Student Perspectives
I feel a renewed assurance that I can take on a serious job in print journalism at the end of the illustrious Scripps Howard Foundation Wire internship. It's forced me to write five daily stories in a row while simultaneously working on long-term projects. At the same time, I've been allowed to break outside of the cookie-cutter "news story" mold of school newspapers. At the end of it, I finally realized my dream: to write a piece so intricate that I was forced to hold myself accountable to my sources in every detail, but so important that it would catalyze public interest. That story happened.
-Kirsten (Brown) Brownrigg, Fall 2006
The moment I arrived here in September, I knew from the get-go that I was a small fish in an ocean of whales. In this city, you either work for a news organization or the government - and you're usually good at what you do. There's something humbling about looking at the Washington Post's downtown office every day from our window. My time here still seems surreal. I saw every big-name senator up close and rubbed elbows with some of the most powerful people in the nation (or the world for that matter). It's something I'll never forget.
If there's one thing I'll take from this internship, it's the civics lesson I received by observing our government first-hand. I got lost in the bowels of the Capitol, watched House members bicker on the floor and even staked out the Ohio clock for a chance to interview a senator or two. I helped report the Mark Foley page scandal by calling former House pages. I'm sure the page classes of 2000 through 2004 hate me. I covered Jim Webb's campaign party on election night, which just so happened to be the most important one in the country. It was an eye-opening experience for a kid from Nevada.
-Brian Duggan, Fall 2006
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I Googled my name often while I was here, and one of my stories ended up on at least two forums. It sparked pages and pages of Internet dialogue. I liked that so much.
-Eba Hamid, Hampton Short Course, 2006
As an international intern it was a great privilege to work in the difficult and developed media field of a metropolitan city. I enjoyed involvement in reporting and knowing the issues and decisions made in Washington that usually bring changes to the globe.
Coming from a post-conflict country where still tradition of hardship and roughly locked media exist, I was overwhelmed with the really open and free press under rule of a law that considers democracy and freedom of expression as its core values.
The three-month internship for international interns coming from developing countries is a golden opportunity to explore a new world with active participation in its media.
I would rate this internship as one of the best semesters in the world for young journalists who really desire to learn journalism and work as a journalist.
-Sayed Zafar Hashemi, Spring 2007 international intern
It has been a great experience to report on things that matter: policy in the making and the nation's leaders debating issues that will affect everyone. I feel great walking away from this experience knowing that I had a front row seat at the State of the Union. I went to the White House twice for events I reported on. I listened to arguments at the nation's highest law court, the Supreme Court. I heard the former vice president speak to a committee about one of the most important issues my generation will face: global warming.
One of the best parts of the program is that we are allowed to cover essentially whatever we want. It is a rare job that never assigns you a story, but instead lets you pick stories to cover based on your interests. Having my pick from a broad range of topics was a positive experience because it allowed me to work to develop my own stories out of the massive list of topics I could have chosen on any given day. It also helped me develop an eye for news, which will serve me later in my career. I learned how to walk into a hearing, and out of hours of soapbox speeches, find the news angle. I learned to focus on what is new, and not just that something is happening. I learned my reporting should be about what I can add to the public discourse with my article.
-Kayla Webley, Spring 2007
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The news cycle begins and ends here, and it is shifting and tugging in new, exciting and scary directions every day. I learned where I need to improve and what experience I need to glean over the next year before I head into the job market. Nothing could be more valuable than that.
-Nicholas Beadle, Summer 2006
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With this program I wasn't treated like an intern. That extends beyond, "I didn't get coffee and I actually worked." I was treated to fascinating tours and lectures, networked with interesting people, and dined on the foundation dollar at least once a week. My girlfriend summed it best saying that I was a "spoiled intern."
Furthermore I was not confined to the typical general assignment stories that most interns write at other news organizations. I choose the subjects I reported on. That freedom was crucial to my development. The freedom allowed me to sample a number of different beats and write stories in many styles. Secondly, I think it prepares a young journalist for the real world where they have to generate stories.
-Sean Gaffney, Summer 2006
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Throughout the summer, we toured Capitol Hill, the Supreme Court, the Pentagon, National Public Radio, the International Center for Journalists, the Washington Post, the Student Press Law Center, as well as participated in a number of luncheons, cocktail parties and receptions. This element of the program was key in honing my interpersonal and professional skills outside the office. Polishing these skills during the internship rather than in the business world was integral to presenting oneself in a professional manner.
Working in Washington gave me a taste of what big city life is like. I was able to meet other student journalists from around the country and discover the differences between my experiences and theirs.
-Jared Taylor, Summer 2006
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In 14 weeks here, I covered Supreme Court hearings, protests and marches. I've seen the Washington press corps in action at Pentagon and Justice Department briefings and Senate hearings. Basically, anything I wanted to cover, I covered. When I covered stories of national significance, there were often dozens of other reporters there. Interacting with the other reporters, listening to the questions they asked and then seeing their story taught me a lot about how the Washington press corps operate. I look forward to checking out their stories and comparing it to mine. By writing stories covered by other prominent news organizations, I became less intimidated.
-Christine Dinardo, Fall 2000
Overall, I think this is a wonderful program, and I'll tell you why. I was telling John Lindsey, one of the sports reporters, something that happened when I was working for The Post at Ohio University. When I finished the story, he just looked at me and said "The thing you have to remember is that there are two worlds out there; the one that you've been dealing with in college, and the real world. And they are very different". That's when I realized that this is a wonderful program.
Working at Scripps has given me a taste of what real world journalism feels like, and in Washington, D.C., no less. I have gotten to work in a real newsroom; most of the stories I've done have gone out on Scripps' national wire, so I've been dealing with the same deadline pressure and the same editors as a lot of the people who work here full time. There are very few internships where I would get all of these opportunities, and that is what makes this program unique and terrific.
Sometimes I would get too focused on my work and feel put out by some of the trips that we took, touring different places. But, in the end, those tours did me a lot of good; I never got lost in the Capitol or the Supreme Court when I was working there, and I found out about a wonderful opportunity in Baltimore when visiting the Baltimore Sun.
-Joe Atkinson, Fall 2000
At the Scripps Howard Foundation Washington internship program this fall, all we had to overcome was unimaginable tragedy. No big deal, right?
Nevertheless, I had an incredible time and learned a lot more than I ever thought I would. And not just about journalism. I know that I picked up quite a bit about myself. My roommates and fellow interns and I often talk about how much this experience has changed us for the better. I think that there's much credit to be given to the amount of freedom the program gives us. Here, you sink or swim, depending on how much you want to paddle. I came to appreciate that responsibility. What better way is there to prepare someone for the Real World?
I hadn't imagined just how much national (and international) coverage my stories would receive. They were downloaded everywhere from California to Nova Scotia, and a few places in between. One story alone, the patriotic gift guide, was downloaded 122 times. Here's a sampling of where: the Santa Barbara (Calif.) News-Press, the Troy (Ohio) Daily News, NBC, the Mexico (Mo.) Ledger, the Cincinnati Post, the Frederick (Md.) News-Post, the Naples Daily News and the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal. Quite possibly the most impressive pick-up was my story about the world's only professional tailgater, Joe Cahn. The Washington Times ran it along with the picture I took. The story also ran on FoodTV.com, which, I suppose, makes me not just a reporter or photographer, but a multi-platform content provider.