Rick Brewer
News DirectorRick Brewer has been news director at WCMU since February 2024.
Before leading the newsroom, Brewer was WCMU's general assignment reporter covering central and northern Michigan.
Before landing in Mount Pleasant, he was a producer for Iowa Public Radio’s two daily talk shows, Talk of Iowa and River to River, where he produced hundreds of interviews with guests ranging from hog farmers to presidential candidates for the 2020 Iowa caucuses.
His work has been featured on NPR, Harvest Public Media, Here & Now, WFIU, WFYI and Northeast Public Radio.
Brewer fell in love with radio and podcasts in graduate school at Indiana University in Bloomington after attending Denison University.
Send your story ideas to rick.brewer@cmich.edu
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In 2024, WCMU's team of reporters traveled across central and northern Michigan to document the people, places and stories that matter to the region. Here's some of the best images they captured along the way. -
From the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, to rules surrounding mail-in ballots, to a mysterious bird sighting in northern Michigan, these were the most read stories from the WCMU newsroom in 2024. -
On Nov. 1, Neil MacKinnon, Ph.D. became Central Michigan University's 16th president. He comes to Mount Pleasant from Augusta University in Georgia, where he was the provost and the executive vice president of academic affairs. -
Despite late summer drought conditions, Christmas tree farmers say this year's growing season was better than 2023. -
On Monday, the state of Michigan barred two local election officials in an Upper Peninsula township from administering elections. The officials said they planned to hand count ballots. -
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) made several stops at campaign rallies across Michigan to drum up support for Vice President Kamala Harris over the weekend, making stops in Warren, Saginaw, Grand Rapids and East Lansing. Sanders spoke with WCMU's Rick Brewer. -
Neil MacKinnon will be Central Michigan University's 16th president. He comes to Mount Pleasant after serving as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Augusta University in Georgia. -
WCMU's summer cohort of four newsroom interns covered a wide range of stories, including First Lady Jill Biden’s visit to Traverse City, potential water shutoffs at some Mount Pleasant apartments, the story of card game unique to northeast Michigan, what 'track-life' means to one demolition derby racer in Cadillac and much more. -
The WCMU Newsroom is happy to announce we've hired a new reporter. AJ Jones is a native of Southfield, Michigan and comes to us after spending the last year working as a reporter for Michigan Public. Jones sat down with news director Rick Brewer to talk about some of the stories he plans to cover. -
The Democratic Party's nominee for vice president spoke to WCMU about a variety of issues, including outreach in rural communities, relief for farmers, home ownership reform, prescription drug costs and more.
