Hello all Newton County!
My name is Evan Washington, and I am so excited to be officially joining the Newton County Journal and being able to work in the Covington/Newton County community.
I’ve recently graduated from the University of Georgia as a graduate student, earning a Masters degree in Journalism and Mass Communications in the spring of 2024. Beforehand, I graduated from Morehouse College in 2021 with a Bachelors in Communications.
It only seems right, at this point, to tell you more about myself and my passion for this industry.
I’d say my interest in journalism stems from my initial love for athletics. Growing up, I was one of those kids who obsessed over watching sports.
In my youth, my father woke my brother and me up before school to watch SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays of the week. Even during school days, I was the type of student who may have taken PE class just a bit too seriously.
It was during my years at Morehouse when I realized I liked talking about sports, as opposed to just watching them. Discussing my favorite athletes and their game performances truly appealed to me.
This realization is what inspired me to major in communications.
Although Morehouse didn’t offer journalism as a major, this didn’t stop my drive. Eventually, I began to take any journalism-related courses in the undergraduate program I could find. It caused me to develop an even deeper sense of appreciation towards journalism.
Going into my junior year, the idea of writing for the school newspaper crossed my mind. However, COVID-19 came, and I was restricted to my home for half my junior year, as well as the entirety of my senior year.
Not being able to write for my school’s newspaper crushed me as this was the opportunity I’d been hoping for me to gain quality experience in journalistic writing that, at that point, I had yet to receive.
After graduating from Morehouse, I ultimately decided to take a gap year and form a plan going forward. It was during this time that I landed my first internship as a reporter for the Marietta Daily Journal.
With my time at MDJ being my first real-world journalistic experience, I can truly say this is what chiefly motivated me to pursue a career in journalism.
Things such as attending games, interviewing coaches and writing articles on deadline significantly opened my eyes to what the journalism industry is like. The exposure and the new sense of love for sports journalism that resulted from it was what primarily influenced my decision to go to graduate school.
During my internship with MDJ, I chose to apply to a few graduate schools in Georgia. I eventually was accepted into UGA’s Master’s of Journalism program, and have never looked back.
Taking a wide variety of journalistic courses finally allowed me to fully emerge myself in the industry in a way I’ve long desired.
Gaining valuable insight from knowledgeable professors pushed me to my fullest extent. Along with graduating in May with a 3.3 GPA, I feel like I’ve received some tools to help me get a good start in the industry I’m growing to love.
I can’t wait, now, to immerse myself into the Newton County sports community and discover what makes it so special and what kinds of stories I can tell.
Thank you, in advance, Covington and Newton County, for welcoming me in.
Evan Washington is a sports writer for the Newton County Journal. He can be reached at evanrwashington101@gmail.com. Also, follow him on X: @wre1118.
