Take a bow, Illinois high school journalists! This year our annual IJEA Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest received nearly 900 entries from a total of 30 schools. In recognition of the outstanding work that Illinois high school journalists produced from March 2025 to March 2026, we are proud to announce our 2026 winners. Check inside for the results!

2026 All-State Journalism Team  All-Stater Alex Brudvik Isabelle Robinson Atticus Ball Addison Stone Emma Weintraub Stella Rankin Michalina...

Congratulations to Light Dohrn, a senior from University of Chicago Laboratory High School in Chicago on being named the 2026 Illinois Journalist of the Year by the Illinois...

Last year, a new fee structure was introduced for the Newspaper and Digital News Media Contest. The new structure kept the same price of the school entry fee, but limited...

Thirty-five schools participated in this year's contest, which was for books covering the 2024-25 school year. Congratulations to all of our yearbook advisers and students! We are proud of the amazing work you did last year! Best of luck on your continuing coverage of the current school year. We can't wait to see the entries for 2025-26!