Mass Communication Department of the University of Ilorin took off in the 2005/2006 academic session in the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences with the appointment of a Senior Research Fellow, Mr. Doyin Nurein Mahmood, who was a veteran journalist, to pioneer the coordination of the programme. In compliance with directives of the National Universities Commission (NUC), the Department started with 28 students. Following the establishment of the Faculty of Communication and Information Sciences in 2008 to house the family of programmes that deal with communication and information, the Department was moved to the Faculty along with Department of Computer Science to join other three newly established Departments namely; Telecommunication Science, Library and Information Science, and Information and Communication Science (now Information Technology).
So far, the Department of Mass Communication has produced twenty-three sets of students. It has also graduated several students of its postgraduate programmes comprising Ph.D. and M.Sc. that began in the 2018/2019 academic session. UNESCO had visited the Department and had recognised the programme of Mass Communication as one of the standard Mass Communication-training institutions in Africa. The Department has interacted actively in many academic and professional programmes. It has won several awards debuting with the annual Best-of-Best TV Competition for two times with two professionally produced documentaries that can stand any test of broadcasting production. The Department won the competition in 2008 with a production on Traditional Wedding in Ilorin and won again in 2011 with a production on Imole Boja. Other awards are three-time Pitch-A-Ton winner organised by Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria tagged Advertising/PR Pitch Competition. This was in 2020 (1st position), 2022 and 2024 (second positions).
The students, who go on attachment to various media houses in the country for their internship programme are over the years, highly commended for their professionalism. This, undoubtedly, is a result of the extensive practical engagement sessions and assignments they are made to go through. For example, the Department produces a bi-annual training newspaper named Unilorin Watch and three annual magazines named The Lens Magazine, Scoop, and Aperture. They also partake in two annual rigorous advertisement campaigns management, which are attached to two courses namely; Political Communication and Advanced Advertising, and an annual Public Relations campaign attached to Public Relations Techniques. Besides, broadcast students engage throughout their period of training in radio broadcasting at the Unilorin, 89.3 FM.