Megan Corsano Richmond, Virginia (540) 273-3236 Ÿ [email protected] Portfolio

Megan Corsano Richmond, Virginia (540) 273-3236 Ÿ Corsanomd@Vcu.Edu Portfolio

Megan Corsano Richmond, Virginia (540) 273-3236 [email protected] Portfolio: www.clippings.me/megancorsano

Journalism Experience Capital News Service, Virginia Commonwealth University January 2016 – Present Reporter • Cover state government for the student-run news wire serving over 90 publications in Virginia • Track legislation in the state legislature and interview legislators related to bills of interest • Have had several articles distributed by the Associated Press and published by the Washington Post and Baltimore Sun • Focus on feature stories about state politics, as well as breaking news

RVA Magazine & GayRVA August 2016 – December 2016 Intern/Contributor • Wrote weekly stories for the online edition of RVA Magazine, a major Richmond arts and culture publication, and GayRVA, the only publication in Central Virginia dedicated to the LGBT community • Contacted sources, performed interviews with prominent members of the Richmond arts community and produced copy on deadline • Transcribed interviews and fact checked for editors

Specialized Project Reporting, Virginia Commonwealth University August 2016 – December 2016 Senior Capstone Project • Investigated a variety of cultural topics in the Richmond area through long form, in-depth reporting, with an emphasis on the religion beat

The Commonwealth Times, Virginia Commonwealth University Student Newspaper October 2015 – May 2016 Contributing Writer • Wrote spot news and feature stories for the news section of the independent student run newspaper

Brixton Agency May 2015 – August 2015 Publicity Intern • Conducted research for a boutique music publicity firm to find articles from prominent media outlets on music- related news and releases • Compiled records of client coverage in online music publication

Education Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia Fall 2014 - Present Bachelor of Science in Mass Communications – Concentration in Print/Online Journalism Minors: Art History, General Business GPA: 3.7 // Anticipated Graduation: May 2017

Awards & Involvement • Dean’s List • Virginia Scholarship • George T. Crutchfield Journalism Scholarship • Students Today Alumni Tomorrow (STAT) Leadership Council

Skills AP Style Fact Checking & Research Team Collaboration Adobe Creative Cloud Social Media Writing FOIA requests (Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop) Video & Audio Data Journalism WordPress (Adobe Premiere, Audition) Data Visualization Local

By Megan Corsano | AP February 3

RICHMOND, Va. — Dozens of people jeered Republicans on a House committee Friday after they declined to revive legislation aimed at changing the way political districts are drawn in Virginia.

More than 100 people gathered for the meeting of the House Privileges and Elections Committee. Some of them yelled “Cowards!” and “Shame on you!” after the panel refused a request by Democrats to reconsider five redistricting proposals that a subcommittee had killed earlier in the week.

During the Friday morning meeting, the committee blew through its agenda and did not take up the proposed constitutional amendments addressing redistricting. Del. Mark Sickles, D-Alexandria, tried to be recognized by the panel’s chairman, Del. Mark Cole, R-Fredericksburg, so he could ask for a vote on the amendments. Sickles turned on the light at his seat but was ignored by the rest of the committee.

“I don’t know why they’re afraid to vote on this,” Sickles said. “If you don’t think it’s a good idea, vote no. That’s what we do - vote yes or no. But to prevent the committee with jurisdiction over this very important issue not even to vote at all is shameful.”

Democrats sponsored four of the proposed constitutional amendments. Most of them would have created an independent commission to redraw political lines instead of letting the General Assembly do it.

A Republican, Del. Steve Landes of Augusta County, also offered a proposal - House Joint Resolution 763. It would have prohibited “any electoral district from being drawn in order to favor or disfavor any political party, incumbent legislator, member of Congress or other individual entity,” a practice known as gerrymandering. Landes’ resolution did not include the creation of a redistricting commission.

HJ 763 had the support of One Virginia 2021, a nonpartisan organization “advocating for fair redistricting of the Commonwealth of Virginia.” Members of the organization packed the meeting room in the hope of getting committee

members to take up the resolution.

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The meeting lasted about 20 minutes. As legislators left the room, members of the audience bellowed “Boo” and “Do the right thing.”

“People are responding to this issue because it’s so important,” Brian Cannon, executive director of One Virginia 2021, said afterward. “It’s not a Republican or Democrat issue; this is a power issue.”

Cannon called the committee’s decision to not even vote on the resolution “unfortunate.”

