A Better Press for a Better World Webinar Series: Covering a Beat

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

Tina Reed, FierceHealthcare

Tina Reed oversees FierceHealthcare and all of its publications. Tina has been reporting on health care for more than a decade and her work has appeared in the Washington Business Journal, the Capital Gazette, AnnArbor.com, The Ann Arbor News and the Las Vegas Review-Journal. She has a bachelor’s in journalism with a specialty in health promotion from Michigan State University. She lives in Washington, D.C.

Gabrielle Russon, Orlando Sentinel

Gabrielle is a tourism reporter covering theme parks at the Sentinel. She previously covered higher education. A Midwestern native, Gabrielle has worked as a reporter at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, the Toledo Blade and the Kalamazoo Gazette. She graduated from Michigan State University. Her hobbies are running and baseball.

Emily Wilkins, Bloomberg Government

Emily Wilkins is an award-winning congressional reporter for Bloomberg Government, covering the House, Senate and political campaigns. She previously worked for CQ Roll Call, covering education, labor and immigration, and was a city hall reporter at The Bryan-College Station Eagle in Texas. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Michigan State University.

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.