WASHINGTON — Jess is thrilled to be back on the East Coast after spending nearly three years reporting in the Midwest! She joined WUSA9 in January 2019 as a multi-skilled journalist.
Born in Takoma Park, Md., but raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Jess' move to D.C. is an exciting homecoming of sorts.
Her passion for storytelling began as soon as she could talk, acting and singing in plays and musicals from the age of 5 throughout college. Her love of journalism grew during her four years at Penn State University, where she quickly discovered the power of a story to create change and decided she wanted to use her skills to make a difference.
Her most impactful experience took her overseas to Greece with an international reporting class senior year. About 10 students spent five days on the island of Lesbos, getting to know the families caught up in the refugee crisis. Afterwards, she put together an-depth report about the Syrian, Iranian, and Iraqi women who left everything behind to save their families. She also produced a 30-minute magazine-style documentary about the refugee crisis, which ended up winning a Regional Mid-Atlantic College Emmy and a First Place Mark of Excellence Award with the regional Society of Professional Journalists.
Upon graduating with dual majors in Broadcast Journalism and Marketing and minors in Spanish and International Business (she has conversational level fluency in Spanish), Jess moved to South Bend, Indiana, to begin her reporting career at ABC 57. After spending her first year working as a one-woman band reporter (shooting, writing and editing her pieces every day) and a few months anchoring weekend newscasts, she started her own weekly series called Real Michiana. The premise was to share the untold stories of people in the community who are doing incredible things under the radar. Through the series, she got to do carpool karaoke with a reverend turned Uber driver, get to know the homeless painter we all drove by every day, and meet a blind, disabled man whose life was saved through taekwondo.
Jess lives by the idea that "Everybody has a story. You just have to start a conversation." She would love to start a conversation with you, so feel free to reach out to her at jarnold1@wusa9.com, or follow her on Twitter @JessArnoldTV, or Facebook @JessArnold.
When she's not reporting, you can probably hear her singing in her apartment from miles away or flexing her foodie muscles at the plethora of incredible restaurants and bars in her new home.
