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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The proudest grandmother in Northeastern Pennsylvania may be 82-year-old Mary Steininger, whose granddaughter Melissa recently called to tell her she&#8217;ll be covering Pope Francis&#8217; visit to Philadelphia this weekend for TUTV, the Temple University television station.</p><p>&#8220;I just said to her, &#8216;I&#8217;ve been a Catholic all my life, Melissa, and that was the greatest thing you ever told me,&#8217; &#8221; Mary Steininger said Tuesday. &#8220;&#8216;I just hope your mother gets a good picture of you and the pope together and your parents can show it to me.&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>Actually, Melissa Steininger, 21, a senior studying broadcast journalism at Temple, doesn&#8217;t expect she&#8217;ll stand next to the pope at any point, but she was thrilled earlier this week to learn she will be her station&#8217;s on-air talent on Sunday, standing on risers along the Ben Franklin Parkway with broadcasters from major networks.</p><p>&#8220;I have a front seat to history,&#8221; said Steininger, a 2012 graduate of Hanover Area High School. &#8220;It&#8217;s so exciting. It&#8217;s definitely going to be the highlight of my college career.&#8221;</p><p>Student journalists from only two colleges &#8212; Temple and Neumann University in nearby Aston &#8212; have received press credentials, as did representatives of 800 of the 7,000 media outlets that applied.</p><p>Steininger&#8217;s prep work for the big event included researching the World Meeting of Families that coincides with the papal visit as well as Pope Francis himself. One fun fact, she said, is that the Holy Father worked as a nightclub bouncer in Buenes Aires years ago.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s very relatable to everyone, not just Catholics,&#8221; Steininger said, adding she appreciates Francis&#8217; inclusive messages. &#8220;He breaks barriers and he&#8217;s trying to show that Catholicism is about loving everyone.&#8221;</p><p>Steininger, who grew up singing as a cantor at Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s St. Aloysius Church, was recently part of a concert crowd of 100,000 at the Made in America Festival in Philadelphia. The number that will come to see the pope could be so much larger, she said, &#8220;It&#8217;s unimaginable.&#8221;</p><p>What she can imagine is that the papal crowd will be &#8220;very reverent, very spiritual.&#8221;</p><p>Part of a team of 17 Temple students working on the papal visit, Steininger is scheduled to be on the air on Sunday and to work in production on Saturday. She&#8217;s equally happy in front of and behind the camera.</p><p>Her desire to go into broadcasting may have something to do with her theatrical roots, she said, remembering such roles as Cosette in Hanover Area&#8217;s production of &#8220;Les Miserables.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve always loved writing,&#8221; she added. &#8220;I love talking to people and telling their stories.&#8221;</p><p>When she&#8217;s not working as news director for TUTV, Steininger works as a freelance junior reporter for Fox 29 News WTXF, senior producer and reporter for the daily Temple Update and news director and on-air host for WHIP Radio, a Temple University station. She&#8217;s also served several internships.</p><p>Her parents, Joseph and Dianne Steininger of Hanover Township, said Tuesday they expect to drive down to Philadelphia to experience the papal visit for themselves. &#8220;We don&#8217;t want to boastful,&#8221; Dianne Steininger said. &#8220;But we&#8217;re so proud of her. All her hard work is paying off.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Melissa Steininger, 21, of Hanover Township, is a senior studying broadcast journalism at Temple University. Hanover Township native Melissa Steininger says covering the pope will be the highlight of her college career. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_melissa.reporting21.jpg</photo0><caption0>Melissa Steininger, 21, of Hanover Township, is a senior studying broadcast journalism at Temple University. Hanover Township native Melissa Steininger says covering the pope will be the highlight of her college career. </caption0><photoCredit0>Mary-Jany Moyer-Fittipaldi/Temple University </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_melissaoncamera.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">People who live outside of Philadelphia can watch TUTV live broadcasts from the Temple University student station, including broadcasts from Hanover Township native Melissa Steininger, by logging onto templetv.net/watch-live. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_melissaoncamera.jpg</photo1><caption1>People who live outside of Philadelphia can watch TUTV live broadcasts from the Temple University student station, including broadcasts from Hanover Township native Melissa Steininger, by logging onto templetv.net/watch-live. </caption1><photoCredit1>Mary-Jany Moyer-Fittipaldi/Temple University </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>TO WATCH</strong></p><p>If you live outside of Philadelphia, you can watch TUTV live broadcasts by logging onto templetv.net/watch-live.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Student journalist from Hanover Township to have bird’s-eye view of Pope Francis in Philly