Brenton Johnson
CHENEY - A West Virginia University student has joined Free Press Publishing as a summer intern.
Brenton "Brent" Johnson, 26, of Morgantown, W.V., is interning on an International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors program; his first day was June 6.
"Brent will contribute extensively this summer to our Cheney and Ritzville publications," Co-owner and Publisher Roger Harnack said. "He comes highly recommended and enjoys small-town life.
"I grew up in Weaverville, North Carolina. It's a suburb of Asheville," Johnson said. "It's probably about the size of Cheney honestly."
Johnson started his education at College of Appalachian State University in North Carolina.
After two years, he decided to enter the Marine Corps, where he served for four years.
"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.
Following his discharge, Johnson transferred his credits to West Virginia University in January 2021, where he began his journalism journey.
"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 said big cities are not his favorite scene. He intends to stay in a small-town market.
"I'm open to anything with multimedia but it all comes down to what opportunities I land," he said.
Johnson is ready to blend into the community; his first goal is to cover the Cheney Rodeo.
"I want to see a rodeo-I've never been," he said. "I'm looking forward to getting involved in the community and telling people's stories because that's what this job is about."
Michaela is a former newsroom intern at the Cheney Free Press. She covered stories on education, city government, cops/courts/fire departments and local businesses.
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