Medill Illinois News Bureau
Medill’s newest newsroom puts you at the heart of state government and gives you the chance to cover the Illinois State Capitol and get stories published throughout the region.
Make a critical difference to Illinois communities
Launched in fall 2024, the Medill Illinois News Bureau allows Medill students to serve as embedded reporters in Springfield, Illinois – the state’s capital – and in Chicago covering stories, state agencies and Illinois news around the Chicago area.
You’ll gain valuable state reporting expertise and work in partnership with Capitol News Illinois (CNI) to see your stories published in print, broadcast and digital news platforms across Illinois that receive CNI’s news feed -- a network of more than 700 media outlets.
A team of Medill students travel regularly to Springfield during the Illinois General Assembly’s legislative sessions and work with CNI’s newsroom in the Capitol building. When the legislature is not in session, students cover breaking stories in the Chicago area, develop enterprise and investigative pieces and cover state government news from across Illinois.
In your reporting, you will have the same access to state leaders as professional journalists, and your stories will get widely distributed around Illinois.
This program provides a critically important service to news outlets statewide and in bordering states, as well as local coverage of interest to Illinois communities. Its mission is to help fill the gaps in the local and Statehouse news and bolster coverage of Illinois state government.
The program is based in the Medill Chicago Newsroom and is open to students in any specialization. It is funded by a generous grant from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
Now more than ever, statehouse reporting is critical to the vitality of society and the industry. Journalists will play a pivotal role in monitoring threats to democracy and our way of life. The Medill CNI Statehouse Fellowship was a great opportunity to articulate how Springfield actions impact people on the ground in Chicago and across the state.
Nicole Johnson (MSJ25)
Working out of the statehouse bureau in Springfield teaches students to think on their feet. As a member of CNI's newsroom, covering the fast-paced state legislature has really helped me hone my news instincts.
Lily Carey (MSJ25)
Medill Illinois Statehouse Fellows published a variety of stories during the first year of operation of the Medill Illinois News Bureau. Check them out at the link below.