DECEMBER 2024

ILLINI MEDIA ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

News above the fold on The Daily Illini, The Illio and an air check on WPGU-FM

New Computers: From a

"Big Mess" to Cutting Edge

By Greg Miller, 1973–76 DI Alum

It was a great idea: Report live from the Gaza war protests on campus.

But when Illini Media journalists tried it last spring, their concept ran into a harsh reality. Lacking the right equipment to get their video stream online, they struggled with repeated shutdowns and mounting frustration.

“That was a really big mess,” said Jacob Slabosz, Daily Illini editor-in-chief.

Thanks to you, a turnaround is coming. University of Illinois alumni have raised nearly 75 percent of the $55,000 needed for the 'Crowdfund Our Computers' campaign. The goal is to equip the Daily Illini (DI), WPGU, and Illio with up-to-date technology to meet the demands of today’s 24/7 online, broadcast, and publishing environment.

More funds are still needed to reach the goal. To learn how to donate, read on.

Outdated Machines Hold Students Back

Students have been laboring under the limitations of office machines as much as 15 years old, purchased when some of today’s staffers were still in preschool. The computers predate much of the software essential for networking, messaging, video editing, and graphic design.

Many of the newsroom computers work slowly—or not at all—Slabosz said. Only a few newer machines can handle complex tasks, leading to a crunch when the Daily Illini and Illio both face deadlines, he added.

“The old machines lack the speed and connectivity needed for today’s newsgathering,” said Jake Williams, Illini Media’s executive director. “They’re so outdated that their software can’t be upgraded to extend their useful life.”

“It’s not just the pace of news that has increased dramatically over the last decade, but also the pace of technical innovation,” Williams continued. “Our students—reporters, DJs, and business staff alike—need cutting-edge equipment to build the nonprofit news operation of the future.”

A Modern Upgrade for Illini Media

The campaign plans to provide new high-powered laptops for top editors at the Daily Illini and Illio, as well as for Williams and the company’s business director. Additional desktop computers, laptops, monitors, docking stations, and related equipment will serve the rest of the DI, Illio, WPGU, and business teams.

Among the anticipated benefits of the new equipment are high-powered graphics and design capabilities, enhanced WPGU studio operations, and improved videoconferencing. More than two dozen docking stations will allow employees to connect personal computers to essential office resources.

This is especially welcome news at WPGU, where the radio station is slated to receive four new machines for the main studio, production office, web stream, and music library.

“We’re excited to have up-to-date systems,” said Rory Simon, WPGU program director. “The old systems were slowing down all radio components, such as news, on-air production, and music.”

Michael Sweeney, the station’s news director, said he looks forward to remote software that will allow him to skip late-night trips to the studio to upload newscasts for the next day.

Building for the Future

Williams expects the new equipment to speed up breaking news production, product development, staff communication, and audience engagement. He also hopes it will enhance the quality and deliverability of Illini Media products.

Beyond benefiting the company, the updated tools and technology will provide students with hands-on experience to prepare them for post-graduation careers, Williams said.

Thanks to the fundraiser, Williams has already replaced the front desk computer in the company’s basement office at the University YMCA. The upgrade has sped up operations and enabled “a dramatic increase in response times to folks reaching out and asking questions,” he said.

More machines are expected to be added across the company from January to May, depending on the final tally of donations.

'Crowdfund Our Computers'

in the Home Stretch

In only a few months – thanks mainly to alumni donations large and small – we have raised about 75 percent of our $55,000 goal to replace all of Illini Media’s computers with the latest technology.

With a year-end push, we could meet our goal in the next few weeks, making the second semester of the 2024-25 academic year on campus something special for the DI, the Illio and WPGU.

Every dollar counts.

So if you’re looking to make an end-of-year tax deductible donation, this is the place.

How to Contribute

Click the donate button below, or head to Illinimedia.org and select Crowdfund Our Computers from the drop down menu to contribute directly to this campaign.

Those who want to give appreciated shares or donate from a required IRA distribution can do so easily through Illini Media’s account at the Community Foundation of East Central Illinois. Contact Allison Winter at allison@cfeci.org.

If you would prefer to send a check, please make it payable to Illini Media, mail it to Jake Williams, Illini Media, 1001 S. Wright St., Champaign, IL 61820 and please include "computer campaign" on the memo line.

A gift of any size would be great. If you’d like more information or further details, feel free to reach out to Jim Schlueter at jimschlueter09@gmail.com, Jake Williams at jcwilliams@illinimedia.org or text Pat Wingert Kelly at 202-412-6808.

Thank you for your support!

A Historic Front Page: When the DI Went Blank

Another in a series about historic DI front pages from the newspaper's 153 years of publishing.

By Ed Epstein, DI alum 1970-74

Probably the most unusual front page in DI history came out on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 1969. Except for the nameplate at the top and a big, bold two-line headline, it was completely blank.

