Illinois Public Media News

In his new book, "Algospeak", linguist Adam Aleksic says that we are living through a transitional phase of the english language as social media has a big influence on vocabulary. 

Tommy Prine was raised in Nashville with guitars lying around his house and music always on. And that’s because his father is John Prine, the legendary singer-songwriter, originally from Maywood, Illinois. He famously worked on songs while working a postal route here — was referred to by some as "the Mark Twain of songwriting.” 

In Illinois, as in other states, there are many towns and cities with what are known as “crime-free housing” ordinances. The idea is to keep drugs and other illegal activity out of apartment buildings and other rental properties. Critics say the ordinances disproportionately target low-income families and people of color while supporters of the law say the programs ensure safety and have helped revitalize struggling neighborhoods.

NPR and it's affiliated public media outlets are sometimes accused of bias, especially by those on the conservative side of the political spectrum. As NPR and PBS lose more than a billion dollars in federal funding, it begs the question: Did public media sow the seeds of its own destruction?

Late last week, Republicans in Congress approved President Trump’s request to claw back more than two year’s worth of funding for public radio and television. A panel of general managers from NPR and PBS stations across Illinois discuss what the path is going forward.