Illinois lawmakers pass bill aimed at protecting public media outlets at public universities

Illinois lawmakers have passed a first-of-its-kind bill intended to insulate non-student public media organizations run by public universities from undue political influence or pressure. 

Approved by the Illinois Senate on Wednesday, the legislation seeks to amend the College Campus Press Act, which currently prohibits public universities from infringing upon the work of student journalists and their advisers, except in limited circumstances. If signed into law, the measure, which passed the House in April, will extend those important protections to non-student news outlets. 

“Press freedom is alive and well in Illinois, and residents should feel confident about future access to factual, local journalism that is free from interference,” said Gabe Rottman, vice president of policy for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. “Illinois will be a national leader with this crucial, first-of-its-kind legislation to safeguard the editorial independence of public media.”

Last December, the Reporters Committee urged leaders in the Illinois House and Senate to pass the bill, arguing that it would “establish a necessary and robust ‘firewall’ between public universities and their affiliated or licensed newsrooms, which will help protect the free flow of information generally and the freedom of public media specifically.”

There have been instances where public universities that own the licenses of public media stations have sought to improperly impinge on news outlets’ editorial independence. In 2019, for example, the University of Illinois sought to compel reporters for an NPR station affiliated with the campus to identify confidential sources, after the outlet ran a series of stories on professors accused of sexual misconduct. The Reporters Committee led a media coalition in urging university officials to reconsider its refusal to change its Title IX reporting standards for journalists, arguing that it “undermines both freedom of the press and campus safety.”

The bill now awaits the signature of Gov. JB Pritzker.