“They’re afraid to have the discussion,” he said.

On Monday, the Constitutional Subcommittee of the House Privileges and Elections Committee killed the five redistricting proposals in a 4-3 block vote.

Del. Randy Minchew, R-Leesburg, who chairs the subcommittee, said the panel had no choice as it considered 28 amendments to the Virginia Constitution.

“On Jan. 30, we deliberated on these 28 resolutions and made our recommendations to the full committee,” Minchew said. “In accordance with the chairman’s request, our subcommittee was asked to limit our reported bills for recommendation to not more than three. We honored this request and reported three bills.”

As a result, the other 25 proposed amendments were then placed in a single block and killed simultaneously.

Supporters of the redistricting amendments had hoped the full committee would resurrect at least one of the redistricting- related measures.

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Sickles was disappointed that the committee did not bring the proposals up for a vote.

“This issue has overwhelming support everywhere,” Sickles said. “It’s seeping deeper into the public psyche that this is our problem, this is the root of our problem in politics. We want to come down here and compromise. We don’t want to win all the

time. We want to debate issues and stand up and vote one way or the other.”

Cannon said Landes’ constitutional amendment “represents the core component of redistricting reform.”

“It is simple: if you think politicians should be able to carve out their political opponents, then you are for gerrymandering and the elimination of competition in our elections,” he said.

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4/10/2017 Virginia Airbnb rentals may face increased regulation - Daily Press

Virginia Airbnb rentals may face increased regulation

Virginia General Assembly Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment during the first day in session at the State Capitol in Richmond on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017. (Aileen Devlin / Daily Press)

By Megan Corsano Capital News Service

FEBRUARY 25, 2017

ICHMOND – People renting out their homes through websites such as Airbnb could be forced to pay a R registration fee to their local government under a bill that passed both chambers of the General Assembly. Senate Bill 1578, proposed by Sen. Tommy Norment, R-Williamsburg, would allow Virginia localities to require many users of short-term rental sites like Airbnb to pay a fee to register their property, with fines up to $500 in the case of a rental without registration.

Airbnb rentals can play a big role in small Virginia towns dependent on tourism as a primary source of income, such as the town of Washington in Rappahannock County. At the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the northern part of the commonwealth, Washington funds 95 percent of its annual budget from meals and lodging taxes, said the town's mayor, John Fox Sullivan.

http://www.dailypress.com/business/tidewater/va-vg-cns-airbnb-0225-20170225-story.html 1/2 4/10/2017 Virginia Airbnb rentals may face increased regulation - Daily Press "That tax is terribly important to us," Sullivan said. "If Airbnbs are unregulated and drain off tax revenue that we would otherwise receive and need, the town would lose a lot of money."

According to Sullivan, the town's bed-and-breakfasts, inns and restaurants must get approval from the town council before starting operations. Sullivan's concern is that people operating a business out of their home through Airbnb don't have to meet the same rules and ordinances that other businesses do.

"Airbnb is a great operation," Sullivan said. "It's just that they're not perfect. There's much debate within our county as well as to what can be regulated."

While the short-term housing rental websites like Airbnb have gained popularity across the globe, those with ties to the more traditional accommodation business are struggling to adapt. Audrey Regnery, the owner and innkeeper of Greenfield Inn Bed and Breakfast in Washington, said Airbnb homes should have to meet the same regulations that establishments such as hers do.

"I welcome competition as long as it's fair competition," Regnery said. "If you're a business, you're supposed to pay your taxes. If (Airbnb homes) are going to be a business, then they need to be set up as a business."

Regnery said there are approximately 18 bed-and-breakfasts, one inn (The Inn at Little Washington) and no hotels in the Washington area. She said the demand for rooms in the area currently exceeds the capacity.

As a result, business at the Regnery's B&B has not suffered any serious loss because of Airbnb room rentals. However, Regnery worries that could change if Airbnb hosts were to start drastically dropping their prices to compete with bed-and-breakfasts in town.

Airbnb hosts, however, have their own concerns about what a registration fee requirement would have on the way they operate.

This article is related to: Airbnb, Fox Entertainment Group, Virginia General Assembly

http://www.dailypress.com/business/tidewater/va-vg-cns-airbnb-0225-20170225-story.html 2/2 Protesters ‘grill with #BratWorst’ outside congressman’s office

wtvr.com/2017/02/11/protesters-grill-with-bratworst-outside-congressmans-office/

Capital News Service

GLEN ALLEN, Va. — The feud between U.S. Rep. Dave Brat, who represents a swath of Central Virginia in Congress, and some of his female constituents escalated Saturday afternoon when nearly 100 Planned Parenthood advocates demonstrated outside his Glen Allen office.

