Where to Find East Central Illinois News Online

For news covering Champaign, Urbana, and the surrounding East Central Illinois region, the News-Gazette (news-gazette.com) is the primary local source. It is based in Champaign and describes itself as "your source for news and advertising in East Central Illinois," with coverage that includes local Champaign-Urbana news, University of Illinois news, sports, and weather. You can read headlines on the homepage without an account; a Subscribe link is available at news-gazette.com/subscribe if you want full access, though the site's materials don't specify what a subscription includes or costs.

What the News-Gazette Covers

The paper's own description and site keywords point to these coverage areas:

• Local Champaign and Urbana news — city and campus-area reporting
• East Central Illinois news — regional coverage beyond the two cities
• University of Illinois / UIUC — news tied to the Urbana-Champaign campus
• Champaign weather — local forecasts
• Sports — including coverage of local teams and the university

A sample of homepage content shows the mix in practice: a headline about Gies Accounting ("Who's No. 1? Gies Accounting taking care of business") alongside a breaking-news item ("Urbana police: Man shot multiple times following parking lot argument"), timestamped an hour before the page was captured. That combination — university news plus same-day police and community reporting — is what the homepage typically surfaces.

How to Reach the Homepage and What You'll See

1. Go to news-gazette.com in any browser. This is the homepage; no login is required to view it.
2. The top of the page leads with the most recent stories, mixing breaking local news with features and university coverage.
3. Scroll or use the site's section navigation to move between news, sports, weather, and other categories.
4. If you hit a paywall or want full access, use the Subscribe link (news-gazette.com/subscribe) to see current offers.

The homepage is the fastest way to scan what's happening in the region that day, since items are ordered by recency — the police shooting item above was posted within the hour.

Other Outlets Serving the Region

The News-Gazette is the dominant daily for Champaign-Urbana, but East Central Illinois is also covered by:

• University of Illinois outlets — campus news and sports from UIUC's own communications and student media
• Local broadcast and radio stations — for weather alerts and breaking news
• Community and city government pages — Champaign and Urbana city sites for official notices

For day-to-day regional news, though, the News-Gazette is the starting point most readers use, given its explicit focus on East Central Illinois and its Champaign base.

Quick Reference

Start at the homepage for free headlines; subscribe only if you find you need the full reporting.