Michael is a writer, reporter, photographer, videographer, journalism/communications teacher, and writing consultant based in Gainesville, Florida. His reporting now focuses primarily on health care and medicine, science and technology, and history, especially World War II. But he has also covered politics from city councils to presidential candidates, crime, courts, education, business and employment, wildlife and the environment, fitness and nutrition, military, high school, college and pro sports, travel, weather, celebrities, and large events and festivals.
His work has resulted in journalism awards and scholarships, an assistantship, and five fellowships. It has been produced for or picked up by: TIME, Discover, the Associated Press, The Tennessean, Patch (AOL), NPR/PBS, Publishers Weekly, and several other media outlets. The website he launched in 2010 covering two counties in Georgia began without any content or hits but grew to attract tens of thousands of unique visitors a month.
His proficiencies include: writing, reporting, editing, photography, videography, multimedia, page design, public relations, social media, open records and meetings, and content and freelance management.
Awards include five in the Society of Professional Journalists’ Green Eyeshade Awards since 2017: best of division for television, best of division for magazines, first place in television documentaries, first place in magazine feature writing, and third place in magazine feature writing.
Michael’s most recent fellowship, the RIAS Berlin Commission’s international journalist exchange, sent him to Germany and Belgium to meet with and learn from top politicians, diplomats, and journalists at NATO; European Commission headquarters; the U.S.’s German embassy; Bild, the most-read print publication outside of Asia; and other locations in the two countries. Later, as part of the exchange, Michael hosted a German broadcast journalist for a week in Florida.
Michael at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, for the RIAS Berlin Commission’s 2017 international journalist exchange fellowship.
Before college, he had the privilege of serving as a U.S. student ambassador over three summers in Australia, England, France, Ireland, Italy, Malta, and Wales. He also studied at the University of Cambridge one summer.
Michael attended Middle Tennessee State University for his undergraduate work and started with the school’s student newspaper in 2007, eventually holding the position of editor in chief. During college, he was also the rechartering president for the Society of Professional Journalists chapter; completed two internships for the Daily News Journal in Murfreesboro, Tennessee; and had several in-depth freelance articles published in between internships.
After graduating with his bachelor’s in journalism, he began a six-month reporting internship at the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Upon completion, he moved to metro Atlanta to launch and direct a news website covering portions of Cobb and Douglas counties for Patch, AOL’s network of local news websites, helping the site become a go-to news source for the communities covered. In addition to being the site’s primary reporter, photographer, videographer, and editor, Michael was also in charge of freelancer and blogger management, event organization and promotion, and many more components that made the site thrive.
Michael interviewing 96-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor Cass Phillips in his Pensacola, Florida, home for a TV special commemorating the 75th anniversary of the attack.
Having always planned to go to graduate school, he eventually moved from Georgia to Florida to work on his master’s in health/science communications from the University of Florida. He graduated with the degree in December 2014 after finishing his 126-page thesis, “Investigating News on a Nuisance: Media Framing and Stakeholder Perspectives on Florida’s Invasive Pythons.”
While in graduate school at UF, Michael taught undergraduate journalism and public relations students, and he continues there as an adjunct professor, teaching five class sections a semester. The classes he teaches or has taught are: Multimedia Writing, Multimedia Reporting, Writing Mechanics, Problems and Ethics in Journalism, and News Center Practicum, which has him serving as a news editor in UF’s Innovation News Center, home of the NPR/PBS affiliate WUFT.
Michael teaches professionals, too, as a writing consultant, leading workshops during which he provides coaching on: document preparation; team planning; grammar, punctuation, and style; editing; and overall tight, clear, engaging end-product documents. Though his consulting specialty is science writing, he can provide workshops in any field, and they’re customized to the specific organization in line with its communication needs and style preferences. His coaching extends to before (pre-meeting activities) and after (“grading” writing assignments provided to participants) the actual workshop.
Among Michael’s other passions are conservation and the environment. In 2013, he served as the first-ever visiting media specialist for White Oak Conservation, a premiere facility for 20-plus rare and endangered species in northeastern Florida. He also volunteered for more than four years between the Chattanooga and Nashville zoos.
Michael in downtown Powder Springs, Georgia, during his time with Patch, AOL’s network of local news websites.
He enjoys traveling and has been to several states and countries. He devotes his free time to nature photography, reading, writing, current events, chess, billiards, guitar, recycling, maintaining a vegan diet, and crossing his fingers that a literary agent will pick up his political thriller.
He owes an endless amount of gratitude to Michelle, Garry, Hannah, Carol, Wayne, and Jean; his other family; his friends; teachers and professors; co-workers past and present; and many other great people.
You can follow him on Twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn and friend him on Facebook. Or feel free to contact him through the site’s contact page.
