Journalism Students Meet with Governor Pritzker

Feb. 4, 2021

College of Communication journalism students met with Illinois Governor JB Pritzker on Thursday, Feb. 4, in the press room of the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago. The students in the class, "Advanced Reporting," co-taught by Carol Marin and Don Moseley, had a candid discussion about the governor’s career and Illinois politics, followed by a question and answer session from the university's student media outlets.

Pritzker told the DePaul journalism students, "I'm very happy to see so many of you taking this class. Preserving our First Amendment, defending it, is so vitally important: whether you want to be a journalist yourself, or you’re here to explore your career options, we absolutely need more citizens who value a free and formidable press – and as young people who have grown up with the world of social media, you have a real opportunity to best sort through how to protect that essential foundation of our democracy from the world of disinformation and online extremism."

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker talks to journalism students, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker talks to journalism students, Thursday, Feb. 4, in the press room of the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)

The Governor met with the class while maintaining his social distance in the press room. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)

Carol Marin, director of the DePaul Center for Journalism Integrity & Excellence, lower left, listens as JB Pritzker, Illinois governor, talks to journalism students.

Carol Marin, director of the DePaul Center for Journalism Integrity & Excellence in the College of Communication, lower left, organized the meeting between the Governor and her students. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)

DePaul journalism student Izabella Grimaldo asks Governor Pritzker a question during the meeting. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)

Journalism student Emma Oxnevad asks Governor Pritzker a question. The students had prepared questions in advance of the meeting with Pritzker as part of their class assignment. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)

The Governor provided a wealth of advice to the students about comporting yourself as a political journalist. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)

The majority of the conversation was "off the record," with the last few minutes "on the record" and recorded by DePaul student media. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)

After the candid conversation, members from DePaul's student media outlets (The DePaulia, Radio DePaul, 14 East and Good Day DePaul) were allowed time to ask the Governor questions. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)

Back row, left to right, Olivia Wageman, Marcus Robertson, Emma Oxnevad, Carol Marin, Becky Budds, Jocelyn Martinez-Rosales, Don Moseley, Damita Menezes, Justin Myers; front row, left to right, Rebecca Meluch, Izabella Grimaldo, JB Pritzker, Francesca Mathewes, and Joanna Talabani.