About Mike
A journalist with ten years of professional experience reporting for and about public radio, Mike Janssen left his full-time job in April 2007 to find new adventures as a freelance writer and editor. His work appears regularly in Current, the trade newspaper covering public broadcasting, and he serves as the paper's copy editor. He also contributes often to Retail Traffic, a trade magazine about shopping malls and retail real estate.
In 2007 Mike worked on behalf of the Future of Music Coalition, a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., to recruit and assist applicants for noncommercial FM radio stations. Mike has also written lessons about podcasting for a high-school radio curriculum created by the Radio and Television News Directors Foundation and has taught workshops in podcasting, poetry and writing at the Virginia High School League Championship Journalism Workshop in Richmond, Va., and Langley High School in McLean, Va. Mike is available to teach workshops about writing, podcasting and audio production.
Mike's work has appeared on National Public Radio and in the LA Weekly, and he wrote and edited the chapter about radio for Scholastic Publications' New Book of Knowledge, an encyclopedia for children. After graduating from Wake Forest University in 1997 with a B.A. in anthropology, Mike reported for public radio station WFDD in Winston-Salem, N.C., for two years. He then served as an associate editor at Current Newspaper for seven years.
In his spare time Mike enjoys yoga, biking, running, being outside, exploring near and far, and indulging his appetite for books, movies, music and vegetarian food. He also likes to spend time with his eight-year old daughter, Louisa. He works mostly from his home in Arlington, Va., with two feline office mates, Bernard and Chloe.
Check out Mike's photos or see what he's been reading and listening to.