Free Press hires reporter

CHENEY- Michaela Friedrich is the newest addition to the Cheney Free Press. She is a junior in the Gonzaga journalism program and is looking forward to her new gig.

"I'm really excited to be here-this is my first job in journalism outside of the Gonzaga Bulletin," Michaela said. "After I graduate, I plan on staying in the general area. I'm excited to start being a part of the Cheney community."

Michaela was born and raised in Patterson, Calif., a small agricultural community in the Central Valley. She moved to Spokane three years ago after enrolling at GU as a journalism major.

"I chose this occupation because I like writing. I've done a lot of creative and academic writing, so I figured if I chose a degree where I could work on my writing and interview skills-I love talking to people-asking questions- I thought it was a perfect fit.

"I took a minor in English writing to form a well-rounded communication base-that was my goal. The more I got into my classes and worked on the Bulletin, the more I liked how it kept me involved in everything. I learned a lot about people regularly, which was really cool to me."

Michaela has functioned as a staff writer at the Bulletin for three years. This fall, she will be the Arts and Entertainment editor.

She says she's looking forward to working in a smaller market community like Cheney.

"I'm not a city girl-even Spokane is a bit big for me. I don't like dealing with the traffic, cars, and stoplights," Michaela said. "In smaller towns like where I am from, I could go anywhere and know someone. People would ask me about my dad, a third-generation farmer, or my grandpa or aunt. I like that feeling of being in touch with people and forming meaningful relationships."

Michaela said she'd take small-town journalism over big-city journalism any day.

"I like small-town journalism better-not that I think I would be incapable of working at a daily-I'm a hard worker, so I'd be fine," she said. "But for me- at least for right now-working at the Free Press is great.

"I get the sense that the stigma against the media isn't as prevalent at a smaller market newspaper-I don't want to be a reporter who walks into a room and it's like, 'Oh, she's with them, I don't want to talk to her.'"

Michaela believes the only place to get hyper-local news is your community newspaper.

"You can hear or read big headlines anywhere you go, but at the end of the day, at least for me, I care about what's going on in my little community," she said. "If something is directly impacting me, immediately, I want to hear about it-want to know I can trust the people reporting on it."