Local daily newspaper hires former Swinging Bridge editor

Journalism grad Maddie Crocenzi ’17 says she wanted to be a reporter her entire life. Only months after graduation, her dream came true. The York Daily Record newspaper in York, Pennsylvania, hired her to work as the outdoors and healthy lifestyles reporter.

Although a typical week involves writing about events in York County, she has found multimedia to be a key aspect of her job.  

Shooting video and photography has really challenged me in a good way,” she said, “because it has caused me to be intentional about what I am producing and how I am telling stories.

The York County native says she finds joy conveying information to her neighbors through her hometown newspaper. 

“Look at all the negative news that we are surrounded with every day, and I’m trying to give you a piece of something to hold on to,” she said. “I’m trying to give you a place that you can go hiking over the weekend. I get to bring something new to the people of the community every day.”

Crocenzi says she eventually wants to cover the atrocities in Africa or Syria.

“One day I was reading a story in The New York Times about Syrian refugees. I just started crying, and I knew that that was why I was a journalist,” she said. 

Covering controversial topics is something Crocenzi learned as the editor-in-chief of the student-run publication, The Swinging Bridge, at Messiah. Ed Arke, professor of communication at the College, provided support.   

I think there were a lot of times where I was writing something, and both Dr. Arke and I experienced pushback,” she explained. “It would have been easier for him to say, ‘You know Maddie, let’s just let this one go. We will just write something else.’ But he was always there on the front lines fighting for me.

Her Messiah education provided her with the tools to equip her to work in a daily newsroom.

“Maddie is a good example of someone who takes the theoretical aspects of journalism and finds practical ways to apply them,” said Arke.  

Crocenzi says she is incredibly happy in her reporting position. “I love the grind of journalism. That is where I belong,” she said.

— Daulton J. Leonard ’18