About

OVERVIEW

‘Living Free’ is a project created by a group of journalism students from Temple University’s Klein College of Media and Communication. The students involved took a course called Solutions Journalism: Covering Addiction, through which they spent a full semester reporting on addiction and recovery solutions in Philadelphia.

You can click here to take a look at the course syllabus.

EDITORIAL STAFF

Executive Editor: Michaela Winberg
michaela.winberg@temple.edu
Michaela Winberg is a junior journalism major and a history minor at Temple University. She currently works as the supervising editor of her college newspaper, The Temple News, a production assistant intern for a Philly startup podcast called Story Shuffle, and a remote correspondent for The Bellingham Herald, a daily newspaper based out of Washington state.

Last summer, Michaela also worked as a correspondent for The McClatchy Company when the Democratic National Convention came to Philadelphia. She reported on the Washington state delegation during all four days of the convention, publishing stories online and in print.  In the fall, she interned at the city desk of the Philadelphia Inquirer, covering everything from local crime to political rallies to profiles of World War II veterans living in Philadelphia. Michaela is excited for the opportunity to cover addiction in Philadelphia and expand her skills as a journalist using solutions journalism.

Managing Editor: Grace Shallow
grace.shallow@temple.edu
Grace Shallow is a sophomore journalism student at Temple University in Philadelphia. On paper, she is the deputy features editor for The Temple News, an intern for WHYY’s PlanPhilly and a contributor for the Spirit News with previous work at her hometown’s paper, Cinn City News. On campus, she’s often running from interview to interview with a coffee in her hand and a Moleskine notebook in her backpack.

Solutions Editor: Emily Scott
tuf39703@temple.edu
Emily Scott is a junior journalism major and history minor at Temple University. She works as the Features Editor of The Temple News, editing and covering people, places and things around campus and the city.

She is also currently an intern for a startup project called the Philadelphia Reentry Reporting Collaborative. The project covers reentry after incarceration in the city with a solutions journalism approach. Emily is currently working on a story for The Notebook about reentry into education. This past summer, Emily interned for Metro Éireann, a multicultural newspaper in Dublin where she covered refugee and immigrant news.

Multimedia Editor: Brianna Spause
tuf04572@temple.edu
Brianna Spause is a lot of things. She is a senior studying journalism at Temple University, an Emmy award winner, photo editor of The Temple News, president of Aperture Photo Agency, contributing editor of JUMP Magazine, coffee lover, a distinctly bad dancer… the list goes on. This spring, she’s also interning on the Photo Desk of The Philadelphia Inquirer and trying to navigate her next step into “the real world” – whatever that means.

Brianna has a passion for illustrating the human experience through photography and videography. She has documented resilience in the struggling education system in South Africa, youths on house arrest channeling frustration into music production, the impact of redevelopment in proud neighborhoods, and always has her ear to the ground to see what’s next.

Facebook Editor: Marianna Sann
tuf54653@temple.edu
Marianna Sann is a junior studying journalism at Temple University. Her passion for sharing experiences of people with real-life situations and untold stories, has led her to pursue a career in documentary storytelling. She co-hosted Temple Pulse, a radio show part of Temple’s student run radio station, WHIP. Marianna is in the process of producing and co-hosting her own podcast show called contactHIGH. She wonders if her plans to share stories her way lives outside the world of traditional journalism. As a Resident Assistant for college students living on campus, and student worker for Temple’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Marianna loves supporting and interacting with others.

Instagram Editor: Jake Galli
tuf65658@temple.edu
Jake Galli is a junior Journalism student at Temple University. In his time at Temple, he achieved many leadership positions, most notably as an E-board member of Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity during 2016. He also contributed to WHIP as an on air host on the shows Stadium Talk and Temple Sports Hour, and engineered both football and basketball broadcasts for the station.

In his experience outside of Temple, Jake interned at WCHE in the summer of 2016, working with broadcasting pioneer Bill Werndl. He also plans on interning with the Eagles or Sixers this summer. Going forward, Jake hopes to find a job in sports media, but will also use his minor in computer science to more poignantly display the raw data and information that most other journalists/publications fail to capitalize on.

Twitter Editor: Taylor Allen
tuf89707@temple.edu
Taylor Allen is a sophomore Journalism major with a Political Science minor at Temple University. She also does the Morning Updates for WHIP, Temple’s student radio station. She is the creator of WHIP’s The District where she and a co-host discuss Philadelphia and Pennsylvania state politics every Tuesday and Thursday night; 7-8 pm. She previously interned for Solomon Jones at 900amWURD for the “Wake Up With WURD” show where she learned about radio production and promotion through social media. She is a member of Temple’s Association of Black Journalists. She has volunteered with Update Now during her first year. She is the executive producer of TUTV’s Temple Talk, Temple’s only entertainment day show.

Contributor: Maggie Andresen
tue90146@temple.edu
Maggie Andresen is a graduating senior studying journalism at Temple University. She specializes in documentary storytelling through photography and videography. Maggie has produced work for audiences in the United States, South Africa, and Italy. She had the pleasure of working as an intern for New Orleans-based newspaper The Times-Picayune, and will join the video team of The Denver Post this coming summer. Maggie’s work focuses primarily on elevating voices from marginalized communities. She has worked with formerly and currently incarcerated women in Philadelphia to raise consciousness about the reality of gendered incarceration, produced a short documentary focusing on AIDS orphans and HIV positive mother living in South Africa discussing the new paradigm of how the illness is perceived, and created a multimedia project that followed West African migrant workers living in a dilapidated tent city in southern Italy facing intimidation by the Calabrese mafia. Maggie hopes to continue elevating voices by covering addiction in Philadelphia through the lens of solutions-driven journalism.

