About our local chapter
Press Forward Northern Michigan is a coalition of journalism leaders and community supporters committed to reinvigorating local news in the region. We began our work informally in 2022; in 2023 several coalition members, with funding from Rotary Charities, joined together to survey the regional media industry landscape and explore other strategies for sustaining local news.
In 2024, the group joined Press Forward, a national movement to strengthen local newsrooms, close longstanding gaps in community news and information, advance public policy that expands access to local news, and scale the infrastructure needed to thrive.
The Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation is the Chapter’s fiduciary partner and provides backbone support and some fundraising support. Its advisory body is called the Host Committee.
The Chapter’s mission is to improve the Northern Michigan news ecosystem by reinvigorating and reimagining the local media landscape in partnership with the people who live and work here, resulting in increased transparency, accountability and civic engagement vital for a thriving democracy. We are governed by a host committee of news and community leaders from across our region.
Our host committee
Elizabeth Jensen (Co-chair) is a journalist who writes about media and consults on journalism ethics. She served as NPR’s public editor/ombudsman from 2015-2020 and is a 2025-2026 Knight-Wallace Great Lakes News Fellow at the University of Michigan.
Alison Metiva (Co-chair) is chief operating officer of the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation and will succeed David Mengebier as the foundation’s president and CEO in January 2026. She has been at the foundation since 2005.
Sierra Clark, the reporting specialist for Miigwech, Inc., is Bear Clan Anishinaabe from the Grand Traverse Region. In 2021, she was selected as a Report for America Corps member with the Traverse City Record-Eagle, making her the first full-time Indigenous Affairs Reporter in Michigan and the publication's first Native American journalist.
Michelle Cortright is board secretary for the Boyne Citizen, a non-profit digital news source for Boyne City that she started with other community leaders. She is the former publisher/owner of Harbor House Publishers, which produced community profiles, economic development publications and visitor guides, and published the Great Lakes/Seaway Review.
Jacob Wheeler is the publisher of the Glen Arbor Sun newspaper and works with the student journalists at Northwestern Michigan College. His journalism work has appeared nationally and he is the author of two books based on his time living and reporting in Guatemala.
David “DJ” Jones has been the executive director of the Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation since 2009. Prior to that, he served as the foundation’s program officer from 2000 to 2009.
Nicco Pandolfi is an instruction librarian at Northwestern Michigan College. He has a longstanding interest in and commitment to the stewardship of the knowledge commons, ranging from agricultural seed stocks to public information and creative works.
Rick Brewer has been news director at WCMU since February 2024. Before leading the newsroom, Brewer was WCMU's general assignment reporter covering central and northern Michigan. Prior to landing in Mt. Pleasant, he was a producer for Iowa Public Radio.
Diana Fairbanks leads Northwestern Michigan College’s public relations, marketing, and communications efforts. Previously, she spent nearly two decades as a television news anchor.
Eric Hamp, a fifth-generation newspaper publisher, is the publisher and editor of the Houghton Lake Resorter and Crawford County Avalanche, and the current president of the Michigan Press Association board of directors.
John Bebow is an executive advisor to Bridge Michigan and served as the executive leader from its founding in 2006 through 2022. He worked previously as an investigative reporter for Chicago Tribune, Detroit Free Press, The Detroit News, Ann Arbor News and Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Nathan Payne is regional editor for KFF Health News. He joined KFF Health News after 17 years working in local news, including as the regional editor for investigations for CNHI News and executive editor for the Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Peter Payette joined Interlochen Public Radio in 2000, directed IPR News beginning in 2001, and became the station's executive director in 2016.
Paul Heidbreder is the publisher of the Traverse City Record-Eagle. A past president of the Michigan Press Association, Heidbreder also oversees newsprint supply and negotiations with major newsprint suppliers for CNHI.