Illinois Times to provide coverage of the DNC

Illinois Times first sent a reporter to cover a Democratic National Convention in 1976, when Jimmy Carter was in New York City to accept his party's nomination for president. IT's coverage was focused less on Carter himself and more on the Illinois delegates who supported him, along with sharing their impressions of New York City and the convention itself.

Read our coverage of the 1976 convention here:
With this year's DNC taking place so close to home, David Blanchette will be in Chicago from Aug. 19-22 and we will be posting daily updates on illinoistimes.com. Once again, we will be focusing less on what's happening at the national level - which the major media outlets will certainly cover in-depth - and more on the experience of the Illinois delegation, along with the major protests planned and any other excitement that takes place during the week.

Blanchette is a frequent contributor to IT who previously worked in communications for numerous state agencies, including the Capital Development Board and Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. He also served as deputy director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and the Springfield spokesperson for Gov. Pat Quinn. Blanchette is the owner of Get the Word Out Communications and Studio 131 Photography and provides freelance writing and photography services to IT, Springfield Business Journal and numerous other publications.