Contributor: Zach Bourgeois
tuf54317@temple.edu
Zach Bourgeois is a junior Journalism major at Temple University. Zach has come into Temple unsure of his path in journalism, venturing off into several different aspect during his time at college. Experienced in reporting for music, sports, movies, and opinion pieces, Zach has also go on to produce, and host his own show on WHIP, the student run radio organization on campus. Covering addiction holds a close connection to Zach personally and he hopes to bring that to the work you will see here.

Contributor: Meghan Costa
tuf87094@temple.edu
Meghan Costa studies journalism and psychology at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She also writes for the schools newspaper, The Temple News. After graduation, Meghan hopes to stay in Philadelphia and write for a magazine or newspaper. She would like to specialize in mental health reporting, but she is open to any and all opportunities that come her way. Meghan also has a strong passion for creative writing, and is always looking to collaborate with other creatives on projects of any kind. Some of her favorite writers include e.e Cummings, T.S. Elliot, and Kurt Vonnegut. Meghan is originally from West Chester, which is a suburb of the Philadelphia area.

Contributor: Megan Dorantes
mdorantes@temple.edu
Megan Dorantes was born and raised in Arizona, relocating to Philadelphia in 2013 to attend Temple University, where she is currently in her last semester.

Megan started by publishing profiles on community members in the Arizona TriState area; but as a university student, Megan changed focus to editorial/criticism writing, where she wrote and self-published reviews on various Philadelphia arts/performances.

Megan is constantly trying to expand her experience with media design, having published multiple webpages for various class and work content. She has also done work in digital curations, recently putting together a web collection on female sexuality. Megan hopes to continue her writing and media criticism work, as well as building on her editing credentials.

Contributor: ZyMoon Gillespie-Anderson
tug56783@temple.edu
Hailing from Brooklyn NY, Fede ZyMoon Gillespie-Anderson is a Freshman Economics major at Temple University. While he is currently majoring in economics, he is still unsure what he intends to study for the majority of his college career and is exploring a wide range of subjects. This will, in fact, be his first time venturing into the field of journalism. However, though he lacks experience, he is very eager to learn. He is excited to learn more about the ins and outs of solutions journalism and the effects of addiction and mental health issues on people’s lives.

Contributor: Albert Hong
albert.hong@temple.edu
Albert Hong is a senior journalism major and digital technologies minor at Temple University. As someone who has never personally been affected by addiction, or experienced it with a friend or family member, he’s hoping to gain more knowledge on the issue at both a local and national scale. Through talking with those who have dealt with addiction, he’s also hoping to gain an understanding of how and why addiction has become something so serious to be considered an epidemic. The idea of solutions journalism is also something that intrigues him, as someone who has considered how he could use his journalistic skills to foster viable and realistic solutions to issues.

Other than looking at the journalism industry, Albert’s usually keeping a close eye on the local and national tech communities, as well as the video game industry. During his free time, if he’s not catching up on his ever-growing backlog of games (currently playing Hitman Absolution), he’s trying to keep up with the endless amount of Korean dramas out there (currently watching Goblin).

Contributor: Jim McCormick
tua60748@temple.edu
For the past decade, Jim McCormick has worked as an analyst covering the NFL and NBA for ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine. From 2009 to 2010, he served as a regular panelist for The Washington Post’s online NFL platform, The League. In addition to written content for The League, Jim conceived and produced the interview podcast series, “Behind the Helmet.” The fun podcast featured several top NFL stars talking about life off the field. From 2011-2012, Jim was the lead high school football editor for ESPN.com, an experience that taught him a great deal about budgeting and formatting content in a complex vertical. Jim served as an editor and co-publisher of the nationally distributed BLITZ Magazine from 2006 to 2010 in what was a broad learning experience as a media entrepreneur.

Seeking to complete a journalism degree from Temple University he first pursued in 2006, Jim is eager to learn about and engage in the coverage of addiction in America.

Contributor: Megan Milligan
tug67922@temple.edu
Megan Milligan is a junior at Temple University, majoring in Journalism. A photographer, she loves traveling capturing everything along the way. She is from Delaware County, Pennsylvania. She was junior editor of the Delaware County Community College newspaper, The Communitarian. She has also contributed to both The Temple News and The Chestnut Hill Local.

Contributor: Erin Moran
tuf62032@temple.edu
Erin Moran is a junior journalism major and political science minor at Temple University. She currently works as a Deputy Features Editor of her college  newspaper, The Temple News, and a regular freelancer for the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Chestnut Hill Local.

Formerly, Erin worked as a features intern for the Philadelphia Inquirer, an editorial intern at Paris-based fashion magazine NOWFASHION and an editorial intern at Philadelphia Style Magazine. She has interviewed a Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice, covered political protests following the 2016 election and sat front-row to cover Men’s Fashion Week and Couture Week in Paris, France. She’s always looking for a new story to tell and a new ice cream shop to try.

Contributor: Danielle Nick
danielle.nick@temple.edu
Danielle Nick is a senior journalism student at Temple University. Through her coursework and internships, she has grown as a multimedia journalist and is looking forward to graduation. She believes traditional hard news is valuable, but incomplete. Solutions journalism, on the other hand, offers a new, exciting, and improved way to tell a story. She is eager to look at social issues through a new lens and help to dismantle the negative stigma of addiction.