New episode: Daniel Newman, Cleveland Jewish News

An open-mindedness to religions came about at an early age

So this week marks the first of a couple episodes spotlighting people in jobs in journalism working outside of traditional reporting and editing functions.

Daniel Newman is a digital content producer for Cleveland Jewish News and its sister publications in Columbus and Akron, Ohio. He's got a lot of interests, including creative writing, being an entrepreneur and maybe someday going to law school. He also is multi-skilled and came from a reporting background at his college newspaper and his first job with a small daily. A college friend who worked at Cleveland Jewish News recommended the job to him.

"Whether it boils down to photography, videography, website building, things like that, I've always kind of known that I was able to do more than just write," he said. "Writing is definitely my strong suit. I would say that and a lot of other people would probably tell me that. But when I saw an opportunity to be able to do more than just write, (I went for it)."

Both of Daniel's parents are biracial. His father is half-Black, half-Jewish. His mother is half-Black, half-Native American. His mom was a Jehovah's Witness until Daniel was young. His father was raised Pentecostal, which was Daniel's grandmother's religion. His grandfather is Jewish and was a professor of theology, psychology, and sociology. He thinks that's where he inherited his love of reading and writing.

With so many different backgrounds in his family and with his friends, Daniel was open-minded to Judaism.

"I never learned to speak or read Hebrew," Daniel said. "But it's definitely cool to see the cultural values up front and personal."

The job entails an all-encompassing mentality as part of a small staff. Some days he's shooting video of community events and things like local museum renovations, or even the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament on an IPhone. Other days he's doing desk work, like creating and distributing newsletters.

It seems like an ideal early-career journalism job that allows for creativity. We talked about the work he's done, how he's been received by others in the industry and much more.

So give this episode a listen and pass it on, especially if you know someone with a journalistic interest who isn't sure a traditional reporting job is for them.

And be sure to check out next week’s interview with education reporter Tara Garcia Mathewson of The Markup and CalMatters.