Eric Freedman

Associate Professor
Phone: (517) 355-4729
Fax: (517) 355-7710
Room: 345 CAS Building
Email: freedma5@msu.edu

Bio

ERIC FREEDMAN 
Eric Freedman is associate professor of journalism and former associate dean of International Studies & Programs. During his 20-year reporting career, he covered public affairs and legal affairs for newspapers in New York and Michigan, winning a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of a legislative corruption scandal. He teaches public affairs reporting, international jou8rnalism, feature writing and media law and serves as director of the School's Capital News Service, a professional-level internship program in which students cover state government for more than 25 newspapers and online news outlets across Michigan. 
Freedman earned his bachelor's degree in government from Cornell University, his law degree from New York University and his master's degree in resource development from MSU. 
Internationally, he has taught journalism as a Fulbright senior scholar in Lithuania and Uzbekistan and led workshops and seminars for professional journalists in Central Aisa. He also has led MSU study abroad programs in Australia and the British Isles. 
As a researcher, his primary interests are coverage of U.S. elections; press systems and journalism practices in the former Soviet Union: international journalism professional standards and education; public affairs reporting; and U.S. political history. His latest books are Presidents and Black America: A Documentary History and After the Czars and Commissars: Journalism in Authoritarian Post-Soviet Central Asia. 
He began his career as an aide to U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel of New York before becoming a reporter for theKnickerbocker News in Albany, N.Y., and then the Detroit News Lansing bureau. After teaching as an adjunct at the School, he joined the faculty full-time in 1996. He continues to write for a variety of publications, on public affairs, legal issues, environment and other topics. 

Research Interests

Coverage of U.S. elections; journalism; international press systems; international journalism education; professional journalism practices; and contraints on the media in the former Soviet Union.

Current Courseload

JRN 420  Capital News Service

JRN 375 International Journalism

JRN 432 Feature Writing

Credentials

B.A. in Government, Cornell University
M.S. in Resource Development, Michigan State University
J.D., New York University