Meet a Journalist

A journalist's profile, stories and career in the field of journalism. Know a journalist who should be profiled here? Send an e-mail to Janet E. Bardon

September, 2003
Jennifer Newton Reents
Freelance Journalist and Editor
Wichita, Kansas

Jennifer Newton Reents, 32, started as a journalist in the ninth grade and never stopped. She graduated from San Diego State University in 1994 with a degree in print journalism and a minor in political science. She worked for daily papers in Southern and Northern California and Kansas. She began working as a freelance journalist and editor in 2000.

She has written for national print publications such as ePregnancy Magazine, Pregnancy Magazine, New Orleans Gourmet, The School Administrator and many regional publications. She also continues to write for a weekly newspaper covering education and city government and is an editor for the Web sites:  

Pregnancy & Baby
GeoParent
Myria
ChefMom

She works from home in Wichita, Kansas and is the mother of a two and a half year old boy.

Why did you choose journalism?

It was accidentally, actually. My high school automatically enrolled me in home economics when I didn't choose an elective for the ninth grade. My mom threw a fit and talked to the counsellor and she suggested journalism, since I liked writing. I was like "what's that?" I learned years later my grandfather was actually a reporter for newspapers for many years. It stuck since the ninth grade.

Where did you complete post-secondary education?

San Diego State University

What experience best prepared you for the job of journalist?

A public affairs reporting class took us on field trips to the city hall, on rides with the cops and to the courthouse. But the most experience I received was learning to cover city government on the job - I didn't know how to read a city budget until then...there really needs to be more hands-on training in J-schools today...so you know what you will be dealing with.

Tell us about a highlight of your career, a story you have covered or an interview you have conducted.

Highlights include interviewing Dr. William Sears, well-known pediatrician, and Country music star Sara Evans. There were many news stories that stick out in my mind - like finding dead cow carcasses in the middle of the Mojave Desert - on top of an aquifer and waste possibly seeping in to the water system...

What do you recommend to young people considering a career in journalism?

Be prepared for long, sometimes weird hours .. but it is rewarding and there is nothing like it in the world!