A Better Press for a Better World: Reporting Big Stories

About this Webinar Series

Explore the world of media with the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association’s “A Better Press for a Better World” webinar series. We invite middle and high school students to learn directly from professional journalists and others in the media industry during our weekly online program.

This week: We talk with three reporters about covering specialized beats in the time of COVID-19 and take your questions. Our panelists will talk about their work, how they got started in media and what you can do to get your start in the news industry.

This is a free online webinar designed for middle and high school students, and pre-registration is required. You may participate via web video or by phone. Our event will be recorded and made available to MIPA member advisers and their students. If your school not yet a MIPA member? How to join MIPA

“A Better Press for a Better World” is the official motto of MIPA. It was first proclaimed during the organization’s first “High School Editors Conference,” a gathering of 100 editors and advisers in May 1922.

View our event archives

How to Participate

This virtual, online event is free, but pre-registration is required. Registration for this event will close 1 hour before the start time. Register below.

Participate with us live via Zoom, where you will be able to submit questions to our panelists using the Q&A tool. Alternatively, you can watch on YouTube Live.

Prior to the start of this event, Zoom will email you a link to join the webinar. You will receive a reminder with this information 1 hour prior to the start of the event.

You can listen to archives of this series on your favorite podcasting platform.

Joining by phone instead of web video:

You can join this webinar by phone. Invitations to join the event will include a phone number. This may limit your ability to ask questions, but may be useful if:

• You don’t have a microphone or speaker on your computer.
• You do not have a smartphone or have limited data availability.
• You cannot connect to the Internet.

Youth Safety Information

MIPA is committed to protecting the safety of youth who participate in our programs. We work closely with Michigan State University’s Youth Programs Registration, Safety Assurance and Education office to ensure we are complying with all university policies, federal and state laws, and best practices for working safely with minors.

We are using Zoom via Michigan State University’s IT infrastructure to host this webinar. Zoom’s webinar service is different in several ways from the company’s more commonly used video conference meeting tool, giving the moderator additional tools to manage the event, control what participants see and limit who can speak.

Students must pre-register via MIPA’s website to participate. Only approved registrants will be invited to join the webinar; those registrants will receive an email with a unique link to join the webinar. Students are view-only participants who will not be seen or heard on screen without permission from the moderator. Viewers of the webinar will not be able to communicate directly with each other, although they can submit questions directly to the moderator and panelists via the Q&A tool.

Questions?

Please contact the MIPA office at mipa@msu.edu or 517-353-6761 for additional information.

Featured Speakers

Steve Eder, The New York Times

Steve Eder is an investigative reporter for The Times, where he writes about the federal government under President Trump, as well as his personal businesses.

He previously covered the 2016 presidential campaign, writing in-depth articles about the candidates, from Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders to Jeb Bush and Donald Trump. He joined The Times in 2012 in the Sports department, where he examined doping in baseball, domestic violence in the N.F.L., and Qatar’s ambitions to become an international soccer power.

In 2018, Mr. Eder was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for public service for reporting on workplace sexual harassment issues.

Before joining The Times, Mr. Eder covered hedge funds at The Wall Street Journal, where he later became a national legal correspondent. Earlier, he reported on Wall Street banks for Reuters in the aftermath of the financial crisis. He began his career at The Toledo Blade, where he was part of a reporting team that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for uncovering an investment scandal in Ohio state government. He is a Michigan native and graduate of Michigan State University.

Eric Morath, The Wall Street Journal

Eric Morath reports on labor economics and policy from The Wall Street Journal’s Washington Bureau. Previously, Mr. Morath covered the Treasury and Commerce departments, the Postal Service and bankruptcy news. Prior to joining Dow Jones in 2008, he covered the U.S. auto industry in Detroit.

Morath graduated from Michigan State University, where he studied economics and journalism.

Melissa Sanchez, ProPublica Illinois

Melissa Sanchez is a reporter at ProPublica Illinois who is focused on immigrants and low-wage workers. Her work examining Chicago’s punitive ticketing and debt collection system helped prompt major city reforms, including the end of driver’s license suspensions for unpaid parking tickets and debt relief.

She previously reported on topics ranging from education to absentee ballot fraud for The Chicago Reporter, Catalyst Chicago, el Nuevo Herald in Miami and the Yakima (Washington) Herald-Republic. She lives in a 1926 brick bungalow on Chicago’s Northwest Side with her husband, their toddler son, and two cats.

Moderated by Jeremy Steele, Michigan Interscholastic Press Association

Jeremy Steele is executive director of the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association and a specialist in the School of Journalism at Michigan State University, where he teaches various reporting courses. Steele is an award-winning journalist who has also worked for one of Michigan’s largest independent public relations firms.