The News-Gazette in Champaign, Illinois, has a remarkable history that dates back to 1852, when the paper was then known as the Urbana Union. Today, it covers a community spanning Champaign-Urbana, home to the University of Illinois, with a population of 242,000; Danville, with a population of 28,000; and East Central Illinois. The News-Gazette has the distinction of having won seven consecutive Illinois Press Association Newspaper of the Year awards.
The digital edition is paywalled, but the pay structure is designed to make the content affordable and accessible. Beyond home delivery and monthly digital subscriptions, it also offers a day pass for a modest $1.90, or a $5 digital wallet option, which meters at $0.50 per article.
In 2019, the title was acquired by the Community Media Group, Inc., a news media company with properties across print, digital and radio platforms operating in six states. For the News-Gazette, community remains at the heart of its mission.
This year, the News-Gazette team — a staff of 16 full-timers — found a new way to develop its audience, serve the public, extend the reach of its journalism and innovate on a new platform. In January 2026, it launched News-Gazette Radio.
The idea came to Vice President of News Jim Rossow over the Thanksgiving 2025 holiday. He was driving at the time and tuned into WDWS, a talk radio station also owned by Community Media Group. His colleague, Editor Jeff D’Alessio, was a morning-show guest that day, talking about the news of the day. After the show, Rossow called D’Alessio and suggested they produce their own show. The one-hour live show now airs four days a week. The recordings of the live shows are available as a podcast, as well.
Prominently on its A1 in the print edition, the paper highlights the radio show with an “As Heard on News-Gazette Radio” callout.
Rossow and D’Alessio host the intentionally fast-paced program. Guests call in for “short and snappy” 10-minute conversations about news of the day and local sports.
Reporters from the newsroom also come into the studio to talk about their work. Most of those staffers had no audio journalism experience prior to the show’s launch, Rossow said, so it’s allowing them to explore storytelling on a new platform.
High school students participating in the “High School Confidential” student journalism project — an award-winning program developed by the News-Gazette and Danville Area Community College — are invited to join the show to read the day’s headlines. To actively engage older members of the community, they also welcome local seniors to read the news on air.
“We extended an invitation to a local retirement village, Clarke Lindsey, and last week, one of their 82-year-old residents, [Kathleen Holden], came in to read the headlines of the day. And she was wonderful,” Rossow said.
Gretchen A. Peck is a contributing editor to Editor & Publisher. She has reported for E&P since 2010 and welcomes comments at gretchenapeck@gmail.com.
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