Alumnus Mike Eckel, Salt '96, who is currently covering the Russian invasion of Ukraine from the front lines for Radio Free Europe was featured in a February 21 article by the Portland Press Herald. The piece, titled "Reporter with deep ties to Maine tells of fear, uncertainty in Ukraine," follows Mike's decades-long journey from being a student in Maine to a reporter covering one of the most pressing stories of our time.
In an interview with the publication before the start of the war, Mike reflected, “There’s a lot of improvisation when you’re covering a story. You go in and say, ‘OK this is what the story is going to be.’ And then the story turns into something completely different and you have to roll with it to improvise. That’s what it feels like right now.”
Read advice from Mike shared with the MECA&D community on March 2