Editorial: Introducing Dan Clark, Berks-Mont intern

My name is Dan Clark and I am a professional writing major at Kutztown University. From now until the end of the 2013 spring semester, I will be completing a full-time internship and writing for the papers that make up Berks-Mont Newspapers.

I have always loved writing and my interest in it was piqued in middle school after I kept getting good grades on my English papers. I did not take a journalism class until my freshmen year at Kutztown University. After my first journalism class I immediately became involved with the KU student-run newspaper The Keystone. There I covered everything including crimes and fires on campus, and the teachers’ union negotiations with the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.

I have always been interested in news and hyper-local activity within specific communities. Right before this semester started I worked with a daily paper in Norristown, where I focused on issues that were important to specific communities. I wrote about everything from Norristown’s search for a new police chief to a nut factory/candy shop in Conshohocken that was hidden in a neighborhood out of sight from the main street. I hope that I will be able to accomplish the same goal in writing on local points of interest in a fair and objective way with Berks-Mont Newspapers.

I believe that good journalism begins with good questions and a thirst for knowledge that can only be quenched with good answers. I am someone who wants to know every detail of an operation or a policy. I also believe that good journalism begins with good people. Too often we end up watching or reading news about murders, robberies and other crimes. There is a time and a place for news where people are doing something good for the community and I believe that is where the community paper comes in; to let the community know about those who are standing out in the crowd and trying to make a positive change.

With Berks-Mont I will be covering local meetings, writing feature stories and writing a weekly column about local music called “The Local Groove.” I have always been drawn to various types of music, and how it makes people feel. It will be a weekly column that is essentially a diary of my journey to find new and exciting music that comes from Berks County and Montgomery County. I have always been interested in music and after realizing that I will not be a rock star I still have a dream that others who make music will be able to advance beyond their local scenes.

I hope to take this opportunity to learn more about the local government in this region of Pennsylvania and find out what issues are important to the people who make up Berks County.

To contact Dan Clark, call The Item at 610-562-7515 ext. 0. Or email via editor Brian Dowlin at bdowlin@berskmontnews.com.