Instead of waking up and heading to The Georgetowner on Thursday, I instead walked to a heavily guarded gate at the intersection of 17th and Pennsylvania streets. Yes, the White House. But this wasn’t just any run of the mill White House tour. Instead, our The George Washington University Semester in Washington Journalism program group was visiting the White House press room.
I was incredibly excited about this opportunity as it’s obviously not something everyone gets to do in their life, especially, a young, aspiring journalist like me. It was a small room in size, but the large podium up front and the fact that Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton came out to talk to us reminded me of the heavy importance of the press room.
I listened from the Reuters chair as Burton spoke on the delicate balance of what information the Obama Administration can give to the press and what information needs to be kept private. Each chair in the room is assigned to a specific news organization and from mine I was just two chairs down from where Helen Thomas used to sit!
Burton told us how much he loves his job and even gave us some internship advice. He told us to make the most out of our internship, even if we don’t like it, because no matter what we’re still learning something.
Even though my time in the White House press room was relatively short, I still think it was one of the most exciting trips we’ve made during the program. And that’s not just because I got to stand up at Robert Gibbs’ podium and take a picture!
As the summer winds down and students pack up to move out of DC, its a good time to look back at all that was accomplished over the semester. Thrughout the next few weeks students will decide how to add all this great “stuff” to a student portfolio in an effort to jump start their careers.
Today we focused on resumes, networking, internships and resources.
As part of the resume exercise, students were asked to come up with a list of rumored resume do’s and don’t. Next they brain-stormed action words that describe what they have learned at their internships Here is what they came up:
- produced
- designed
- interviewed
- researched
- managed
- drafted
- maintained
- communicated
- participated
- input
- traveled
- established
- coordinated
- wrote
- created
- developed
- posted
- shot
- edited
- organized
- collected
- collaborated
- raised
- helped
- marketed
- analyzed
- shaped
- sold
- refined
- reported
- instituted
- photographed
- led
- assigned
- distributed
- operated
- advertised
- implemented
For more tips and resources on resumes visit careerealism.com or Gen Y career guru Lindsey Pollak.
I was at a barbecue on the Fourth of July and started a conversation with a person who is successful in pharmaceutical sales. After hearing him talk about how successful he was, I asked him why he succeeds where others fail. His answer was quick: His mother had been deaf since he was young, so he’d needed to learn different, nonverbal ways of communicating, giving him an edge over his competition who were only capable of reading clients and conveying their thoughts in certain ways.
That conversation was brought back to earlier this week on our visit to the Smithsonian Channel, where David Royle, the Channel Executive Vice President, said that he entered his career thinking of himself as a journalist in a given medium, be it print, video, radio or now online. His shifting has shifted, however, to the point where he now thinks of himself as “a nonfiction storyteller.”
By labeling himself that way, Royle pays homage to his profession while also avoiding pigeonholing himself. In today’s media landscape, it is crucial to understand that people consume media in disparate manners. There are, for instance, still people who read the daily paper with their breakfast every morning. But there are also people who depend on the Huffington Post for their news, just as there are a few who turn to Jon Stewart for the latest scoop.
Royle also touched on something that I’ve been turning over in my head for a while: Journalists are little more than storytellers. We’re out here to relay a series of events in a compelling and accurate manner. In reality, we’re no different than Ernie Pyle hammering on his typewriter, Walter Cronkite sitting behind his desk or Woodward and Bernstein digging where they weren’t welcome. Journalism’s survived this far and has undergone several major medium shifts. We’re in the middle of another shirt and as long as we can see the forest (and our principles) for the trees, journalism will remain the same.
Only the method of delivery will change.
*Photo uploaded to Flickr by Krista76
I love our Tuesday night class with Steve Springer, from Voice of America. Each week we meet with Steve, since he’s the adjunct for our Semester in Washington summer program. I like his stories, his advice, and the fact that he opens up the floor for the rest of the class to share their thoughts, and sometimes, like last week, get into some pretty heated debates.
Last week’s topic: Michael Hastings’s article in Rolling Stone about General McChrystal.
