The Daily Illini Newspaper

What The Daily Illini Newspaper does

The Daily Illini is a student-run newspaper at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, founded in 1871 and published continuously for over 150 years. It operates under Illini Media Company, a nonprofit student media organization that also publishes the Illio Yearbook and operates WPGU 107.1 FM, a student-run radio station. The publication serves University of Illinois students, alumni, faculty, and the broader Champaign-Urbana community with continuous coverage of campus news, sports, opinion, and arts and entertainment.

The organization operates as a multi-platform news and media outlet, producing content for a daily print newspaper, a WordPress-based website built on the FLEX Pro theme by SNO (School Newspaper Online), podcasts, email newsletters, and online games. Technical infrastructure is centered on the SNO WordPress platform rather than a custom CMS, indicating reliance on a vendor-provided template commonly used by student and secondary-school newspapers. Editorial and production roles are filled by student staff, with the organization functioning as both a news outlet and a practical training environment for journalism students.

The business model combines three revenue streams: advertising sales (display, classifieds, and digital), print subscription revenue, and donations solicited through the nonprofit structure of Illini Media Company. No public pricing for subscriptions, advertising rates, or sponsorship packages is disclosed on the available materials. Geographic focus is concentrated in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, with the physical address serving as the operational base; there is no indication of multi-market distribution or external geographic expansion.

Name

The Daily Illini Newspaper

Legal name

Illini Media Company

Website

https://dailyillini.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1871

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Daily Illini is a student-run newspaper at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, founded in 1871 and operated by the nonprofit Illini Media Company, serving students, alumni, and the Champaign-Urbana community across print, digital, and radio platforms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Student Newspaper

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110), Radio Broadcasting Stations (516110)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711), Radio Broadcasting Stations (4832)

akta.pro primary industry

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital) (MPAJADAB)

Keywords

• Student newspaper publishing
• Campus news coverage
• Independent journalism
• Local news reporting
• College media

Headquarters

HQ city

Champaign

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Advertising: The newspaper accepts advertisements, with a dedicated advertising page through Illini Media Company. Sponsored content and advertising placements are sold to local businesses and organizations targeting the University of Illinois community.
2. Donations: The Daily Illini accepts donations through the Illini Media Company donation portal, allowing readers to financially support the independent student newspaper.
3. Print Subscription: Print edition subscriptions available for readers who prefer physical newspaper format.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Daily Illini publishes a daily independent student newspaper covering University of Illinois campus news, sports, opinions, life and culture, and Champaign-Urbana local news. Distribution spans a WordPress-based website (dailyillini.com), a print edition, email newsletters, podcasts, and affiliated student media including WPGU 107.1 FM radio and the Illio Yearbook.

Product overview

The Daily Illini is a unified student media platform offering a primary digital newspaper as its core product, supplemented by affiliated radio broadcasting (WPGU 107.1 FM), yearbook publication (Illio Yearbook), audio podcasts, and digital tools including newsletters, games, salary guides, and food truck tracking. The portfolio also includes curated special sections covering sports, culture, and student life topics, all serving the University of Illinois community.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Daily Illini Newspaper The flagship daily independent student newspaper of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, covering campus news, sports, opinion, life and culture, photo, and special sections for the UIUC community and the broader Champaign-Urbana readership.
• WPGU 107.1 FM Student-run FM radio station affiliated with The Daily Illini and Illini Media Company, streaming music and entertainment programming for the University of Illinois community.
• Illio Yearbook Annual yearbook publication documenting University of Illinois student life, published by Illini Media Company.
• The Daily Illini Podcasts Audio content including Illini sports podcasts and other programming, hosted on the Captivate FM platform and accessible to readers and listeners.
• Daily Illini Newsletter Subscriptions Email newsletter subscriptions including Headline News (weekday campus news), Press Box (sports), Daily Champaign (Champaign local news), and Daily Urbana (Urbana local news), delivered via Constant Contact.
• Daily Illini Games (ILLordle and Illini Mini) Online casual games including ILLordle (a word game) and Illini Mini (mini-games) hosted on the Daily Illini website for reader engagement.

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Illini Media CompanycoreOthersThe Daily Illini operates under the Illini Media Company parent organization, which also operates WPGU 107.1 FM radio station and the Illio Yearbook. The organization accepts advertising and donations through the Illini Media Company portal.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• The Michigan Daily: Independent student newspaper at the University of Michigan with comparable multi-platform student media structure (including radio, TV, and digital) and similar revenue model of advertising, donations, and subscriptions targeting a Big Ten peer university audience.
• The Daily Northwestern: Student newspaper at Northwestern University with similar editorial independence, multi-channel digital distribution, and reliance on advertising plus donations, serving a comparable university-community readership model.
• Indiana Daily Student: Student newspaper at Indiana University — a Big Ten public peer institution — operating under a comparable student-run, editorially independent model with similar advertising and subscription revenue mix.
• The Daily Targum: Student newspaper at Rutgers University operating with a similar multi-platform student media portfolio and revenue model targeting a large public research university audience.
• The Daily Texan: Student newspaper at the University of Texas at Austin, comparable in scale at a flagship public university with similar advertising, donation, and subscription revenue dynamics.
• The Stanford Daily: Independent student newspaper at Stanford University with comparable editorial independence, digital-first distribution, and advertising plus donations revenue model targeting a university-community audience.
• The Harvard Crimson: Long-established independent student newspaper at Harvard University with similar 150+ year institutional brand legacy, editorial independence, and multi-channel digital audience model.
• The Cornell Daily Sun: Independent student newspaper at Cornell University with comparable long-standing brand, editorially independent student-run operation, and digital-plus-print distribution model.
• The Daily Pennsylvanian: Student newspaper at the University of Pennsylvania operating with similar multi-channel digital distribution, advertising sales, and donation-supported editorial independence.

Regional players

• The News-Gazette: Local daily newspaper serving Champaign-Urbana, the same primary geography as The Daily Illini. Overlaps in local news coverage and competes for the same Champaign-Urbana advertising market, making it a regional peer for local advertising dynamics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/thedailyillini
• YouTubeyoutube.com/thedailyillini
• Facebookfacebook.com/dailyillini
• Instagraminstagram.com/thedailyillini
• TikToktiktok.com/@thedailyillini
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/illini-media

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Daily Illini Newspaper