New York native takes up the pen in San Benito
The Weekend Pinnacle was happy to welcome a new reporter to the
staff of the weekly paper Oct. 1. Jessica Ablamsky, 26, joined the
staff fresh from graduate school at New College California, where
she received a masters of arts in journalism (media studies) last
spring.
New York native takes up the pen in San Benito
The Weekend Pinnacle was happy to welcome a new reporter to the staff of the weekly paper Oct. 1. Jessica Ablamsky, 26, joined the staff fresh from graduate school at New College California, where she received a masters of arts in journalism (media studies) last spring.
During her stint at New College in San Francisco she wrote about stirring topics for her classes such as the death penalty and environmental issues such as the relicensing process for the Klamath Dam.
“The environment is my specialty,” she said. “Particularly anything related to salmon. I also like labor and immigration issues, and women’s issues in general.”
Originally from New York, Ablamsky grew up in Port Washington. After graduating high school, she attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where she studied wildlife conservation and journalism.
“It was great,” she said. “The professors were awesome because it was a small program. They were always willing to help you out.”
After graduation, she moved to Santa Rosa, where she taught gymnastics before applying to graduate school.
“I came to California once and my heart never left,” she said.
During graduate school, her favorite journalism classes were investigative courses.
“I learned the nitty-gritty of journalism,” she said, “How to find documents and statistics you need.”
She credited her professor, A.C. Thompson, a former writer for “San Francisco Bay Guardian” and the “San Francisco Weekly” who now works for the Center for Investigative Reporting for helping her along the way.
When looking for her first job out of school, Ablamsky had an idea of the place she wanted to work.
“My goal was to work for a weekly …,” she said. “I like the weeklies because you put a little more time into [stories]. I like California and Hollister is pretty close to San Francisco where all my friends are and it’s not in the middle of nowhere.”
When she isn’t busy reporting and writing for the paper, Ablamsky plans to spend time with friends in San Francisco, camp and see a few movies.
And like many good writers, she said, “I read excessively.”
Ablamsky is living nearby, in Gilroy, which she reports “smells like garlic when the wind blows.”
As far as first impressions of San Benito County, it should come as no surprise to anyone that what Ablamsky first noticed was “a lot of farms.”
