEA Fall Conference!

Dr. Sally Renaud, IJEA Executive Director September 12, 2017
Do you have a couple of writers on your staff whose talents you would like to showcase at this Friday's IJEA Fall Conference? Here's an opportunity for them to refine their skills under real-world conditions — and perhaps even win an award. Read on to learn more!

IJEA honors Linda Jones as 2016 Friend of Scholastic Journalism

By Amanda Bright, IJEA Co-Secretary and Region 5 Board Member September 29, 2016

In accepting the Friend of Scholastic Journalism award, Linda Jones spoke of everyone -- except herself. From the McCormick Foundation to the Scholastic Press Association of Chicago advisers, Jones...

Attendees gather in the Illini Union during the start of the IJEA Fall Conference on Sept. 16.

2016 IJEA Fall Conference in Review: Empowered staffs, empowered advisers

By Amanda Bright, IJEA Co-Secretary and Region 5 Board Member September 19, 2016

With more than 320 Illinois high school journalists and their advisers in attendance this year, the 2016 IJEA Fall Conference is now in the books, or yearbooks, as the case may be. Students were...

'Empower your students' for great scholastic journalism at 2016 IJEA Fall Conference

‘Empower your students’ for great scholastic journalism at 2016 IJEA Fall Conference

August 15, 2016

URBANA — Now that the Speech Rights of Student Journalists Act is the law of the land in Illinois, there is no better opportunity to "Empower Your Students" than at the IJEA Fall Conference. The...

Become a Certified or Master Journalism Educator at the 2016 IJEA Fall Conference

Become a Certified or Master Journalism Educator at the 2016 IJEA Fall Conference

By Amanda Bright, IJEA Co-Secretary and Region 5 Board Member June 11, 2016

For the second year, the Journalism Education Association will be offering the exam to become a Certified Journalism Educator or a Master Journalism Educator at the 2016 Fall Conference (Friday, Sept....

This year's 2015 IJEA Fall Conference will offer up to 20 students the chance to produce their own broadcast stories, as this student did at last year's conference. Other hands-on learning opportunities include covering the conference live as part of the first-ever IJEA Twitter Team and competing in an onsite feature-writing contest. In addition, students and advisers will have dozens of expert sessions to choose from throughout the day. Total conference space is limited to 600 students, so register soon, advisers!

Get in “journalism mode” with IJEA’s 2015 Fall Conference

By Dave Porreca, IJEA Website Editor August 31, 2015
Whether it's learning about the latest reporting techniques or just watching your students be inspired by some of the top journalism experts anywhere, here's where you should be Sept. 18!
Des Moines Register tech writer Marco Santana, right, conducts a Q&A with students in a write-off contest at the 2014 IJEA Fall Conference. Santana delivered the conference's keynote address, and students competing in the contest wrote a news feature about him. This year's keynote will be delivered by a panel of staffers from DNAinfo Chicago on the topic of the newsroom of the future.

Save the date for #IJEA15!

By Dave Porreca, IJEA Website Editor May 15, 2015
The newsroom of the future is here, and you can learn all about it at our Fall Conference in September. Staffers from DNAinfo Chicago will deliver our keynote, and the conference will offer plenty of expert sessions.

Video: Press on! Film critic Dann Gire honored as 2013 Friend of Scholastic Journalism

September 15, 2013

URBANA — Dann Gire, film critic for the Daily Herald in Arlington Heights, was named the 2013 Friend of Scholastic Journalism by the IJEA Sept. 13 at the Colonial Room of the Illini Union on the campus...

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