Summer interns have a field day

For three interns, lessons big and small
come with on-the-job training

By Chelsea DeWeese
J-School Web Reporter

photo by Luke George

Joe Friedrichs, a print senior, spent his summer as an intern at the Jefferson County Courier in Boulder, Mont.

Joe Friedrichs, print

Good stories can be found in small places, as student Joseph Friedrichs discovered during his internship in Boulder, Mont., this summer.

Friedrichs, a senior in print journalism at The University of Montana, lived on a ranch 17 miles out of town, immersed himself in the agrarian lifestyle of rural Montana and wrote stories for the Jefferson County Courier.

He also discovered what it is like to write for a weekly paper that serves about 2,000 people.

"No matter the size of the paper, the news and the paper affect them,” Friedrichs said.
In addition to writing a weekly sports column (which is now running in three Montana newspapers), Friedrichs covered a wide range of local news and feature stories.
Some haunt him, like a sexual assault case he followed at the beginning of his internship.

And some inspire him, like a story he wrote about a group of kids who pulled together enough money and enough cooperation to build a local skate park.

Friedrichs also got to spend a day with a local river rat who has a passion for kayaking. The two talked shop and scoped out the man’s favorite water spots.

"What else could you want?” Friedrichs said. “I (was) getting paid to hang out with these people who are just incredible.”

At the Courier, Friedrichs worked under the wing of Jan Anderson, publisher of the paper and a past president of the Montana Newspaper Association.

"I listened to her because she knew what was up,” he said. “I learned it doesn’t matter your age and your education, if you have a passion for something, it’s going to come across in a very positive way.”

Aaron Flint, broadcast news

submitted photo

Broadcast senior Aaron Flint worked for NBC at both national political conventions this summer.

Not too many people make an appearance at both the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention. Except for the journalists, that is.

Aaron Flint, a senior in broadcast journalism and a student of political science at the University of Montana, had an opportunity to rub elbows with some of NBC’s big faces when he worked as a “convention runner” for the network this year.

"I’ve been at political conventions before,” Flint said. “What was great about this was being with a news organization, which is where I want to be.”

A phone call to NBC landed him a temporary position with the “Today” show as the network covered the conventions in both Boston and New York.

Flint and four other runners did errands and research for NBC producers. He also spent face time with journalistic movers and shakers such as Katie Couric, Matt Lauer and Jon Stewart.

Flint compared the network’s approach to convention coverage to the teamwork necessary to run a Senate office; everyone has a specific task and works on that particular piece of the whole.

Flint previously studied in Washington D.C. for a spell and worked as a staff member for Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.).

At NBC, Flint spent some time in front of the camera when Lauer introduced him on the show’s Wednesday morning broadcast during the Republican National Convention.
Students interested in working for large media organizations should take the chance and make the phone call, Flint said.

"I think it helps calling up and saying you’re a student from Montana,” he said. “I think a lot of the top producers got where they are for a reason, but they also got where they are because someone responded to their phone call, so they’re willing to give back.”

Mike Cohea, photo

photo by Luke George

Photojournalism senior Mike Cohea shoots the Grizzly football team in its 41-23 win over Hofstra on Sept. 11.

Every once in a while journalists cover stories that offer a means of reflection.

Mike Cohea, a senior in photojournalism at the University of Montana, found this out while covering the funeral of a 22-year-old Marine killed in Iraq.

"It was odd for me because the kid was the same age as me and he was fighting wars and I was taking pictures,” said Cohea, who interned at the Ravalli Republic in Hamilton last summer.

In addition to the funeral, he photographed the forests and people of this timber town in the heart of the Bitterroot Mountain Range.

The paper, which runs Monday through Friday with a circulation of nearly 6,000, has strong outdoor and environmental coverage, Cohea said.

He and the nine other people who worked on staff also gave local coverage to Hamilton.

Jeremy Lurgio, a UM grad and now the paper’s photo editor, gave him freedom and artistic license with his picture-taking, Cohea said.

"He put a lot of confidence in me early on, let me do my own thing and find my own way, which was what I needed at the moment,” Cohea said.

Although the internship was unpaid, Cohea was able to live frugally and use a “grant” from his mother.

Students examining internship possibilities should not discount unpaid positions, he said.

"Mine turned out pretty well,” he said. “Don’t necessarily think it’s going to be a bad thing.”

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