Seven elected to MNSPJ board

Four new board members and three officers have been elected to the Minnesota Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for the 2018-2019 year.

Briana Bierschbach, Amy Forliti, Reed Fischer and Emma Nelson joined the board as directors for two-year terms. Board member Fred Melo was re-elected board secretary, and board member Chris Snowbeck was voted president-elect. Anna Pratt was voted treasurer.

Bierschbach is a reporter for Minnesota Public Radio News and has covered the State Capitol for eight years. She also worked for the Associated Press, MinnPost, and Politics in Minnesota.

Forliti is a reporter at The Associated Press in Minneapolis, where she has focused on top national breaking news stories, law enforcement and courts. She has also worked at the AP in Indiana, managed the AP’s Rhode Island bureau and worked for the Star Tribune.

Fischer is the senior editor at Minnesota Monthly and also worked at GoMN as the editorial director and was the music editor for City Pages. He has done freelance work for Rolling Stone, Village Voice and other national publications.

Emma Nelson began working as a reporter at the Star Tribune shortly after graduating from the University of Minnesota’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She has covered various government beats and now covers the city of St. Paul.

Chris Snowbeck has been a business reporter for the Star Tribune since 2014 and worked at the St. Paul Pioneer Press for eight years before that.
Fred Melo has worked at the Pioneer Press since 2005 and is currently the St. Paul City Hall bureau chief.