Welcome to the Illinois Statehouse News, a fresh set of eyes and ears covering Illinois state government.
We are a group of journalists dedicated to covering issues of importance to Illinoisans.
Cash-strapped news organizations are cutting back in many areas including state government coverage, leaving voters less informed. Illinois Statehouse News, or ISN, is committed to helping fill this void with objective, non-partisan news reports.
All journalists working for ISN are required to adhere to the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics.
ISN is a product of the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, a non-profit, non-partisan organization.
In addition to enhancing state-government coverage, the Franklin Center is working to improve journalism in a number of ways including partnering with college journalism programs to produce joint investigations and creating the Benjamin Franklin Fellows program to train a new generation of statehouse reporters.
ISN will share its reports in audio, video and text formats through the internet, new media and traditional mediums such as newspapers and radio.
The ISN staff includes:
- Scott Reeder, managing editor, has been a newspaper reporter and editor for 22 years. He covered the Illinois Legislature for a chain of newspapers for 10 of those years and captured more than 20 national journalism awards. He holds a master’s degree in public affairs reporting from the University of Illinois at Springfield and bachelor’s degree in journalism from Iowa State University.
- Benjamin Yount, Illinois Statehouse bureau chief, has worked as a broadcast journalist in Illinois and Iowa for more than ten years. He covered the Illinois Legislature for a network of more than 100 radio stations for five years. He studied journalism at Illinois State University.
The ISN staff looks forward to serving you. News tips, suggestions and comments can be sent to:
