On this episode we're joined by Kaela Roeder. Kaela is the lead reporter in Washington D.C. and Virginia for Technical dot LY, a national news organization that reports on local innovation economies in the United States, a newsroom that has done so since 2009.

Kaela has been with them for 2 years. Prior to that she's had a few different jobs, including one as deputy editor for Street Sense Media, covering homelessness in the DC/Baltimore region and LGBTQ issues for the Washington Blade.

Kaela is a graduate of American University with a journalism degree where, among other things, she won an award for aspiring LGBTQ journalists.

Kaela explained Technical.ly's purpose and the kind of stories she reports on. She shared how she learned on the fly so that she could cover this beat. And she detailed important things for young journalists to know as well as those she's recently learned that help in the job.

Kaela's salute: Street Sense Media

Kaela's LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaela-roeder/

Kaela's Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/kaelacoverstech/

We also heard from Anita Pinto, filing her monthly update as advisor to The Gateway Times, the school newspaper at the Urban Assembly for Gateway Technology in Manhattan. This is done in conjunction with Press Pass NYC, a non-profit that helps advisors start journalism clubs and programs in schools that don't have them.

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On this episode we're joined by Judith Smelser and Abe Aboraya of the News Collaborative of Central Florida.

Judith is the president and general manager of Central Florida Public Media. She's been in that job since September 2021. That's the only non-profit news organization in Central Florida. She has experience as a reporter and editor as well as a news director, managing editor, and wine columnist. She is a graduate of Rhodes College.

Abe is the government accountability reporter for Oviedo Community News. Judith and Abe's organizations work together as part of the News Collaborative of Central Florida. He's a graduate of the University of Central Florida and has been a journalist for almost 20 years.

The two of them explained why this collaborative is necessary and provided examples of the wins that have happened as a result. They also shared what things they've learned within journalism recently and gave examples of traits necessary to succeed in news reporting.

Abe's salutes: Roger Simmons, Orlando Sentinel and former Sentinel reporter Jason Garcia

Judith's salutes: Oviedo Community News and also NPR Media Reporter David Folkenflik

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On this episode we're joined by Elaine Díaz Rodríguez.

Elaine is the membership director for Tiny News Collective, a non-profit organization whose goal is to equip visionary news entrepreneurs in underserved communities to transform journalism from the ground up, making it more equitable, accessible and connected.

She's been with them since last August. Prior to that she worked in a similar role for another organization, Local Independent Online News Publishers for a little more than 3 years.

Before that she was a journalist in Cuba and executive director at Periodismo de Barrio, a newsroom that covered the intersection of climate, environment, and social justice. And she was a professor at Univrsidad de la Habana, with one of her classes being – social impact of new technology.

We talked about working in journalism roles that emphasize coaching, what her experience running a newsroom in Cuba was like, and her advice for aspiring journalists.

Elaine's salute: Amy Bushatz, Mat-Su Sentinel

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On this episode we're joined by Chalssea Kate Echegoyen and Karis Tsang. They are the editor in chief and the managing editor of The Varsitarian, the award-winning student newspaper at the University of Santo Tomas, the largest college in the Philippines.

Chalssea and Karis described their paths to becoming journalists and explained the state of journalism in the Philippines. They provided examples of their work, including an award-winning issue that focused on protesting government corruption and how they handled an instance in which a coach and athletic director thought the newsroom was too negative in its coverage.

Special thanks to one of their advisors, Felipe Salvosa, for coordinating this interview.

A Nation Flooded With Corruption

https://varsitarian.net/a-nation-flooded-with-corruption/

Their salute: All student journalists

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On this episode we're joined by Jen Russell.

Jen is the founder of The Woodbury Warbler, a hyperlocal newsletter covering 5 municipalities in southern New Jersey. She's been producing the weekly newsletter for about a year. She has a full-time job too – she's a paralegal. She's also a fiber artist and digital artist. She is a graduate of Peirce College.

Jen explained why she started the newsletter and why she's showing her work and keeping a running dialogue about it as she goes along. She explained her philosophy of news as conversation, not product and how everything she does has a singular focus. She also shared her plans for the future and how being a journalism outsider has given her the chance to look at everything through fresh eyes.

A good episode for those thinking about starting their own news project.

Jen's salute: The New Jersey Civic Information Consortium, NJ News Commons, and the Center for Cooperative Media

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On this episode we're joined by Jackie Llanos. Jackie is an immigration reporter for NOTUS, which stands for News of the United States, a newsroom that covers significant national issues and politics.

This interview was taped prior to NOTUS' announcement on March 16 of their plans to rebrand and expand.

Jackie has been with them for 6 months on a two-year fellowship. Previously she was a reporter in Florida for States Newsroom. She is a graduate of the University of Richmond.

Jackie talked about covering immigration from the bureaucratic perspective, focusing on the legal and legislative system, as well as a story she did in her previous job about a U.S. citizen being taken and imprisoned by ICE, which she learned about through a Facebook group.

At the end of the interview you'll again hear from New York City-based high school journalism club advisor Anita Pinto about her latest experiences in guiding and shaping her program at Urban Assembly Gateway School For Technology. You can listen to my original interview with Anita from September here)

Jackie's stories:

U.S. citizen arrested by ICE

https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/04/17/u-s-born-man-held-for-ice-under-floridas-new-anti-immigration-law/

How the immigration crackdown affects elder caretakers

https://www.notus.org/immigration/trump-immigration-crackdown-tps-elder-caretakers

Jackie's salute: Richmond journalism professor Tom Mullen

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Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com)

On this episode we talked to four early-college student journalists at the College Media Association National Convention in Manhattan: Candice Borowitz (Chatham, Communiqué), Ellie Sileo (Lehigh, The Brown & White), Graham Goodman (Ithaca, The Ithacan), and Rebecca Borlace (Michigan, The Michigan Daily).

The students talked about the kind of journalism they were doing, their best journalism accomplishments, the best things they had learned, the kinds of things they hoped to do in the future, and their thoughts on AI.

Candice's salute: Public Source (Pittsburgh)

Ellie's salute: Lehigh's international student magazine, Voices

Graham's salute: Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic and also ProPublica

Rebecca's salute: Adrienne Roberts, Detroit Free Press

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Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com)

On this episode we're joined by Jordan Gass-Poore (GOSS-PO-ray). To try to pin down one job for Jordan is hard. She has 116 projects listed under experience on her LinkedIn page. One expertise is in podcast production and reporting on topics such as climate change and public health but she does plenty of written work too. She's a graduate of Texas State University with a Masters in investigative journalism from the University of London.

Jordan talked about the path through many different jobs. We spotlighted a podcast about environmental hazards she conceived, narrated, and produced for NJ Spotlight News, a piece she wrote about what TV and movies gets wrong about having a parent in prison, and the journalist networking and media collective she's co-founded, Local Switchboard NYC.

She also explained that as a freelancer, there's a lot of things she does beyond just doing the writing, and offered tips on producing and writing for audio. And she highlighted how journalism allows us to find connections with each other that we might not otherwise.

Work examples:

Hazard NJ Podcast

https://www.njspotlightnews.org/podcasts/hazard-nj/

What Movies And TV Get Wrong About Having A Parent In Prison

https://scalawagmagazine.org/2022/06/prison-movies-lies/

Jordan's salutes:

Michael Sol Warren, her former editor at NJ Spotlight News and now reporter at WNYC

Jamie Kraft, senior managing editor, NJ Spotlight News

Joe Lee, NJ PBS general manager

Vernon Loeb, Inside Climate News

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Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com)

Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social

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