Summer intern helping out at The Journal

CHENEY - A West Virginia University student has been joined Free Press Publishing and the Ritzville Adams County Journal as a summer intern.

Brenton "Brent" Johnson, 26, of Morgantown, W.V., will be working in The Ritzville Adams County Journal office on Tuesdays. Other days of the week, he'll be working in the Cheney Free Press office.

"Brent is already learning the ropes," Publisher Roger Harnack said. "He'll help bring more coverage to The Journal throughout the summer."

Johnson is also a Marine Corps veteran.

Johnson started his education at the College of Appalachian State University in North Carolina. After two years, he joined the Marine Corps, where he served for four years.

Following discharge, Johnson transferred to West Virginia University in January 2021, where he began his journalism journey.

"When I was in Okinawa, Japan, I was reading a lot of news because I knew world events were going to affect me," Johnson said. "I kept following the news and kept updating my buddies about what was going on and I started seeing articles that were super sensationalized."

That, Johnson said, is what led him to pursue a degree in journalism.

"It was looking at bad journalism that made me want to contribute to better journalism," he said. "I wanted to come to Cheney because working in a small town newspaper is my best shot of building a portfolio of work - and I know I'm going to move a lot in my career, so why not start now?"

Johnson intends to continue his journalism career in a small-town market.

"I'm open to anything with multimedia but it all comes down to what opportunities I land," he said.