RCFP supports Illinois bill aimed at protecting public media stations at public universities

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is urging Illinois lawmakers to pass a bill that would insulate non-student public media organizations run by public universities from undue political influence or pressure.

In a letter sent to leaders in the state House and Senate on Dec. 19, 2025, the Reporters Committee expressed strong support for a proposed amendment to the College Campus Press Act. The bill would extend protections that currently support student journalists and their advisers at public universities by prohibiting infringement upon their work, except in limited circumstances.

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.”

“[W]ere this measure to pass, Illinois would lead the nation in ensuring, through statute, that public media outlets run by public universities can operate with full editorial autonomy,” the Reporters Committee argues in the letter to lawmakers. “Amending Illinois law will 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.”