Hey, y’all! My name is JD Snover, and I am a student at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, who is studying Multimedia Journalism. Active in media since I was 13 years old, I can’t wait to continue to grow in my media attributes and spend the rest of my life doing what I love.
I’ve always wanted to write. When I was in the fifth grade, I wrote my first so-called “book”, a ten page, double spaced, size 24 font short story about the make believe country of Ham (get it? It’s a play on Turkey!). Fast forward a few years and I’m getting ready to graduate a pre-k-8 grade school, but one mammoth assignment stands in my way: a 10 page, research-based paper on a topic in United States history that wasn’t covered in class. While most of my classmates chose to report on the moon landing or World War II, I chose the 1919 Chicago Black Sox scandal, and in return, a love of fact-based writing about sports was born.
Since that paper, I have had the opportunity to gain four years of paid experience in radio through NRG Media, be active in journalism all four years of high school and work in broadcast television at KCCI 8 News in Des Moines while in college.
The first thing I got involved with in high school was the journalism department, and specifically the online news website, Westside Wired (where I went by Jonathan instead of JD). In fact, it’s the reason I chose to attend the school that I did. After two years as a staff writer, the department wanted to get all of the students with a love of sportswriting in one room, and the Sports Journalism class was born with myself and a co-editor-in-chief at the helm. Through this experience, we were able to start WTV Live, which is now the of the most respected independent high school sports streaming teams in Nebraska.
Outside of Journalism
While journalism has played a large part in my life in the past decade, I’ve been involved outside of the profession as well. I am a member of the Eagle Scout class of 2019, which was a culmination of hard work for the first 12 or so years of my life. This group is where the nickname JD started, so that’s another way it’s shaped me into who I am today. When I’m not writing or doing journalism, I love to spend my time in the outdoors, specifically hiking or camping. My favorite place in the world is the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota. I have been lucky enough to go four times, and I’m gearing up for my fifth next summer.
And that’s a little bit about me. Don’t hesitate to reach out if there are any questions or you just want to chat!
