The Newsstand

After taking a writing across the media class, Maryanna has a greater appreciation for journalists and all others that write for forms of the public eye, from news writers to obituary writers. She learned what it takes to put together what is deemed a good story, from AP style to the story structure.

Overall she enjoyed the opportunities this class set before her. Was it nerve-racking?  Yes. Did she learn and improve because of the experience?  Yes.

Below is a list of several different news writing samples, ranging from news articles to review pieces. All news pieces were written while attending Elizabethtown College and were posted on Wetown under the name Maryanna Gresley.

2019

COM485: Senior Seminar
  • Connecting to the Professional Network
    • The final installment of the Department of Communications Senior Seminar project. This article was to be relevant to the citizens of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. Even as a how-to styled article this needed two interviews and required to be posted on the wetown.org website by the determined deadline. A survey is found at the bottom of each of the articles as a way of determining reader-responses to the articles.
    • “In today’s world of the internet and connectivity, it’s not hard to believe that there are online platforms for almost anything. For the working world, where networking and connectivity play a vital role in the dynamics of the workforce, an online tool to aid in making these connections exists by the name LinkedIn.com. This professional networking website is similar to the social media platform, Facebook, in that users create profiles, make connections and share content. With these profiles, users can search for and connect with others on LinkedIn to expand their networked connections.”
    • This article can be found here.

  • The Sweetest Place on Earth is Getting a Face-lift
    • The second installment of the Senior Seminar class. This article was to be an article that was relevant to the citizens of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. It needed to include two interviews and be posted on the wetown.org website by the determined deadline.
    • “Changes are coming to Hersheypark’s entrance and some are larger than others. The first thing guests will notice when they arrive at Hershey this summer is the construction equipment and the new temporary entrance. This construction is making way for the newest installment coming to Hersheypark in summer 2020.”
    • This article can be found here.

  • Winter Weather in Elizabethtown
    • The first installment of the Senior Seminar class. This article was to be an article that was relevant to the citizens of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. This article was to be an evergreen piece that could be posted and still be relevant in even a years’ time. It needed to include two interviews and be posted on the wetown.org website by the determined deadline.
    • “A snow day can mean many things to different people. For working adults, it means having to consider if conditions are safe enough for them to try and make it to work, or if they need to take a day for the sake of staying home with children. For those students high school-aged and younger it means a day that they don’t have to go to school and can stay home and play in the snow. College students get to wait with bated breath for the email that notifies them if the campus will be closed or not.”
    • This article can be found here.

2018

E-town News (Formerly Etown Now) – Office of Marketing and Communication
  • SCARP program expands summer learning opportunities
  • May, 2018
    • “Started in the natural sciences, Summer Scholarship, Creative Arts and Research Projects Program now include more creative arts and humanities projects each year. What began as a sparsely funded program of less than a dozen faculty members and students has become a growing annual program for Elizabethtown College students and their advising professors to work on a variety of projects in a professional environment over the summer. Before the Summer Scholarship, Creative Arts and Research Projects (SCARP) program became a formal affair, students had few opportunities to work on research between spring and fall semesters, and the professors who oversaw their work had limited funding.”
    • This article can be found here.

  • Michael Long shares deeper meaning behind the man in the cardigan
  • March, 2018
    • “The Public Broadcast Service (PBS) program “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” had deeper meaning and more political content than the friendly Fred Rogers led you to believe. As a matter of fact, when understood in their context, including wars and social upheaval, the peaceful characters of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe reveal political messages that might surprise you.”
    • This article can be found here.

2017

E-town News (Formerly Etown Now) – Office of Marketing and Communication
  • Using the Strengths Finder test to aid students in leadership building
  • November, 2017
    • “The Clifton Strengths Finder Inventory is a 177-item survey in which one of two scenarios must be chosen by the participant in 20 seconds. The survey has been used at Elizabethtown College for 10 years as a way to empower students, faculty and staff to realize their life-calling and leadership skills. What started as a grassroots effort, became a more direct initiative in the past two years.”
    • This article can be found here.

  • Cultural Competency: Understanding Anabaptists
  • November, 2017
    • “The Anabaptist community, often meaning the Amish or Mennonites, can be difficult to understand without some form of prior knowledge, so Steven Nolt, professor of history and senior scholar from the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College, has given aid to those looking to better communicate with members of these groups. This past summer, he worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Indiana to help them better comprehend the uniqueness of the Amish communities in the Hoosier State.”
    • This article can be found here.
css.php