Reporter Jenna Dennison joins Beachcomber staff

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, August 31, 2021

The Beachcomber welcomed reporter Jenna Dennison on Tuesday, Aug. 24, as the newest member of its staff.

Dennison, a 2018 graduate of Seattle Pacific University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, previously interned at KING 5 News and was the assistant news editor at The Falcon, SPU’s student newspaper.

For The Falcon, Dennison covered topics such as student government, campus events and notable students.

Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Dennison grew up in Blaine, Washington, a small town located on the U.S.-Canadian border.

As the daughter of a teacher, she is passionate about covering education. Dennison is also eager to cover local businesses, community organizations, and newsmakers who are making a difference on the island.

Dennison believes in the importance of local news and is proud to start her career in journalism at The Beachcomber.

“I’m particularly grateful to be at The Beachcomber, as it has such strong, coverage of the community,” said Dennison. “Many other community newspapers at this time are struggling, but Vashon’s newspaper shines.”

Dennison moved to Vashon this week and looks forward to embracing island life.

“Vashon is beautiful, and I’m excited to explore this new place I will be calling home,” she said. “I look forward to writing about what makes Vashon vibrant — and more about the island’s needs and challenges.”

With Dennison’s arrival at the newspaper, reporter Paul Rowley, who has worked at The Beachcomber since March of 2018, will depart from the staff. In June, Rowley accepted another full-time job but has also worked part-time at The Beachcomber for the past two months.

From March until May of 2020, Rowley was the newspaper’s sole reporter, after its parent company, Sound Publishing, reduced staffing company-wide in response to the economic pressures of the pandemic. Longtime Beachcomber staffer Elizabeth Shepherd returned to the newsroom in a part-time capacity in May of 2020 and began to work full-time hours at the paper in April of 2021.

“It is wonderful to have another full-time reporter in the newsroom and I know that Jenna’s contributions will help keep islanders informed about all our local happenings,” said Shepherd.

Daralyn Anderson, the publisher of The Beachcomber, is also excited about Dennison’s arrival.

“While we will miss Paul greatly, we’re very excited to have Jenna join our staff,” said Anderson. “We think she is a perfect fit for the job.”