Baldas has a long and storied journalism career, spanning decades, states, and different mediums. From D.C. to Chicago, print to television, Baldas still describes it as \u201cthe best job in the world.\u201d She\u2019s been at the Free Press for ten years now, covering the federal court beat\u2014reporting on injustice and justice, holding people in positions of power accountable. In March, she was named the Richard Milliman Journalist of the Year<\/a> by the Michigan Press Association for her work documenting sexual assault coverups.<\/span><\/p>\n But when the pandemic hit, Baldas recalls it was \u201call hands on deck\u2014everyone will cover this in some way, no matter what beat.\u201d She dove in, calling hospitals and reaching out in Detroit, where she lives with her husband and two of her college-aged daughters. With no documented cases reported yet, she learned of a family who had COVID-19. She reached out to ask if she could tell their story\u2014and she did, with a socially distanced photoshoot in the backyard and interviews over the phone. Baldas watched the family recover and moved on to her next story.<\/span><\/p>\n It was a Friday night she\u2019ll never forget. She was interviewing doctors over the phone. Her husband had been struggling with a fever, exhaustion, and a headache\u2014he\u2019d even been to the ER, twice. Baldas recalls feeling warm, taking her temperature, and reading 101.5. She sunk to the floor. She called her sister. \u201cI\u2019ve got it,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n They both<\/em> did, and over the next two weeks, it would only get worse. Her husband isolated himself on the second floor, while she took the basement and her daughters stayed on the ground floor, leaving food at the top of the stairs to minimize contact.<\/span><\/p>\n Even in the short few months since the pandemic started, much has been learned about its effects, with still more to be uncovered. But Baldas contracted COVID-19 early on, when there was still so much mystery. \u201cI was just so scared,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI\u2019m a journalist, and I couldn\u2019t even watch the news because it was so scary.\u201d She woke up soaked in sweat from head to toe after breaking the fever over and over again, only for it to come back. Delirium set in. Taking refuge in her faith, she \u201cprayed like crazy.\u201d She called a COVID-19 survivor for support and encouragement\u2014it was the mother she had interviewed for her first pandemic story. She told Baldas, \u201cBe patient.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n After two weeks, her patience paid off. On the seventeenth day, she shared a meal at the table with her family for the first time. It was Easter dinner.<\/span><\/p>\n Baldas has always viewed her job as vital. \u201cJournalism can be life-changing, even life-saving,\u201d she says. Contracting COVID-19 didn\u2019t change that; it amplified it, reinforced it. \u201cWhen you go through an experience like this, you become humbled. You think about what you can do.\u201d For Baldas, that meant using her voice as a journalist to help people get through COVID-19. Before she was even fully recovered, she began writing survivor stories and tributes to those who had passed. She was even more emotionally and personally invested in informing her community, and the world at large, about this pandemic\u2014and the human toll.<\/span><\/p>\n It comes naturally to Baldas, who as a first-generation American from an immigrant Greek family was dubbed \u201cThe Explainer.\u201d She would talk to doctors and contractors for her parents, passing along crucial information\u2014\u201cA natural born journalist,\u201d she laughs. She attributes her drive and grit to her upbringing: her parents showed immense dedication to providing for the family. \u201cI watched it, I learned it from them.\u201d Her faith informs her perseverance, too. \u201cI do think God expects that to whom much has been given, much is expected. Sure, I could sit back and enjoy my life. But I want everyone to have what I have\u2014I believe in a just world, and we\u2019re not there, but I want to be part of making it that way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n How can we help Baldas\u2014and journalists everywhere\u2014help us? The answer is quite simple: support your local papers, no matter where you live or how big the paper is. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to subscribe to all of them, just one of them. It doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s print or online. Read, subscribe, share our stories.\u201d Baldas also encourages everyone to look for credible sources as a way of helping journalists in pursuit of the truth. Sharing verified, credible sources with strong track records will keep the right information in the hands of the people.<\/span><\/p>\n When asked what inspires her, Baldas points to the future generation. \u201cAs journalists we can bang our heads against the wall, when the moral compass of the world seems to be off. We try to report social injustice, and we see the numbers and ask, is anyone listening? Is anyone watching? My kids\u2019 generation, they\u2019re so much more engaged. I didn\u2019t expect that.\u201d She cites the Black Lives Matter movement as an example: waves of young people actively educated and engaged in a movement\u2014whether they\u2019re suburban kids or from Detroit proper. \u201cI see so many looking for more ways to make change.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Baldas has her own Champs\u2014\u201cOh, so many of them,\u201d she laughs. There\u2019s a special place in her heart for Save the Children<\/a>, an organization she\u2019s supported for years. She wants to highlight her coworkers and peers at the Free Press on the streets, marching and reporting at the same time: writers, videographers, and photographers. “My husband is a reporter too, he worked for fourteen days straight, marching almost every day for hours in the scorching heat to document the movement.”<\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s another set of heroes Baldas looks up to, one she feels a deep personal obligation to speak out about: the families of those who have lost loved ones to COVID-19. One in particular stands out to her\u2014Denise Hirschmann, of Fraser, Michigan, whose son Ben passed at age 24 from the virus<\/a>. \u201cThe fact that she can get up in the morning and face the day, given what she\u2019s gone through. Mother to mother, she\u2019s my hero. I want everyone to know this story, of this woman who went into mom overdrive and gave her own son CPR. A different kind of hero.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n She doesn\u2019t consider herself a hero\u2014she repeats the same thing she hears all the time when she interviews others: It\u2019s not about me. \u201cAt first I thought, I didn\u2019t do anything,\u201d she laughs. \u201cI got sick.\u201d But the aftermath drives her to use her voice. \u201cI\u2026want people to know this is beatable. I want to share the survivor stories as much as I can. But I do not want to walk away and pretend the 125,000 [deaths] haven\u2019t happened.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Thanks to the tireless work of Tresa Baldas and journalists like her, those names will always be remembered. That\u2019s why we\u2019re humbled to call her a Champ of 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n Read Tresa\u2019s account of her experience with COVID-19 at the Detroit Free Press<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n This interview is part of a series highlighting everyday Americans who have risen extraordinarily to the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic\u2014the Champs of Summer 2020. As a thank-you to the essential workers on the front line, we\u2019re building our limited-edition Champ Detrola as a gift of gratitude. Proceeds go to the Healthcare Workers Fund in partnership with the Community Foundation for Southwest Michigan. Learn more about the Champ and how you can help <\/em>here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Champs of Summer 2020 Baldas has a long and storied journalism career, spanning decades, states, and different mediums. From D.C. to Chicago, print to television, Baldas still describes it as \u201cthe best job in the world.\u201d She\u2019s been at the Free Press for ten years now, covering the federal court beat\u2014reporting on injustice and […]<\/p>\n