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Journalism, Activism, Satire ... What’s the Difference?
Moderator:
Edgar B. Herwick III is an award-winning journalist who hosts The Curiosity Desk, GBH News’ daily show where he answers your questions, digs deeper into trending topics and explores some of the everyday mysteries hiding in plain sight. He is also co-host of GBH News’ The Culture Show. The Curiosity Desk and The Culture Show can be heard on GBH 89.7, gbhnews.org, and the GBH News YouTube channel. Herwick holds degrees in history and communications from Villanova University and once lost big on an episode of the TV game show Jeopardy!
Panelists:
Brad Petrishen has worked as a journalist in Massachusetts since graduating in 2008 from Framingham State University, where he served as editor of the school newspaper. He has been recognized numerous times by the New England Newspaper & Press Association, and received the Michael Donoghue Freedom of Information Award from the New England First Amendment Coalition. He has reported on several regions in the state, including, since 2014, in Worcester for the Telegram & Gazette.
Giselle Rivera-Flores is the author of Hispanic-ish on Substack, where she explores culture, identity, and the lived realities of the Latino community. She is also the founder of The People Praxis and serves as Director of Communications for Massachusetts State Senator Robyn Kennedy, bringing a people-centered approach to public-sector storytelling, strategy, and systems change.
Bill Shaner is a freelance journalist based in Worcester. With a focus on urban inequity, housing, policing and labor issues, he’s covered the city since 2020 in Worcester Sucks and I Love It, his independent newsletter with thousands of subscribers. In it he carries on the tradition of scrappy alt weekly journalism picked up during his time at Worcester Magazine. His freelance work has recently appeared in Teen Vogue, The Intercept, Welcome To Hell World, and Mind The Moss. He is the recipient of five first place awards for reporting from the New England Newspaper and Press Association. In 2022, the Worcester Business Journal named him one of the 50 most influential people in the city on the strength of his writing, which they said “provides a voice of critical dissent using his unique brand of opinion journalism.”
Matt Shearer is a reporter for WBZ NewsRadio in Boston, where he focuses on fun and funny stories about people and places in Massachusetts. A lifelong resident of the Commonwealth, he shares his reports across social media platforms and was named “New England's most viral journalist” by The Boston Globe. Shearer has over 121,000 followers on Instagram alone, and is largely responsible for the station's 200,000+ followers on TikTok. His unique approach to social media storytelling has earned him a National Edward R Murrow Award for “Excellence in Innovation,” two “Best of Boston” titles by Boston Magazine, as well as international press coverage in outlets ranging from Bloomberg to People Magazine.
