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Get Involved
There are many opportunities for journalism students to become involved in group activities that are educational, career-enhancing, and fun!
All opportunities are open to students regardless of their major and offer great ways to develop hands-on experience, build on their resume, and explore areas of interest.
There are several other ways to get involved at SIU
Our Office of Student Engagement has information about more than 300 student organizations, fraternities and sororities, leadership development and more.
The Daily Egyptian
The Daily Egyptian is a student-run, student-produced newspaper, website and social media group. Students can start as early as their first year as reporters, photographers, videographers, designers, ad sales reps and social media producers. Then newsroom covers campus and community news from around Southern Illinois.
The Daily Egyptian and its students win dozens of awards from the Illinois College Press Association each year in every category. The real world experience prepares our students for their first jobs, and the internships that precede them.
American Advertising Federation
The American Advertising Federation is the “Unifying Voice for Advertising.” With more that 150+ professional, local clubs across the U.S. representing more than 40,000 advertising professionals, the organization also supports 4,000 college chapter members with a network of 140+ college chapters.
Each year, we participate in the National Student Advertising Competition, the premier college advertising competition. More than 2,000 college students compete in this real-world experience. Over the past few years, we have placed in the top 3 of our district, earning first place twice. As part of this competition, our students have worked with an impressive list of national clients: Wienerschnitzel, Adobe, Tinder, Meta Quest, and Indeed. The annual event requires our team to develop a strategic advertising campaign, including production of all creative materials. The final step of competition is an in-person pitch to the client. It is a rigorous and exhilarating experience where students discover if they have what it takes to launch a career in advertising.
The Saluki AdLab
The Saluki AdLab is a student-run advertising agency. The AdLab works with local, regional and national clients, as well as university departments and organizations. The AdLab attracts students from various majors: advertising, marketing, graphic design, cinema and production, photography, public relations and more. Students can join the AdLab for experience and for course credit. It is a required class for advertising majors. Over the years, the AdLab has created an empowering culture where students apply what they learn in the classroom. Guided by a faculty advisor, the students are responsible for all client work, as well as pitching new business. Students produce and run campaigns for real clients and build a professional portfolio before they graduate. Advertising is changing at the speed of technology, and our students get the opportunity to not just learn about these technologies but use them for real-world campaign development.
The AdLab students also create bonds with each other that last long after graduation. Our AdLab alumni are actively involved in mentoring and helping new graduates navigate the professional ad world. Each year, AdLab students travel to New York City to attend the AAF Student Career Conference, where they also get to connect with our alums who work at agencies and media companies in New York. And like all creative environments we have plenty of pizza, drinks and snacks to keep us going when the going gets tough..
National Association of Black Journalists
The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) meets weekly in the Communications Building. It sponsors speakers, workshops, field trips, social events, and partakes in service projects. NABJ is the largest association of journalists of color in the world and has professional chapters throughout the United States. It offers a series of internship and scholarship opportunities.
Students in the Illinois News Broadcasters Association (SINBA)
The first student group affiliated with the Illinois News Broadcasters Association, SINBA brings together students with career interests in broadcast journalism. The group hosts professional news, weather, and sports broadcasters as guest speakers at chapter meetings. Members work on various projects on behalf of the parent INBA organization and attend two statewide conventions each year. In 1989, the SIUC chapter initiated a statewide student news awards competition.
Alt.News 26:46
alt.news 26:46 is an alternative news magazine that covers quirky human interest stories, airs on the regional PBS affiliate and has won more than 31 professional regional Emmy Awards and 7 National College Television Awards. Responsibilities include: film/video production, graphics, animation, web, hosting/on-camera, producing, and more. Episodes air on WSIU, our region's PBS station.
Kappa Tau Alpha
Kappa Tau Alpha is a college honor society that recognizes academic excellence and promotes scholarship in journalism and mass communication. This is a brand new organization at SIU as of Spring 2020. More news and information will be posted soon.