You know the voices, and you know the stories. But behind every story on WGLT is a person who calls this community home just like you do.
The Meet the Newsroom series pulls back the curtain to introduce you to the team that makes WGLT possible. The series continues with WGLT correspondent Michele Steinbacher, whose life in journalism started in print and has now expanded to broadcast journalism. She covers government meetings, community events and newsmaker interviews for WGLT.
“I’ve been a journalist as long as I can recall,” she said. “I feel strongly about it. I feel like journalism is a way I can give back to my community and do my part in helping society function.”
Your job title here is correspondent. What does that mean, and what do you do here?
Being a correspondent means I’m supplementing the full-time newsroom staff. So, we have a set number of full timers here, and to expand our coverage at WGLT, people like me come on board for supplemental reporting, like if there's somebody out of town or there's a particularly busy news week, they bring me on to fill it in.
I'll cover public meetings. I have background in covering government, and also I can pitch features on my own, so it's a little bit of taking assignments from the news directors, and it's a little bit of putting forth some ideas and getting to be a little bit more creative sometimes.
Why do you work in journalism, and what do you like about it?
I've been a journalist as long as I can recall. It's kind of in my DNA. I studied politics and government and English and anthropology, so those really lend themselves to working in a field like this.
I started in print journalism, and after the pandemic, I came over here to WGLT and started in broadcast, and it's been a lot of fun learning how to do it. But I also really feel strongly about it. I feel like journalism is a way that I can give back to my community and really do my part in helping society function.
Is there a specific interaction that you've had with our audience that reminded you why public media matters?
I've been working at WGLT for about six years now, and it is a constant when I am out there and I see people. I've lived in the community for decades, so I know people from all kinds of circles. And whenever I see people I know, they always are really happy to talk about WGLT. They generally want to share how important WGLT is, so they talk about their impact on the landscape, being a local news agency.
People talk about how much they want to support WGLT, and there's usually some concern about the funding atmosphere, and they wish us well, but it's usually like, ‘I'm really glad that you were there,’ or ‘I read that story on Rivian,’ or ‘I saw the story that you guys did on ISU going to nationals,’ things like that. So there's kind of a shared community feeling when I'm out there. I like that.
If you could force everyone in Bloomington-Normal to listen to or read just one story that we've produced this year, which one would it be, and why?
We're only halfway through the year, and there's already been so much good journalism going on here. We've had the series on housing, the homelessness issue, and we also looked at the mobile home parks and how these outside companies were kind of creating a problematic atmosphere for the tenants there.
But honestly, the one that just has come up is what I would really direct people to, and that's that Local Democracy Playbook. I feel like at this moment in time, there's a lot of people out there, myself included, who sometimes feel like, oh my gosh, the sky's falling. What can I do? And I really think that gives you some good pointers, some practical tips on how you can do more than just maybe fret.
What's one thing about your daily job that would most surprise a reader or listener who's only hearing the finished product?
The first thing that comes to mind was how, as a reporter, you go out with a tape recorder, a camera, pen and paper, and you're gathering all this information. And then you have to come back and analyze it, generally in a pretty quick turnaround. But you also have to do the technical aspects. You have to upload the audio and the photographs, and then you have to edit the sound, and you also are editing your writing and working with the content management system, all those kind of things.
What might surprise the listeners is how small and mighty the full-time newsroom is. I am constantly in awe of the full timers. They're so dedicated. It's really more like a calling to see them. They're busy doing their own stories, their own work, but they're always willing to stop and help if I have a question. And these guys do this 24/7. I mean, on the weekends, somebody's on call.
This is WGLT's 60th anniversary, so let's do a prediction. What do you think news media will look like in 60 years, the year 2086?
Your guess is as good as mine, to be honest. But I will say, you know, we started out with smoke signals and conch shells and drumbeats, and people communicate. It's just something we do, and so that is never going to go away.
The medium might change, but I think the bigger question is, what will the news media look like in our country? All around the world, there's different things going on, but I think we have to keep the democratic republic in place and the First Amendment and all that going to have it. We're at an interesting time in our country with these technology billionaires, and there's … pick your flavor, right? There's so many different issues going on, but I really think that we're gonna survive. Human beings are gonna tell stories.
Also, we're gonna look for information that's trusted. If you're out there right now, you can get information from all kinds of different social media, legacy media, nonprofit media, podcast, websites. It's everywhere, but you learn where to come back to, and I feel like in 2086, WGLT is still going to be somewhere that people come back to.
When you aren't at the station, where are we most likely to find you, and what are you doing to unplug?
I'm kind of all over the place. I love reporting because I love learning and I love talking to people and asking questions and getting their stories.
But it's kind of the same thing when I'm not reporting. I really like the outdoors and I like hiking, but I like going to movies. I'm a big movie fan, and I also like going to the arts and traveling. I like day trips, taking the train up to Chicago and hitting the museums.
I am a volunteer with a couple groups. I have volunteered with STAR Literacy, where I tutor adult students who are learning English as an additional language. Sometimes it's their second language, but sometimes it's their third or fourth language, and that's really rewarding. So I'm at the libraries a lot in town, and I would say I also recently volunteered with the Nomad Theatre group. I was a stage manager for the HERStory stories, and that was really fun getting to hear the stories from history about some amazing women. This was during Women's History Month.
Let's wrap it up with a speed round to get to know you just a little better. What's the last good book you've read?
This is kind of a transition from being a tutor. One of my students and I recently read Sandra Cisneros' House on Mango Street, and it's kind of an old classic, and it's a little book with vignettes. But I really recommend people read it. It's short, it's quick, and you really get an interesting look at history of the immigrant experience in Chicago, and also kind of some of the issues that might be timeless for that population. And it's really just a fun read. She's a beautiful writer. She does a great job with painting with words.
What's the movie that you've seen the most?
This is a hard one because I really don't have a movie that I see all the time. I just love movies in general. I can tell you, I did see Sinners three times, and I don't go to movies very often, but that was incredible, especially the famous music scene that had kind of like a mystical time jumping side to it. I like that. Also, just saw The Secret Agent not too long ago at the Normal Theater with Wagner Moura. It was one of the Oscar nominees, so I really liked that.
I guess I'm going to have to say It's a Wonderful Life because every year, my family has a tradition to go watch that together at the Normal Theater.
Who's your favorite NPR host or reporter?
These days, it's Ayesha Rascoe. I just love her Sunday mornings. I make myself a pot of coffee, and I kind of mosey around the house, sit on the porch if the weather's nice, and I really enjoy hearing her. A few years ago, WGLT had a program where she appeared at a Zoom event and it was kind of fun to get to meet her and get to know her.
But of course, there's the GOAT, Nina Totenberg, one of our founding mothers, and I have just really learned so much listening to her coverage in particular of the Supreme Court over the years.
Let's say you've got an out-of-town relative coming to visit you in Bloomington Normal. You've got one day to show them around. Where do you take them to show off the town?
Oh my gosh! Well, it would probably be seasonal. I would say if they had kids, we [have] to go to the Children's Discovery Museum. That is such a jewel of our community.
In the summer, gotta go to Shakespeare Festival at Ewing Manor. Such a great day! You get your little picnic basket, a little wine and cheese, and it's so much fun to be out with the community and see the amazing performances. Love Miller Park, Miller Park Zoo, and of course, you got to have some Lucca Grill pizza. There's so many other things.
