Featured Speakers:

Isaac Ritchey, Central Michigan Life
Isaac Ritchey is a photojournalist and summer editor-in-chief of Central Michigan Life, the award-winning newspaper at Central Michigan University. He is working toward his degree in journalism with a minor in multimedia design, and is working toward a creative writing certificate. At CM Live, he’s served as photo editor and worked several beats as a senior reporter. Ritchey has professional bylines for Central Michigan Life, Western Herald, Daily Chronicle, Altoona Mirror, Michigan Out of Doors Magazine, The Detroit News, Times Union, The Spectrum, Epicenter, SFGate and the Detroit Free Press. In 2020, Ritchey won an honorable mention in the Sports Action portion at the Michigan Press Photographers Association annual conference. Ritchey was born in Pennsylvania, lived in Wisconsin for nine years and moved to Michigan in 2015.

Lizzy Lawrence, The Michigan Daily
Elizabeth (Lizzy) Lawrence is a senior at the University of Michigan and the editor-in-chief of The Michigan Daily. She joined the News section of The Daily as a freshman and has been journalism-obsessed ever since. She majors in Sociology and International Studies, and hopes to work in health or education journalism after college.

Evan Jones, The State News
Evan Jones is editor-in-chief of Michigan State University’s award-winning independent student newspaper, The State News. He’s a rising senior finishing a degree in journalism and history. In February, Jones accepted a position with The MediaWise Voter Project out of The Poynter Institute as a campus correspondent, leading a digital literacy campaign with fact-checking tools for social media. His reporting work also includes stories about Michigan’s politics, environment and economy with Capital News Service and coverage of the city of East Lansing at The State News. ​Before entering journalism he was on the MSU Debate Team.

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.

In 1983, the principal of Hazelwood East High School outside St. Louis, Missouri, censored the student newspaper. The paper included a special teen issue section with articles on teen pregnancy and the impact of divorce on students.

Members of the student staff sued.

The case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which held in 1988 that a high school-sponsored newspaper produced as part of a class and without a “policy or practice” establishing it as a public forum for student expression could be censored.if school officials demonstrate a reasonable educational justification and where their censorship was viewpoint neutral.

Hazelwood remains one of the most influential student speech cases, expanding school control over student speech from previous precedent. Join our Q&A about the Hazelwood case with Cathy Kuhlmeier Frey, about her experience as a student journalist and student expression advocate.

Featured Speaker:

Cathy Kuhlmeier Frey
Cathy Kuhlmeier Frey was one of three students involved in the 1988 landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier.

The case involved censorship of articles in The Spectrum, the student newspaper of Hazelwood East High School in St. Louis, Missouri. The school principal removed articles concerning teen pregnancy and divorce because he felt individuals could be identified in the articles. The Supreme Court ruled against the students, allowing school administrators more authority to censored school-sponsored newspapers.

Kuhlmeier, 54, lives in Rogersville, Missouri, a small community in southwest Missouri. She works for a large insurance company handling workers’ compensation. She has been married to Mike Frey for 16 years and is the mother to two biological adult children, Haley and Eric, and five stepchildren.

Kuhlmeier actively travels and speaks regarding her experiences with censorship. She has been an advocate speaking to state legislators across the country about the New Voices movement in hopes to pass laws to restore rights to student journalists lost in the Hazelwood case.

Moderated by Jeremy Steele, Michigan Interscholastic Press Association & Elizabeth Cyr, yearbook and newspaper adviser, Stockbridge High School

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.

Elizabeth Cyr has found the secret to a happy life: helping young people unlock their potential. She’s been doing so at Stockbridge High School for two decades. Nothing makes her happier than helping students unleash their ideas through contemporary graphic design tools and strong journalism conventions. She coaches staffs on Uncaged News & Online and Panther yearbook. Her staffs have won numerous awards at the state and national levels including the MIPA Spartan, NSPA Pacemaker and CSPA Silver Crown. She was named the 2017 Golden Pen Adviser and earned the 2019 JEA Diversity Award. She also advises MIPA’s All-State Student Journalist Advisory Cohort, a statewide group of student journalists from member schools.

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.

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.

Featured Speakers:

Ruta Ulcinaite, KMTV 3 News Now
Ruta Ulcinaite joined the KMTV 3 News Now team in June 2019. She graduated Michigan State University in May 2019 with a major in broadcast journalism and political science. In her time at Michigan State, she worked for the student newscast, Focal Point News, as an assignment editor, producer, reporter and anchor. She has been an intern at HOMTV in Okemos, Michigan, NBC affiliate WDIV in Detroit and The State News, Michigan State’s student newspaper.

Her experience has propelled her into an enriching career as a full time reporter. With her focus being in politics, she has already helped cover important stories at KMTV on illegal immigration and the 2020 presidential race. Ruta moved to the United States when she was a little girl. Born in Siauliai, Lithuania, Ruta loves to travel back to her home country and visit new ones as often as she can.