There has been quite a stir over whether or not McChrystal should have given his real thoughts and opinions on top administration officials. There’s so much to talk about! Did Hastings cross an ethical line? Was the interview on or off the record? Would you have published the article if you were Hastings? Was there something he should have done differently? Was Obama right to relieve him of his duties? The list goes on and on, and needless to say, two hours wasn’t long enough for everyone to share their many opinions.
I’m not going to get on my soapbox, but I think this would be a good topic to discuss further on some sort of message board. I know there are already hundreds of threads out there, but I want to know: how do past, current, and future journalists feel about this issue?
Steve and Amos (The SIWJ program Director)both talked about their personal experiences similar to Michael Hastings’s situation, and it was interesting to hear how they would have handled it twenty years ago vs. how they would handle it today. That’s something I find very valuable: the fact that we’re learning from someone who has done and still does this sort of stuff everyday of his life. The information he’s giving us comes from his first hand experience doing exactly what a lot of us hope to do in a few years. You can write all the textbooks you want, but I don’t think they can educate you on half of the stuff some of our guest speakers, not just Steve, have talked to us about.
From All the President’s Men, to Facebook issues, to Michael Hastings’s article that brought down Stanley McChrystal, to PR vs. advertising vs. journalism, class with Steve Springer is always entertaining.
*Photo uploaded to Flickr by The U.S Army
I flew home for the first time in a month last weekend to see my family, friends, and boyfriend. I had only been gone four weeks, but for someone who has never lived more than 30 minutes away from their family, that’s a pretty long time!
I entered this Semester in Washington Journalism Program fairly apprehensive about the whole “being away from home aspect.” I mean, I haven’t actually lived with my parents in a few years, so that part was less than novel. However, despite being very well-traveled, living outside of the Metro-Atlanta area for the first time in my life was daunting.
After spending a few weeks in Washington, DC though, I began to realize that despite being a big city, it’s really not that big after all. Random interactions with strangers and striking up a conversation with someone because they have on a Georgia Bulldogs t-shirt made home seem not-so-far away. While riding the Metro to work the other day, a woman sitting next to me told me about how she was from Georgia and I found out she went to high school with a friend of mine. My adjunct professor and a strong link in the chain of command at Voice of America, Steve Springer, told me about his days at CNN in Atlanta (which is right next to my school, Georgia State) and how he used to live a few miles from my parents’ neighborhood.
After all of my interactions with people who are from Georgia, have lived there, or had family there, it made it seem as if home weren’t really that far away. By the time I stepped off the plane in Atlanta last weekend, it felt like I had never even left. Those close to me have come to visit and I got to show them around my new home in D.C. I get phonecalls and text messages all of the time from those I love. But at the end of the day, nothing quite makes me feel at home as much as talking to a kid wearing an Atlanta Braves hat and telling him “I really feel like we’ll clinch the division this year.” Even if I can’t watch all of the Braves games on television, I am just as much home here as ever here in DC for the summer.
What was the coolest thing I did last week as a Washington Independent video intern? It is tough to decide, since I covered a press conference with Bill Gates with five other “hot shot” CEOs, filmed Jesse Jackson speaking passionately about American liberties, and channeled inspiration from ABC’s hit show, LOST to produce a recap video piece on the oil spill (look for updates on that next week!)
Last week I heard republicans discuss the Tea Party movement.
I heard legal experts discuss Elana Kagan’s nomination into the Supreme Court.
I even talked to protesters (a group called The Young Turks) outside the Treasury building.
The Semester in Washington Journalism Program has been non-stop. Between my work with The Independent covering politics around town, and working on projects for planetforward.com and The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, I have learned how to efficiently manage a LOT of work in a short time-frame.
What’s the secret? I think it is changing my thought processes. It’s about thinking 10 steps ahead, planning ahead, and working ahead. It is about ignoring hesitations and going with your gut. It’s a new media mindset.
With Oliver Stone’s South of the Border film premiering in DC next week, I got to tag along on a bunch of site visits with Keith Blackman, my internship supervisor and PR representative for Oliver. This is when I realized that the public relations field is a lot about who you know and the strings that everyone pulls for each other.