The demonstrators stood across from Brat’s office at the corner of Broad Street and Cox Road to protest what they see as the Republican representative’s lack of communication with his constituency.

Supporters of Planned Parenthood – for which Brat has pledged to cut off federal funding – held up signs toward the approaching traffic, eliciting honks from drivers passing by.

The crowd chanted “We are constituents!” and “Dave Brat has got to go!” as well as “We are not paid!” That was a retort to Brat’s statement in an interview that the women who had been protesting against him were “paid activists on the far left.”

Speaking to supporters at Hanover Tavern on Jan. 28, Brat responded to questions about people asking him to hold a town hall meeting with his district by saying, “Since Obamacare and these issues have come up, the women are in my grill no matter where I go.”

The quote inspired the “grill” theme of Saturday’s protest, which recruited participants through a Facebook page titled “Grilling with #BratWorst.” Women and men of all ages gathered with signs telling Brat they wouldn’t go away silently.

“We want to show him that we will remain ‘up in his grill’ until he meets with us to have a town hall,” said Nia Bentall, a community organizer for Planned Parenthood in Richmond.

Bentall said her involvement with Planned Parenthood stemmed from an experience in college when she took a friend who had been sexually assaulted to one of the organization’s clinics.

“There wasn’t anywhere else we could have gone,” Bentall said. “The care she received there was truly lifesaving, and I realized how important and what a unique role Planned Parenthood health centers play in communities. When they talk about defunding Planned Parenthood and that women can just go somewhere else, that’s not true.”

Many conservatives, including Brat, oppose Planned Parenthood because it provides abortions. Planned Parenthood says abortions constitute a small fraction of its services; the group’s critics dispute that, noting that Planned Parenthood performed almost 324,000 abortions nationwide in 2014.

Bentall recalled that when she took her friend to a Planned Parenthood clinic, they had to walk past anti-abortion protesters. She said those protesters had a judgmental and shaming mentality. Bentall said she began to start advocating for Planned Parenthood when she realized that some elected officials, including members of Congress, shared that mentality.

“Dave Brat needs to know that when he goes to Washington, D.C., his constituents are part of the overwhelming majority of Americans who do not support defunding Planned Parenthood,” Bentall said.

David Timberline, communications director for the Virginia League for Planned Parenthood, said the group’s concern 1/2 is that Brat has been inaccessible when his constituents have tried to reach him to find out his views about certain health care issues, particularly repealing the Affordable Care Act and defunding Planned Parenthood.

“His constituents, who are coming out here in force, want to hear what his views are,” Timberline said. “For too long, [elected officials] have been able to hide from a big slice of their constituency, largely because of gerrymandering, and they think they’re safe because they only have to respond to their slice of the electorate. This is showing them that there’s more that they need to pay attention to.”

Dolly Hintz, Timberline’s mother, was one of the women in attendance. Her main concern is that people overlook the full range of services that Planned Parenthood offers – including cancer screenings, contraceptive counseling and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases – and focus just on abortion.

“They kind of stick on that one word, and that scares them,” Hintz said. “Planned Parenthood actually provides so many services that so many women need desperately.” Hintz added that the turnout at Saturday’s protest “shows that there are reasonable people of all ages that care about this.”

Brat represents Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, which includes parts of Richmond and Henrico and Chesterfield counties and stretches as far north as Culpeper. Brat, then a professor at Randolph–Macon College, was elected to Congress in 2014 after upsetting House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. Brat has strong support among tea party conservatives.

He has called for repealing the federal Affordable Care Act, describing Obamacare as an “economically disastrous law and an unconstitutional power grab by our federal government” that puts America on “the Road to Serfdom.”

Brat has co-sponsored the Life at Conception Act, “which declares that the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being at all stages of life, including the moment at which an individual comes into being.” As part of his pro-life agenda, Brat also has co-sponsored legislation aimed at “stripping Planned Parenthood of its taxpayer funding.” (Planned Parenthood does not receive federal funds to perform abortions; however, it gets federal money to provide other services.)