Tony Black, CNYCentral
Tony Black joined the CNYCentral team in January 2020 as a multimedia journalist, covering central New York for the Syracuse-based NBC, CBS and CW affiliates.

Tony graduated in December 2019 with a degree in broadcast journalism from Michigan State University, where his love for storytelling began. During his time at MSU, he worked for the Emmy award-winning college newscast, Focal Point News. Starting as a producer, he worked his way up to senior producer before becoming a reporter and anchor. He is honored to have received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Broadcast Education Association, the Michigan Association of Broadcasters as well as the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for his work as a producer and reporter.

Tony has held internships at FOX 2 News in Detroit, WOOD-TV 8 in Grand Rapids and HOMTV in Meridian Township, Michigan.

Mike Castellucci, Michigan State University School of Journalism
Michael Castellucci says he’s been known to “phone it in.” His innovative work with his iPhone has netted him worldwide attention and acknowledgement as a pioneer in mobile journalism.

While working in broadcast TV in Dallas, Castellucci shot an entire half hour special on his iPhone. “Phoning It In” — which he also produced, wrote and edited — captured popular acclaim and high-profile industry recognition, including Emmy and Edward R. Murrow Awards. Castellucci followed-up with a sequel and thereby set the stage for additional awards and speaking invitations regarding the ground-breaking show. He has worked in Dallas at WFAA-TV, in San Diego at KUSI-TV and in Los Angeles at KCBS-TV.

Bob Gould, Michigan State University School of Journalism
Bob Gould is an award-winning broadcast journalist who has spent nearly three decades in the industry first working in local news and then teaching students the craft of visual storytelling.

Bob started his career as a TV news photojournalist in 1990, shooting and editing stories daily at WILX-TV in Lansing, but after a couple of years, moved to WZZM-TV in Grand Rapids. In 1995, he became the Chief Photojournalist, overseeing a staff of nearly a dozen photojournalists and editors, continuing to produce TV news stories every day.

In 2007, he left the news business for a dream job—to teach broadcast journalism at his alma mater, Michigan State University in the School of Journalism.

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.

Featured Speakers:

Romando Dixson, Clarion Ledger and Hattiesburg American
Romando Dixson is the sports editor for the Clarion Ledger and Hattiesburg American, part of the USA Today Network.

Dixson has spent nearly 17 years as a journalist, beginning his career as a sports writer in Newark, Ohio. Prior to moving to Mississippi in 2019, he spent nearly four years at the Greenville News in South Carolina, where he was an editor overseeing a team of seven reporters. Over his career, Dixson has been a reporter, multimedia journalist, digital producer and editor. He is a graduate of Michigan State University.

Remi Monaghan, KTEN-TV
Remi Monaghan is the weekend sports anchor for KTEN, an NBC affiliate that covers parts of Texas and Oklahoma.

Born and raised in Metro Detroit, Remi grew up watching Detroit-area teams, which fueled her passion for sports. In high school, she had her first taste of sports broadcasting in a TV production class, which she credits for her love and appreciation for television.

Remi spent four years at Michigan State University in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences as a journalism major. She minored in sports journalism and completed five different internships during that time.

As a student broadcaster for BTN Student U, she was able to be the color commentator and sideline reporter for several MSU sporting events that were broadcast live to the BTN website.

Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times
Dan Woike is the national basketball writer for the Los Angeles Times, a job he moved into after covering the Chargers’ first season back in Los Angeles for The Times. He previously covered the Clippers during the “Lob City” era for the Orange County Register. He’s also covered the Angels, the Dodgers and USC while in Los Angeles. A Chicagoan in search of good pizza on the West Coast, he’s always looking for story tips and ideas. Woike is a graduate of Eastern Illinois 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.

Featured Speakers:

Lauren Gibbons, MLive Media Group
Lauren Gibbons is a reporter for MLive’s Public Interest Team, covering federal politics and policy. Previously, she covered the state Senate for MIRS News. She is a longtime Lansing resident and Michigan State University graduate. Gibbons also is president of the Mid-Michigan Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, Nashville Public Radio
Sergio Martínez-Beltrán is Nashville Public Radio’s political reporter and host of “The Tri-Star State“ podcast. Before moving to Nashville, Martínez-Beltrán covered education for the Standard-Examiner newspaper in Ogden, Utah. He is a Puerto Rico native and his work has also appeared on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” “All Things Considered,” “On Point” and “Here & Now”; NPR station WKAR, San Antonio Express-News, Inter News Service and GFR Media. He is a graduate of Michigan State University.

Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News
Mary Sell is a reporter and editor for Alabama Daily News, an online news site based in the state’s capital. Since launching in 2018, Alabama Daily News’ morning email has become a must-read for elected officials, lobbyists, state agency leaders and other Alabamians. The website also supplies content to newspapers, TV stations and news websites around the state. Sell’s coverage has included the ouster from office of a governor in 2017 for his inappropriate relationship with a staffer. Until COVID-19 took over the news cycle, she had been writing about former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ efforts to win back is former U.S. Senate seat. She has won multiple Alabama Press Association awards for her First Amendment and deadline reporting.

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.