Drew Saunders
Freelance business and environmental journalist seeking new full time employment or new freelancing opportunities. Winner of the 2024 environmental journalism award, class C, of the Detroit chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for an Hour Detroit story called Detroit Underwater!
Contact information:
ats2173@columbia.edu
drewsaunders93@gmail.com
Education
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism – Master of Science in journalism
I focused on international and investigative reporting at the J School. While there I was immersed in environmental journalism, data journalism, international reporting, investigative techniques, and working in teams. My master’s project focused on climate and jobs.
Eastern Michigan University – Bachelor of Science in Journalism
I fell in love with reporting as a student. There were weeks when I wrote the entire news section of my student paper, the Eastern Echo!
https://www.easternecho.com/staff/drew-saunders
Experience
Freelance journalist, Concentrate. January 2025 to present
Concentrate is a solutions journalism site covering Washtenaw County. I freelance for them.
https://concentratemedia.com/author/drew-saunders/
Freelance journalist, Pulp. October 2024 to present
The Ann Arbor Public Library has its own online A&E publication. I freelance for them too.
https://pulp.aadl.org/taxonomy/term/217155
Freelance journalist, Inside Climate News. January 2024
I have only done one story so far for ICN, about mass timber, but I am including this because the story is a great example of the journalism that I am passionate about. It is about how the climate change can be judo flipped into becoming an equitable economic gold mine.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/20042024/michigan-tech-cross-laminated-timber/
Freelance journalist, Between The Lines. July 2023 to Present
I contribute to Michigan’s oldest LGBT publication. I recently took over the Where Are They Now column.
https://pridesource.com/contributors/drew-saunders
Freelance journalist, Adam Street Publishing. January 2023 to Present
Adam Street Publishing owns both Current Magazine, Ann Arbor Family and the Toledo City Paper. In my freelancing for them, I have covered the affordability of living in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as well as environmental issues affecting quality of life, and the viability of businesses going green.
https://www.ecurrent.com/author/andrew-saunders/
https://toledocitypaper.com/author/andrew-saunders/
https://annarborfamily.com/author/andrew-saunders/
Freelance journalist, Hour Detroit. October 2022 to Present
Metro Detroit’s monthly features magazine has published some of my best work. This has included work on how Michigan’s auto industry can and is transitioning from ICE to EV production, an investigation into how climate change is affecting Metro Detroit’s infrastructure, and how food sustainability can perfectly coincide with food equity and long term business success.
https://www.hourdetroit.com/author/drew-saunders/
Reporter, The Monroe News. April 2022 to August 2022
I was initially hired into the Monroe News newsroom as a court reporter, but I also covered general assignment topics. Monroe is a city about halfway between Detroit and Toledo. My most substantial piece was an environmental story involving a fuel spill and a recall election petition.
https://www.monroenews.com/staff/7355878001/drew-saunders/
Reporter, The Sun Times-News – November 2020 to April 2022
I was a beat reporter for a weekly newspaper covering the rural towns west of Ann Arbor, Michigan. I covered city hall, the business community, and the school board during the height of the pandemic and the beginnings of the culture wars.
References
1. Kathryn Walsh, Editor of Hour Detroit.
Email: kwalsh@hour-media.com
Phone: 248.691.1800
2. Mary Schoonmaker. Adjunct journalism professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and former associate editor at the Columbia Journalism Review. She was my master’s project advisor.
Email: mes2261@columbia.edu.
Phone: 201.233.4545
3. Howard French. Professor of at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Email: hf2205@columbia.edu.
Phone: 212.854.0163