By Karen List
Michaela Chesin, class of 2020, is a topics reporter at the Provincetown (MA) Banner, a Gannett/Gatehouse newspaper. She recently covered a story about former Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse being chosen as Provincetown’s new town manager. Caeli says this is a story that’s “come full circle” for her since last year’s coverage of Morse, his relationships at UMass and his election challenge to Congressman Richard Neal in the 1st Congressional District — coverage that started in the UMass Daily Collegian.
Caeli also has written stories about how tweens view quarantine life (for the Arizona Republic) and how an Our Voices Matter group has formed in Provincetown schools.
"The more I do this work, the more I realize that there's always more to learn, be it a better story angle, interviewing techniques, sifting through a data set or capturing a photo. I think in the day-to-day, it's also important to reconnect to the "why" of it all. From international stories to small-town news, journalism allows for deep discussion and sincere moments of connection. Despite all the distance and heaviness of this last year, the stories will push you forward, break you down and make you better. I try to never take that process for granted."