Community visual journalist

Brett Phelps

Before joining Mirror Indy, Brett Phelps documented stories in Boston and the New England area during his co-op at The Boston Globe. He also covered community news stories during his photojournalism internships at The Indianapolis Star, The Chautauquan Daily, and the Nelson County Schools. During college, Phelps served as the print and web visuals editor of Western Kentucky University’s Talisman cultural and lifestyle magazine. Phelps thrives on telling human-interest stories and has been recognized for his work by the Hearst Journalism Awards, White House News Photographers Association, Adobe Digital Edge Awards, Ohio Valley Emmys, Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar, College Photographer of the Year Award Program, National Press Photographers Foundation, and Associated Collegiate Press. He graduated in 2025 from Western Kentucky University with a B.A. in visual journalism and photography and a B.S. in marketing. In his personal time, he enjoys traveling, attending concerts, hiking, and playing the piano.

Maria Crane

Prior to joining the Fort Worth Report, Crane worked as a freelance photojournalist in North Texas, including an internship with the Denton Record-Chronicle. Crane was the Spring 2024 photography fellow at The Texas Tribune where she covered politics and policy in Texas, and she was a part of the Eddie Adams Workshop XXXVII in Fall 2024. Crane has dual bachelor's degrees in photojournalism and political science as well as a master's degree in journalism from the University of North Texas. At UNT, she was photo editor of the North Texas Daily and Managing Editor for Hatch Visuals, a student run photo agency.

Michael Indriolo

Michael Indriolo is a photographer and journalist based in Cleveland, Ohio. His work focuses on how people relate to community and the built environment in the Midwest. Michael has worked in journalism for about five years. He started out covering local government as a beat reporter before moving toward visual journalism. Through short documentaries and photo essays, he aims to amplify the everyday stories of Cleveland residents and document how policy decisions impact the city.

Fort Worth Report

Fort Worth Report, a nonprofit digital newsroom, was launched in April 2021 to provide original reporting on local government, schools, economic development, health care and other news in Tarrant County, home to Fort Worth. By providing free access to nonpartisan journalism about issues that affect the daily lives of residents, this news organization’s mission is to engage, educate and empower readers.

Signal Cleveland

Signal Cleveland is the inaugural newsroom in the Signal Ohio network of independent, community-led, nonprofit newsrooms. We’re on a mission to ensure all residents of Greater Cleveland have the local news and information they need and want. At the heart of what we do are Cleveland Documenters, a group of about 950 Greater Cleveland residents who represent almost every ZIP code in the county. We train and pay them to cover public meetings. Together, we are a primary source of information for residents who may not otherwise have access to trusted local journalism.