Internships yield unforgettable experiences

by Laura Barnes
J-School Web reporter

Locker room interviews with the Giants, walking the halls of a movie studio, all-night execution coverage, daily visits from celebrities like Bono: these are just a few of the experiences journalism interns had over the summer. 

Students take internships as part of their graduation requirement, a transitional experience aimed at preparing them for the journalism workforce, but many found that the experience took them beyond their expectations.

Rob Ashley

Rob Ashley, a broadcast news student, was an intern at a CBS affiliate station in San Francisco. Ashley worked in the sports department where he found himself surrounded by his sports idols as he learned the business hands-on.

“I got to go to San Francisco Giant games and do post-game interviews in the locker rooms,” Ashley said. “In high school I loved these guys, and suddenly I’m in a locker room with them.”

Ashley believes his education at UM helped him make the best of his internship.

“Truly, when you get out in the real world and you can use Final Cut Pro, people are like, ‘Wow.  You can do that.’ ”

The real world is different, though, he said.

“In the newsroom there is a professional atmosphere. In school we’re doing stories that are interesting but not within the scope of what we want to do professionally.”

Ashley says he has remained in contact with the producers at the station since the summer.

photo courtesy of Jason Hendrickson

Hendrickson at work at Kadokawa Pictures

Jason Hendrickson, a broadcast production senior, spent his summer living and working with a producer at Kadokawa Pictures, a film studio in Los Angeles responsible for producing the “The Grudge” and “The Ring” movies.

“I’ve been interested more in the film and movie production aspect of it,” Hendrickson said.  “It really opened my eyes to a whole new world of photography.”

Hendrickson worked in a variety of departments within the company, from production to marketing.  He spent his days reading movie scripts, answering phones, and sometimes brewing coffee. The experience offered a contrast to the rush of television broadcast production, one that Hendrickson appreciated.

“In the movie industry you have a lot of time to do something and get it right,” Hendrickson said.

The chance to live with one of the producers also gave Hendrickson a unique look at the full spectrum of working in the industry.

“I established more of a one-on-one relationship with someone in the business,” Hendrickson said.

Devin Wagner

Photojournalism senior Devin Wagner learned just how important community is during his internship in Sioux Falls, S.D. As a photographer for the Argus Leader, Wagner spent much of his time recording the impact of stories on the local community.

Wagner recounted the overnight coverage of an execution and its effects on the local community among his most vivid experiences.

“I got to cover the protests over the first execution in South Dakota in over 60 years,” Wagner said. 

The protests centered on the execution of Elijah Page, who was convicted of the torture and murder of 18-year-old Chester Allan Poage. Wagner spent time leading up to the execution photographing and interviewing protestors and supporters, including the family whose daughter was murdered by the last man executed in South Dakota.

“It’s fresh eyes on the whole experience,” Wagner said.  “It’s really neat to go into a new community and find something causing a stir.”

Not all his experiences were so controversial, however. Much of his job was just being out and about in the community, recording everyday life.

“I rode a Ferris wheel for the first time in 10 years,” Wagner said.  “I photographed a father and his daughter up in the Ferris wheel, up in the air.”

Although the Argus Leader newsroom is small and community friendly, it has also gone the way of media convergence. Wagner said that being able to do multimedia work was an important part of his experience.

“They had a multimedia department, so sometimes I took a video camera out while I was shooting stills,” Wagner said.

Wagner says the connection with the community is something that will remain important in his future job choices.

On the other side of the continent, print major Erica Simpson spent several months working at MTV, where she did everything from working on MTV’s URGE website to standing in as an extra for a Nickelodeon children’s show, and got to mingle with celebrities like Bono. 

“They are all fake,” Simpson said of the people at MTV. “They know exactly what they want to mass produce, usually something that goes against their morals and how they want the world to look, but they create it anyway because they think that is what will sell or what people enjoy.”

Simpson found relief in other aspects of her internship, however, including time spent working with MTV’s URGE website.

“I found a lot of genuine passion in places that I would have never expected,” Simpson said.  “This came through in the writing that the site produced as well. I'm fairly certain this was because each writer also had a passion for music.

Simpson walked away from the experience with hope for journalism’s future.

“What I'm saying is maybe journalism isn't doomed if the people ‘making the news’ are aware of the power they have and actually care about their consumers,” she said.

photo by Natalie Mourton

Lizz Rauf

As a winner of the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund internship, print graduate student Lizz Rauf spent her days learning the ins and outs of the Pocono Record, a community newspaper in Stroudsburg, Pa.

“It was a very small newsroom, so everyone knew me,” Rauf said.

Although her internship was focused on editing, the size of the paper also gave Rauf the opportunity to work in every facet of the newspaper production process, from column writing to photography to copy editing and page design. 

For Rauf, it reaffirmed her desire to work in the newspaper business.

“This is what I want to do with my life, even if I do have to work 15- to 18-hour days,” she said.

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