Anchored in Passion

It’s 8 a.m. on a random weekday in 2011. The morning announcements at Gonzaga Preparatory High School are ringing loudly over the intercom, read by Jordy Jones (’27 M.A.). Just 17 years old, she has her finger on the pulse of her small community and knows it’s her job to keep people informed.

Flash forward a few years – Jones leaves Spokane to go to Carroll College in Montana but makes her way back. After graduation, she accepts a job as a weather anchor at local news station KHQ. Her delivery method changed, but her vision never did.

“Being in the know,” she says, “that’s always been really important to me.”

Jones now works for a local magazine called Trending Northwest, writing articles about Eastern Washington and running one of its social media accounts. It’s clear that over the years, Jones has had no shortage of jobs in the journalism industry. From that first taste on the mic back in 2011, to her college newspaper, to now multiple newsrooms and a local magazine – she has never stopped pursuing her dream.

But in the last two years, that dream started to look a little different. The news industry is changing – ratings are declining and so is viewership as the younger generation opts to keep up with current events on social media platforms like Instagram.

On top of that, Jones became a mom. First to Everett, an energetic 2-year-old cute enough to be the modern-day Gerber baby. Then, to Booker, the second little boy to join the Jones family who looks like her mini-me.

And so, because life wasn’t crazy enough, Jones decided to go back to school.

“I want to be a lifelong learner,” she says. “I’ve always wanted to get my master’s because I think it will make a difference in the big picture of my career. And I’m still so passionate about journalism I want to take that as far as it can go.”

Jones is now pursuing her master’s degree at Gonzaga in communications and leadership, a bit of a full-circle moment, she says, considering she didn’t originally get into GU when she applied for her undergraduate degree. “To not only be accepted now, but to get a scholarship and really feel like I’m wanted here, it’s amazing.”

With her degree, she’s hoping to find new facets through which to pursue journalism and adapt to the changing landscape. She knows things look different than they did even just five years ago.

“It’s changed so much from the traditional ‘anchor’ we knew growing up,” she explains. “Now we’re listening to people on the internet and to podcasters. The opportunity is the same, to share the news with the world, but the platforms are just different.”

This actually works in Jones’ favor. Her ultimate goal is to be an on-air talent again, but this is multi-faceted now and she feels the internet might just be the perfect platform for her to exist. Her bottom line is to find an avenue that allows her to be a journalist in a way that’s authentic to her, being accurate, honest and – she’ll be the first to say as a working mom of two – a little messy.

“Doing this through motherhood, it’s definitely challenging,” Jones says. “I give a lot of credit to the parents before me who walked so I can run.

She also points to Gonzaga’s program style for making her continual pursuit of education a little easier, too. “It’s so helpful to go at your own pace,” she says, noting if she had to make it to campus every day at an exact time for an in-person class, between her babies and balancing responsibilities with her husband, Brandon, who works an overnight shift as a reporter at KREM 2 News, she wouldn’t be able to do it.

Instead, she’s kept her full-time job at Trending Northwest, maintained a competitive GPA in her classes, and is raising two boys.

An added bonus is getting to say she’s a Zag. “It’s everything I ever wanted,” she smiles. “Growing up here, being in the community and seeing how big of a deal it is on a national scale – I just know the connections I’m making here are going to be great for my future.”

And even though she appreciates taking her classes online, “I still love coming to campus every chance I get,” she laughs, “I don’t want to say it’s electric, because that sounds so cheesy, but it is. Being here you feel like you can do anything.”