Michael A. Deas

Michael A. Deas teaches print and video journalism and previously directed the Medill Media Teens program, an initiative that introduced high school students from under-resourced communities to multimedia reporting and storytelling.

Deas’ work has appeared in publications such as The San Diego Union-Tribune, Al Jazeera and The Philadelphia Tribune, and he has contributed to the Society of Professional Journalists’ Quill magazine, offering strategies to help writers and editors avoid defamation. He also served as a subject-matter expert for the U.S. Defense Department’s public affairs school, helping redesign a foundational online writing course for military and government communicators.

He contributed to the book “Grace Under Fire: Barbara Jordan's Rhetoric of Watergate, Patriotism, and Equality,” joining voices such as former President Jimmy Carter in honoring Jordan’s legacy.  His perspectives on journalism have also been cited in “The Poisoning of the American Mind,” where he highlighted the vital role of verification in producing accurate journalism.  His work is also referenced in “How Racism and Sexism Killed Traditional Media.”

Deas recently innovated a course called Court-Watchers: The Legal Beat.  This course takes student reporters into courtrooms, prisons and jails to report on legal proceedings firsthand, and to gather broad insights on local and federal judicial systems. He has also taught at Stateville Correctional Center as part of the Northwestern Prison Education Program.

Before joining Medill in 2006, Deas served five years in the U.S. Navy.  He subsequently worked as an editor on the national-foreign and news-editing desks at the Chicago Tribune for 15 years. He has served on advisory boards, participated in fellowships, consulted on various projects, and taught part-time at several universities in the Chicago area.  He currently serves as a co-director of the Connors Institute for Nonpartisan Research & Civic Engagement.