By Megan Corsano with Capital News Service

Capital News Service is a flagship program of VCU’s Robertson School of Media and Culture. Students participating in the program provide state government coverage for Virginia’s community newspapers and other media outlets, under the supervision of Associate Professor Jeff South.

2/2 wtvr.com/2017/01/23/citizens-urge-lawmakers-to-take-politics-out-of-redistricting/

Citizens urge lawmakers to take politics out of redistricting

RICHMOND, Va. – Citizens demanding an end to gerrymandering packed a legislative subcommittee hearing Monday as lawmakers and members of the public all voiced concerns over the influence of politics on redistricting.

Critics say the current system, in which the General Assembly redraws the boundaries for legislative districts, allows politicians to choose their constituents instead of the other way around. As a result, many legislators run unopposed in districts that are heavily Republican or heavily Democratic.

The Constitutional Subcommittee of the House Privileges and Elections Committee held a 7 a.m. meeting on six proposed constitutional amendments aimed at addressing the problem. The subcommittee is scheduled to vote on the proposals next week.

Much of the focus was on HJ 763, introduced by Republican Del. Steven Landes of Augusta County. It would “prohibit any electoral district from being drawn in order to favor or disfavor any political party, incumbent legislator, member of Congress or other individual entity.”

Most of the people filling the seats in the subcommittee’s meeting room were from One Virginia 2021, a nonpartisan organization “advocating for fair redistricting of the Commonwealth of Virginia.” (2021 refers to the next time redistricting will happen – after the 2020 census.)

Members of the group wore stickers declaring “I’ve Been Gerry-Mandered!” A total of 17 members of the organization testified before the subcommittee about Landes’ constitutional amendment, all of them in favor of the

1/4 idea.

Gerrymandering refers to drawing electoral districts to favor one political party over the other. Both Republicans and Democrats have been guilty of this practice. Many say gerrymandering inhibits democracy.

“It’s all about fairness,” said Jay Brock, a member of One Virginia 2021. “We talk a lot about equality and the other values that the country was founded on. For me, the most operative way to put that into practice is through fairness, and the current system is patently unfair.”

Republican Del. Steven Landes of Augusta County

2/4 The website of the group seeking redistricting reforms

Brittany Shearer, a volunteer with One Virginia 2021 from Norfolk, was one of the 17 people who spoke in favor of HJ 763.

“Something that I am working really hard on is improving access, particularly among young people, to the democratic system,” Shearer said. “When gerrymandering takes place, we see the furthest extremes of both political parties hold office in order to keep out any challengers.”

One Virginia 2021’s attendance at the subcommittee meeting was part of its “Lobby Day 2017.” Almost 200 members of the group came to the General Assembly Building to lobby for redistricting reform, said Brian Cannon, the organization’s executive director.

At a press conference, Cannon said the biggest challenge in addressing the problem is helping people understand how a complex process like redistricting affects them.

“People aren’t satisfied with the rigged system of our elections,” Cannon said, noting that presidential Barrack Obama in 2008 and Donald Trump in 2016 both targeted this dissatisfaction and called for systematic change. “I think we can do better. I know we can do better.”

The press conference included a screening of the organization’s video “A Message from Jerry Mandering,” a comedic explanation of the issue.

Redistricting reform measures usually pass the Virginia Senate but die in the House, Cannon said. He and the six state delegates proposing different constitutional amendments to control gerrymandering hope that doesn’t happen 3/4 this year.

Cannon said he believes the redistricting process should be taken out of the hands of the General Assembly and given to an independent entity, such as a redistricting commission.

In his testimony, Landes said his proposal would put in the Virginia Constitution “language that would make more objective our process related to redistricting.” However, Landes said he does not support efforts to establish a redistricting commission, such as HJ 628, proposed by Democratic Del. Ken Plum of Reston.

Del. Tim Hugo, R-Centreville, noted that it is the prerogative of the General Assembly to draw district lines. “Political favoritism is in the eye of the beholder,” he said – a sentiment that suggests objectivity is hard to prove or disprove.

While testifying for his own proposal, Plum urged the subcommittee to approve at least one of the constitutional amendments on redistricting so it can go to the House floor for a vote.

The Constitutional Subcommittee plans to vote on the proposed constitutional amendments at its next meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. on Jan. 30.

If a constitutional amendment reforming the redistricting process passes this session, implementation would be a long way off. The General Assembly would have to approve the amendment again in 2018, and then it would be placed on a statewide ballot that November.

By Megan Corsano with Capital News Service

37.540725 -77.436048

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