Reproductive rights is both an interesting and challenging topic to cover nationally in 2025 because so much seems to be happening on a daily basis. Our guest on this week's episode, Elisha Brown of States Newsroom has a daily responsibility of both aggregator (sharing stories from States Newsroom's local offices across the country) and reporter, finding her own stories to tell in a daily newsletter, Reproductive Rights Today.
"My purpose is to continue figuring out how to best tell how policy affects everyday people," she said.
As Elisha said "there's always going to be stories that have not been told." Some of the ones that she's written about include an explanation of what IVF is (From when Minnesota governor Tim Waltz was explaining the birth of his children), a look at how different religions view abortion, how Donald Trump and other Republicans "co-opted" an economist's plan to provide government funding for savings accounts for newborns, and a conversation with those in abortion advocacy about current abortion rights and limits in the age of Roe vs Wade.
This is an emotionally charged topic and Elisha acknowledged that even just doing the reading, let alone the reporting could be "terrifying" because of circumstances and consequences. It's definitely not an easy beat to cover.
Elisha has had work experiences in the form of either assignments, jobs or internships at some prominent publications, including The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, and The New York Times. She's determined to stick it out through journalism's tough times and has this message for those who might want to enter the profession but are worried about its long-term future.
Don't be discouraged by the onslaught of layoffs and newsrooms new and old shuttering. Throughout time the press has found a way to persevere. And we'll never stop telling the news ever. We're all just one big newspaper. We're still gonna tell the news."
Hope you'll listen to the episode.
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