UI7 Newsroom

12/07/2025

The future of En Vivo Contigo just showed up in full force at 💥
We’re coming back next year bigger, stronger, and ready to elevate even more voices.
UI7 Newsroom returns in just 69 days… let the countdown begin. 🎬📺🔥

11/07/2025

🎉 BIG WIN ALERT 🎉
En Vivo Contigo just took 1st Place at the NAHJ ñ Awards for Student Broadcast Journalism! 🏆✨

👏 Shoutout to Emilio Reyes, whose powerful interview with Dr. Callesano explored the deep impact of linguistics on Spanish-speaking families.

👏 And major love to Jackie Barba for producing this award-winning work behind the scenes.

This is the first-ever award for En Vivo Contigo — and we’re just getting started.

🇲🇽💬 Representation matters. Stories matter. This team is telling them right.

01/07/2025

🎉 Big congrats to Nathan Gonzalez — winner of the $5,000 Walter Cronkite Scholarship from !

Nathan becomes the third student in the past decade to earn this prestigious honor. He’s currently spending his summer interning at Fox News in Washington, D.C. 🏛️📺

We’re proud to see our journalists making waves beyond campus.

05/06/2025

BREAKING: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Names New Chancellor 📣

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has officially named Dr. Charles Lee Isbell Jr. as its next Chancellor.
Dr. Isbell is a leading computer scientist, academic innovator and provost at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He will become the 11th chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and vice president of the University of Illinois System, U of I System President Tim Killeen announced today.

Stay tuned for more on Chancellor Isbell’s vision and what this means for the Illinois community.

14/05/2025

🎉 Big news! Tomorrow night, students from the Journalism Department’s documentary class with Alison Davis will be featured on WILL’s Prairie Fire! 📺 What an incredible accomplishment — their hard work and storytelling will be showcased on a major platform.

Be sure to tune in and support our amazing students! 👏

👉 Details on how to Watch here: https://www.facebook.com/share/16WA3Qzd5P/?mibextid=xfxF2i

14/05/2025

🎉 Big news! Tomorrow night, students from the Journalism Department’s documentary class with Alison Davis will be featured on WILL’s Prairie Fire! 📺 What an incredible accomplishment — their hard work and storytelling will be showcased on a major platform.

Be sure to tune in and support our amazing students! 👏

👉 Details on how to Watch here: https://www.facebook.com/share/16WA3Qzd5P/?mibextid=xfxF2i

This group of dedicated documentary students poured countless hours into tomorrow’s edition of “Prairie Fire.” Thanks to for having the brilliant idea to collaborate! Check out the four short they produced, shot and edited tomorrow at 7:30 on WILL-TV.

08/05/2025

Leading Through Change is live on Facebook right now @ ui7newsroom. See what Chancellor Robert Jones has to say about his time at Illinois.

08/05/2025

The Japan House at the University of Illinois at the University of Illinois have announced the passing of Professor Emeritus Shozo Sato.
Sato Sensei lived an extraordinary 91 years, leaving behind a remarkable legacy of creativity, wisdom, and cultural exchange. His decades of teaching Japanese arts and aesthetics inspired generations of students, and his groundbreaking work—ranging from Kabuki Shakespeare productions to chado (tea ceremony), ikebana (flower arranging), sumi-e (ink painting), and shodo (calligraphy)—continues to resonate in the hearts of many.
He will be greatly missed, but his influence and artistry live on.

06/05/2025

It’s the final weather forecast of the semester from David Flores — but don’t worry, he’s not going far! 🌦️🎥

David’s headed out for summer break, but he’ll be back in September 2025 bringing the same reliable forecasts and great on-air energy you’ve come to count on. 🙌

Catch his end-of-semester forecast and help us send him into summer with a big THANK YOU! ☀️🌤️

03/05/2025

Another big day of goodbyes at UI7 Newsroom.

Good Morning Illini Fridays signed off for the semester, and En Vivo Contigo wrapped up a season full of heart, energy, and impact.

Hannah Lonergan anchored her final UI7 Newsroom show today—one more to go on Monday before she officially wraps up. We’re grateful for her leadership and presence all semester long. She has led and rebuilt Good Morning Illini to be a true voice for campus. We are very proud of all she has accomplished the past 2 years as Producer and E.P.

Penny Bradford also finished her season with GMI. Though she wasn’t on today’s show, her consistent contributions behind the scenes made a big difference week after week.

This afternoon, En Vivo Contigo said goodbye to two of its founding members.

Executive Producer Jackie Barba stepped into the anchor seat for the very first time to close out the season—15 shows strong since September. Her leadership built the show's foundation and inspired the next wave of talent behind the scenes.

Emilio Reyes, the heart and face of En Vivo Contigo, brought power and passion to every episode—and beyond that, he helped lead the launch of UIUC’s first official NAHJ chapter, creating space and opportunity for Latinx student journalists for years to come.

They started with a passion. That passion became a vision. And that vision leaves a legacy.

Probably the biggest success of what Emilio & Jackie built was the excitement for the show. Building a team of 3 into a team of 12 and truly telling stories that matter.

It’s been a standout year across the board for UI7 Newsroom.

Good Morning Illini and En Vivo Contigo will return in September 2025.