For over 100 years, Illinois State University’s campus newspaper, The Vidette, has served as a developmental resource for student journalists to advance their skills by working as reporters, editors, and more while keeping the community informed on important issues.
Illinois State students involved at The Vidette acknowledge the growth in their skills provided by working there as it helps not only professionally but also socially.
Sean Morrison, a senior journalism major, works as a news and features editor for The Vidette and is on the editorial board. Before obtaining an editor position, he worked as a news and features reporter. Morrison said The Vidette is a significant aspect of his decision to study journalism at Illinois State, and he noted the variety of work he produces.
“I’ve been working because I’m graduating, and I have a lot of experience to put on there. I’ve written profiles, I’ve written reviews, I’ve written features, so that’s a huge bonus,” Morrison said.
Morrison had a great experience writing a story about a lawsuit filed in 2021, regarding sewer damage in Bloomington.
“It was like such a rush,” he said. “They talk about being in the zone for sports, and you’re just completely locked in. I was sitting at my kitchen counter for literally four and a half hours straight just writing this thing, researching it, going through all my recordings.”
Freshmen can also get involved. Jalen Serrano, a freshman journalism major, is a news and features reporter. He wanted to gain experience and write about topics he’s passionate about. A story about an Uptown Normal record shop is a favorite that helped him learn more about Bloomington-Normal. He thinks the experience will help him with his journalism classes.
“I can see the work that I do here helping out a lot, and just overall in everyday life, being able to communicate better with people and express myself and information in a more concise way,” Serrano said.
Emma Bratt, a junior journalism major, works as a news and features reporter and as art director. Bratt said most of her journalistic experience has come through her work at The Vidette.
“It’s like actually going to events and covering things and communicating with photographers too, like you’re actually practicing what you’re going to do as a career,” she said.
Bratt enjoyed working on a feature story about a Bone Scholar recipient who was in ROTC.
“I talked to an ROTC professor who knew him for four years, and one of the professors at ISU has known him since he was little, and so it was a really good in-depth story,” Bratt said. “Getting those secondary sources was really interesting.”
Not all students who work at The Vidette are journalism majors. Senior Tyler Kaszuba, an English major, is a news and features reporter. He joined to broaden his involvement at Illinois State and to advance his professional development while using his writing abilities.
“I was trying to explore opportunities around ISU that would both help me write things while still developing a professional experience, and I think The Vidette does that perfectly for me,” Kaszuba said.
Although an English major, Kaszuba is enrolled in a journalism class, COM 165, required of all staff members at The Vidette. The experience has made him consider a journalism career.
“I’ve learned things at The Vidette that help me write better stories for my assignments in that class,” Kaszuba said. “And then, likewise, the things I learn in COM 165 are helping me identify good writing practices.”
Kaszuba said working as a reporter helps him develop professional skills and be more confident talking to sources and conducting interviews. He recently interviewed President Aondover Tarhule for a story.
“I’m trying to become less anxious about reaching out to people, and I feel like I’ve been doing a very good job of that,” Kaszuba said. “I mean, I did sit down with the new president and interview him.”
In an effort to become more involved in student media, senior journalism major Elizabeth Urban joined The Vidette as a news reporter after John Plevka, retired editorial adviser, spoke to her class. She currently works as a news and features editor, writes for the editorial board, and is a podcast host.
Urban is strengthening her editing skills, her knowledge of AP style guidelines, and her writing abilities. Editing the writing of other reporters helps her recognize AP style and general writing errors.
“And then, looking at so many other people’s stories, I’m able to see so many different examples of writing that I can also apply to my own stories,” she said.
She added that her editor position advances her leadership skills, as the position “kind of forces you to get out of your shell” in order to assign stories and serve as a resource for reporters.
Urban also co-hosts a podcast titled “Tea Time.” The podcast allows her to discuss topics that are trending in the news and on social media.
“So that’s always cool, and it’s different because it’s interesting to be able to phrase what you want to say immediately right on the spot, whereas with writing, we can kind of take our time,” Urban said.
Working at The Vidette also allows student journalists to cover breaking news on campus and in the local community. Urban said there’s an adrenaline rush uploading breaking news content as quickly as possible.
“We worked on the AFSCME protests, and even though sometimes I wasn’t the one covering it, being in the newsroom during that time was such an incredible experience,” Urban said.
Urban said she appreciates journalism’s importance to society and how her position allows her to talk to individuals and “bring their voices forward on issues that matter to them personally.”
“Being able to use my skills as a writer to translate that and share it with the public is just such a cool experience and has really solidified that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life,” she said.
Kaylee Sugimoto, a junior journalism major with a psychology minor, is a news and features editor. She also said the hands-on work solidified her career decision.
“It’s like having a simulation of what working at a paper would really be like in the real world once I get out of college,” she said, adding that she likes working with others who are passionate about journalism. Sugimoto said there are academic benefits to being a student journalist.
“When I would say I’m a journalism major to my professors at Fell, they would say, ‘Oh, you should join The Vidette,’” Sugimoto said. “It’s helped me in my classes by literally teaching me what AP style was because every other class has taught me AP style, but I first learned it at The Vidette, so I felt like I had a leg up when we had assignments in other classes.”
In February, Sugimoto attended Shireen Ahmed’s lecture “Challenging and Changing the Game: Sports Journalism and Storytelling from an Anti-Oppression Lens” at the Multicultural Center. She was proud of the article she wrote about the event.
“Just being able to put a story like that out on the website and in a newspaper just really made me feel good about my job and what I do,” Sugimoto said.
