In Champaign-Urbana, the Unitarians, the Universalists, and the Unitarian-Universalists have, from time to time, promoted themselves and their principles through press releases to local media and TV programs. 

In 1954, Rev. Arnold Westwood of the Unitarian Church wrote to Edward Darling, a representative of the American Unitarian Association, telling him that the Unitarian and Universalist churches had some money set aside to run newspaper ads but Rev. Westwood was worried that some people might think advertising was a crass idea. Mr. Darling replied that, “There’s no reason why you should sound ‘commercial’ and there is no reason why your advertising should strike any of your people as being in poor taste, because after all you are not going around beating the drum and acting like a soap salesman!” Mr. Darling went on to suggest that the churches could run “institutional” ads explaining “that the liberal church home for which some have been seeking is waiting for them.” Perhaps, proposed Mr. Darling, the churches could offer free pamphlets, such as Introducing Unitarianism and a comparable Universalist pamphlet.

Whether the churches decided to run ads is uncertain, but they clearly had active public relations teams and good relationships with the editors of the Courier and the News-Gazette. In August 1955, the Courier ran an article on Universalists attending the National Assembly, where the question of the merger between the two leading liberal denominations, Unitarians and Universalists, would be considered. Two articles also appeared in each paper in November 1955, promoting both churches celebrating “Freedom of the Press Week,” an event sponsored by the Council of Liberal Churches of America. The ground-breaking for the addition to the Unitarian-Universalist Church was covered by the papers in 1964. One paper ran a photo of 10-year-old Mark Harvey wielding a shovel, as Mrs. Bessie Smith, Mrs. Karl Lohmann, Mrs. T. Ernest Newland, and Mr. Herbert A. Laitinen observed. 

Rev. David Cole, minister of the Unitarian-Universalist Church, was instrumental in organizing a TV show called “Morality in the News” that ran on WCIA twice in the Winter of 1961. Three clergymen were the panelists addressing a moral/ethical issue of the day. Listeners could call in with questions for the panelists. Sample topics proposed to WCIA for future shows included “The Pope’s Encyclical on Socialism,” “Sunday Closing of Stores,” “Evolution,” and “Is Television a Wasteland.” In June 1963, Rev. Cole reported that the show’s ARB ratings “included 25,500 homes. Fourteen out of every 17 sets or 82% of potential viewers were reached. It is estimated that there were 23,800 men, 12.200 women, 2.700 teenagers, and 2.500 children in the audience for a total of 41,200 viewers. Eighty-five calls were received during the season, or an average of 6 to 10 per program.”