This week we say hello to Michael Shine, who covers education for the News-Times.
Michael, 22, has been with the News-Times for seven months as the education reporter. In that position, he covers the five school districts in Union County as well as South Arkansas Community College. He also writes for and designs the weekly Newspapers in Education section that comes out on Tuesdays during the school year. He also regularly takes photos for the newspaper.
Michael grew up in Orlando, Florida, as the youngest of three siblings before attending the University of South Florida in Tampa to get a bachelor's degree in mass communications focused on print news.
In his spare time, Michael likes to read and write young adult fiction stories, as well as doing paper crafts.
For Michael, the best part of being a reporter is being able to learn new things on a regular basis and asking questions.
“Growing up homeschooled, I experienced how exciting it can be to learn new things and I’ve grown to appreciate that even more as I’ve gotten older,” Michael said. “Reporting is the chance to learn about new things and share with people what I’ve learned.”