“DI halts business as usual in support of moratorium,” the headline announced. The rest of the 20-page edition, full of news and ads, looked the same as usual.

The moratorium was a nationwide movement to protest the ongoing U.S. prosecution of the Vietnam War, which ended up costing the lives of 58,220 American military personnel before it ended in 1975 with a Communist victory over the U.S.-backed forces of South Vietnam.

The war was unpopular on college campuses across the country, sparking protests, occupation of campus buildings and violence. The one-day October 1969 moratorium was an effort to shut down the country to show the depth of opposition to the war policy of President Richard M. Nixon.

“The question was what would we at the DI do on moratorium day,” recalls John Hundley, DI editor in chief in 1969-70. “We had been urging other people to halt business for a day of protest. It was not an easy decision.”

Taking a Stand on Campus

The DI editorial board met on the Sunday evening before the moratorium to discuss the unusual front page. “I was in favor of the moratorium, most of the paper was,” Hundley said. “We finally decided to do as we were urging the faculty and staff of the university to do.”

“It’s a fair statement that the issue drew quite a lot of attention,” said Hundley, who after graduating went on to a long career as a lawyer in downstate Illinois. In those days, the DI had a paid circulation of 11,000, with papers delivered to subscribers at their homes and dorms before dawn.

That week was also notable in DI history for another reason. The paper had been campaigning to force the U-C Senate, the faculty’s governing body, to open its meetings to the press and the public.

Hundley, along with two other top DI staff members, Carl Schwartz and Roger Simon, “announced that we would enter a Senate meeting and report on it, whether it was open or not,” Hundley said. Simon and Schwartz went on to stellar journalism careers and are in the Illini Media Hall of Fame.

The university chancellor sent a professor of military affairs to the paper’s offices in the basement of Illini Hall to explain the law of criminal trespass to Hundley and his colleagues.

In the days before the moratorium, the Senate gave in, opening its meetings. 

DI Alums Mentor on Nuts & Bolts of News

Article by Karen Huelsman, 1976-79 DI alum

Photo by Cathy (Spellman) Roberts, 1990-91 DI managing editor

After the pandemic shot a huge hole in the tradition of young DI journalists picking up tips from more experienced staff, DI alumni stepped up to offer two hybrid-format skill bootcamps in the fall of 2024.

Coordinated by alum Julie Wurth, who also serves on the Illini Media board, the August 24 session for current DI editors and senior staff focused on working with new reporters, defining news for the campus reader and developing news coverage beyond press releases. Speakers emphasized interview preparation and using artificial intelligence tools to retrieve recorded quotes quickly.

The session attracted 28 staffers to the DI offices in the YMCA basement on the weekend before classes began.

The alumni group reassembled on Sept. 28 to present to more than 175 staffers, including about 80 new staff reporters. A Journ 101 “course” for the novices included how to write ledes, nut graphs, headlines and follow-up stories, and interviewing techniques. Staffers also weighed in about how they would improve two articles from another university’s school newspaper.

In breakout sessions, smaller groups discussed areas of interest including beat coverage, features and copy editing. Breakout topics and those leading them included: Sports, Ed Sherman, DI sports editor, 1980-81; Photojournalism, Stretch Ledford, associate professor of journalism; Social media, Marisa Peacock, senior lecturer in advertising and design/graphics, and DI editor in chief Jacob Slabosz.

Student Reaction to Workshops: Positive & Productive

A September post-session survey showed that 78 percent of the students involved found the workshop productive, and 91 percent reported learning from it. 

Jessie Wang, a senior in LAS, said “the workshops were beneficial because I am not a journalism major, so they offered a structured crash course on key reporting concepts. I liked the Q + A format and the opportunity for all staff to meet up in one place.”

Maaike Niekerk, a junior in LAS, said that “although I'm not a new member of the DI, the staff bootcamp was still very helpful for brushing up on skills at the start of the semester. I enjoyed the feature writing workshop in particular, and how things felt like an open discussion rather than a lecture. It was great to get the entire company together.”

The alumni mentors were thrilled to see so many young people interested in joining student media and open to advice from alums. In addition to Wurth, DI editor in chief in 1981-82, mentors include: Linda Bergstrom, beat reporter 1976-80; Karen Huelsman, campus Editor 1978-79; Cathy (Spellman) Roberts, managing editor 1990-91; and IMC board member Carolina Garibay, buzz editor 2021-2022.

Reunited by the Power of Radio

By Becky Nicol, 1972-74 WPGU alum

The latest installment in our series on the DI-WPGU-Illio Dating & Matrimonial Agency

Meet Naomi Adams Ponzio and Ben Ponzio – who were brought together by the power of radio - twice!

