Michael Ballway on Muck Rack

Michael Ballway

West Springfield
As seen in: The Westfield News, Yahoo Sports, Yahoo, El Pueblo Latino, MassLive, The Republican (Springfield, MA), Government Technology, Cherokee Tribune Ledger-News, The Reminder (East Longmeadow, MA)
Covers:  Local news, politics, features, education, people.
Back to Michael Ballway’s profile

Interview

What was your first job as a journalist?

Reporter at a rural weekly newspaper covering town politics, feature stories and everything else. No finer school of journalism exists.

What tools and software do you use to do your job?

MS Office, Adobe products.

Why did you become a journalist?

I enjoy explaining complex issues and telling human stories that connect readers to their neighborhood and help them become better citizens.

What story are you most proud of writing or working on?

Taxpayers questioned a large school district budget hike request. I and my editor did a four-part series on what factors drove "overspending"

When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?

Listening to a podcast or driving my kids to hockey or dance.

What's the most common misperception about your beat?

"How can you find enough news to fill the paper in a small town?" Easy. There's interesting people everywhere -- so there's news everywhere.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview? Create a Muck Rack profile.
 •  Privacy  •  Terms  •  Security and Legal  •   •   •   • 

© 2026 Muck Rack

SOC 2® Certified