Hi, I’m Bentley…

Hello — and welcome to my digital portfolio. I’m Michael Bentley Freeman, but you can call me Bentley. I’m a journalist based in San Francisco, focused on clear, people-first reporting that’s accurate, fast, and grounded in real community voices.

In 2024, I landed the only full-time journalism job in Eugene, Oregon—an experience that sharpened my sense of urgency, consistency, and editorial judgment. I’ve reported and written 150+ stories on local issues, building sources, verifying facts, and meeting demanding weekly deadlines. My work has also been recognized with an SPJ Oregon award.

Before that, I completed the University of Oregon’s Snowden internship with the Baker City Herald, where I published 25 stories in 10 weeks, interviewed the governor, and reported from places most people never see up close—including the local prison.

What I love most about this work is the conversation: sitting with someone, listening carefully, and translating their experience into journalism that’s fair, specific, and worth the reader’s time. This site brings all of my published work together in one place—print, digital, and ongoing projects.

Thanks for stopping by. If you’d like to connect, collaborate, or talk story ideas, feel free to reach out.

SPJ AWARD-WINNING JOURNALIST

Unhoused and Unwelcome is Emily Rogers and I’s reported feature for Eugene Weekly on Cottage Grove’s sweep of two campsites that displaced 100+ unhoused residents—an eviction that pushed people into a dog park after a proposed arrangement with St. Vincent de Paul fell through.

The story follows what happened after the notice went out: two long-standing camps—on Douglas Avenue and behind the Dari Mart on 12th Street—were cleared, and people were forced to decide what they could carry, what they’d lose, and where they could legally exist next. With a planned partnership with St. Vincent de Paul no longer on the table, the city’s “solution” funneled residents into a temporary, fenced, dusk-to-dawn setup at Lulu’s Dog Park—an arrangement that many described as destabilizing and dehumanizing, especially for people with jobs, disabilities, or more belongings than could be packed up and hauled every morning.

Reported on the ground with the people affected, the story captures what “cleanup” looks like in real time—belongings piled on the roadside, fragile routines erased, and the emotional toll of having nowhere to go. It later won First Place in Poverty & Homelessness Reporting in the 2024 Society of Professional Journalists awards.

BAKER CITY HERALD 2023 UO SNOWDEN INETERNSHIP

During the summer of 2023, I was selected by a panel of local Eugene Journalists, UO Professors and former Snowden Interns to represent my university at a local paper — the Baker City Herald — all the way in Baker City, Oregon.

An hour and a half away from Boise, Baker City was a town unlike anything I could have expected.

Through this internship I not only had great experiences writing about the striking nurses, city council woes and governors visits — I learned to build a rapport with a community that viewed me as a transplant and an outsider.

My favorite experience of the whole internship was interviewing an inmate at the local prison. Unlike Gov. Tina Kotek, Alfonso had never been interviewed by the press before.

It took getting to know him past the superficial label on inmate. It was important for me to write a story on the prison from the perspective of someone who lived there.

I carry this lesson through every story I write.

I had to build that trust over time with sources. While a challenge, it proved to be one I enjoyed tackling.