Naomi and Ben worked all four of their college years at WPGU in the mid-1990s, when the station was known as 107.1 The Planet. Both served as student station reps on the Illini Media board. Naomi holds a BS in advertising (1998) and an MBA from UI, while Ben has a BA in speech communication (1997) from UI. 

Ben started out in the station’s sales department, moved to on-air roles, then was student sales manager as a sophomore and junior when the station had student and full-time sales managers plus a large sales staff. Senior year he was program director for the station. Ben co-hosted shows at PGU as “Large Fry.”

Naomi started out helping with overnight shifts, ran the training studio, and during summer even worked on the front desk. She was assistant program director when Ben was PD, and then applied for and got the PD job her senior year. She was the program director who got the station into Sports Illustrated in the fall of 1997. That fall the station’s morning show broadcast from the station’s roof – saying they’d stay up there until the Illini won a football game. But the team didn’t and the show came back down to earth.

After graduating, the two eventually lost touch and found partners and started families elsewhere, but then the power of radio brought them together again. For years, Ben asked station PDs where he worked in Chicago to put him on the air. Finally, WSHE-FM program director Cat Thomas asked him to do an on-air shift on January 8, 2020. Excited, Ben kept posting “I’m on the radio – tune in” on social media. Hundreds of people reacted, and Naomi saw the alerts. She turned on her radio, heard him and messaged him. They met on February 6, 2020 – neither aware that they were both single again. 

Naomi and Ben were together in a cab when the announcement about the pandemic shutdown was made in 2020. They ended up as quarantine bubble buddies. They married in August of 2023. Together, they have four children and live in Chicago.

Naomi’s career included stints at Edelman, Burton Marsteller and BCW, GCI Group/Cohn & Wolfe and Golin, as well as at a national non-profit and the Financial Health Network. She currently is director of internal and external communications for CIPC Bank, and is an adjunct faculty member at DePaul University, teaching media relations. She is a past president of PRSA Chicago and her teams have won many PR awards.

Ben’s had a long and successful career in Chicago radio and currently is general sales manager at Audacy and senior account executive for 97.1 The Drive, Throwback 100.3, and WTMX. He previously worked at Entercom, Hubbard Broadcasting, CBS Radio and Emmis Chicago (WKQX).

Ben also is a host for Windy City Poker TV. A lifelong poker enthusiast, he was asked to go into the booth and do commentary after he was the first player of the final six in a tournament to get knocked out. He became co-host of the show. Ben’s been a frequent winner in the World Series of Poker circuit and made a name for himself in the poker world, winning a pricey bracelet in 2007. 

Ben has been president of the Sheridan Carroll food pantry (FeedChicago.org) for many years, helping to feed the food-insecure. 

Naomi says she and Ben were fortunate to study with top-notch UI professors, and to work at WPGU, getting real world hands-on experience. The skills of leading a team, working with others, thinking about messaging and defining audiences transferred into career success, she said.

Ben said he loved the WPGU experience and the relationships he and Naomi built. Both of them stay in touch with many WPGU friends. He said WPGU helped him build not just a career, but his life.

Ben and Naomi Ponzio, on the right, at the Illini Media Alumni Wrigleyville Reunion in April 2024 with DI alum Louise Gilmore Donahue and Illini Media executive director Jake Williams. (Photo courtesy of Ed Epstein.)

Free Ways to Help Boost Illini Media

Thanks to all of our alums who have engaged with the DI and WPGU online. If you have not, join in to help Illini Media by driving traffic to the websites. Here's how:

• Go to dailyillini.com and read some of the great content in the paper.
• On the right side of the homepage, subscribe to one or more of the DI's newsletters. Choose among Headline News, Press Box (for all sports and the best way to keep up with Illini football and basketball) the Daily Champaign and the Daily Urbana. 
• Go to dailyillini.com/illordle and play the DI's daily word game.
• And give a listen to WPGU FM at WPGU.com.

Every click helps!

CONNECT WITH US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Follow Illini Media Alumni on Facebook and join the following Facebook groups:

Illini Media

Alumni Network

Daily Illini Alumni

WPGU Alumni

WPGU Friends of the 70s

Illini Media Alumni

from the 80s

Illini Media 90s Alumni

SUPPORT US

Thank you for your continued support.

Our alumni are vital to the ongoing success of Illini Media!

PLEASE NOTE: This is for general donations. If you wish to contribute to the Crowdfund Our Computers campaign, see button above.

(All major credit cards accepted. You do not need a PayPal account to donate.)

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES



Get Involved - We Need Your Help

Want to be a part of righting the ship and helping Illini Media for today's students and beyond? Volunteer to help us out. Want to write for the newsletter? Contact Ed Epstein. Have fundraising expertise or just want to help? Contact Jim Schlueter. Want to help plan our next event? Contact Susan Santoro.

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