We visited three possible locations for the reception that will follow the Silverdoc Film Festival next week. The first location was being pushed by the event sponsor, yet the environment just didn’t mesh well with the movie and the guests that would be attending. The second location was just too ‘blah’ although, they did treat us to a nice lunch. The third location, just like in the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, was just right. But with the event being just a week away, there were too many logistical issues to work out. In the end, the forth location worked best and the reception is going to be held at the award-winning restaurant Teatro Goldoni. It’s perfect: modern and well known.
I have learned that you have to be able to be personable, but not too personable in this industry. Everyone is very polite and courteous- yet always keeping their options open for all possible opportunities. Nothing is finalized ‘til its in writing. It’s an alluring and cutthroat line of work.
“Community” is a word that has come to mean a great deal to me since I have been in college. It holds connotations of the small New Mexico town I left behind, the family-like friendships I have formed at Baylor (my home university) and the type of publication I am coming to appreciate more every day.
I am an intern at The Georgetowner newspaper. Despite its location in the (rather large) capitol of the free world, Georgetown is a true community. I must say, I have been pleasantly surprised at the home-like atmosphere there. Though the stores are mostly out of my price range and the variety of characters I meet on the street everyday would never be found in my hometown, this week has opened my eyes to a new form of “home.” A new form of community.
Another community I get to engage in this summer is the actual program, SIWJ at George Washington University. Especially since we live in a residence hall, this past week has been like moving to college as a freshman all over again. Though I was two weeks late to the program, the other students immediately brought me into their circle and made me feel so welcome. Already it feels like we have known each other much longer than a week. I have definitely found community here, a very different community than I have at Baylor, but one I am looking forward to developing as the summer unfolds.
So as some of you may know, my internship is at NBC and my job entails creating, writing, and producing a 5-episode mini-series that will air on television. My first day isn’t until tomorrow, but in the mean time, I’ve come up with the pitch below. Please feel free to give me feedback either via comments on here, in person, or e-mail. Thanks for your thoughts!
NBC Interns Pitch
The American youth will be captivated in this refreshingly new mini-series by five of their peers who have ambition like America has never witnessed before. Five students with five stories and five dreams with only 1 thing in common: AMBITION. One: pre-med who founds an NGO, Two: An aspiring musician who develops a new genre of music. Three: A college newspaper editor who launches a new magazine. Four: A business major who starts his/her own company. Five: A comedian who entertains the ill and poor. These five students bring together their ambitions to change the world.
Their journey will be documented in an intense five episode mini-series that is balanced out by the witty humor that keeps the viewers laughing throughout. Unlike any other show in history, this journey culminates in a real-life event in Washington, D.C. in August. The event will be a concert that the musician and comedian will perform at that will raise funds for the NGO, be advertised for by the journalist, and be supported by investors that the business-major will seek collaboration with. Furthermore, this series will allow viewers to get involved in a way beyond any other show. The viewers will be able to follow and participate in the students’ efforts via their website, blog, and twitter. For example, a website such as www.ambition.org will supplement the show and will provide an online platform for all five students’ causes as well as ways for the American public to support them (via participation, donations, etc.)
In addition to portraying the American youth in a positive way, this show will encourage and inspire others to follow their own ambitions as well. Void of traditional elements such as judges, voting-off, competitions, and the crude use of vulgarity to sensationalize the programming, AMBITION is revolutionary.
NBC has a long history of firsts, from establishing the nation’s first permanent radio network to the Today show which became the first network early morning news show in American history to being the first network to offer full-length prime-time television shows on-demand to play on mobile phones. Thus, it is only fitting for NBC to be the first network to launch a new type of television: real-life based multi-media entertainment… with a cause.
Photo By: Rachel Pasch
Well today was my first day interning at Nature’s Best Magazine. Of course day one at an internship is about first and foremost finding your way to the office! Starting off I was alright, my GPS took me through the back-roads to avoid the crazy tolls. I ended up in some gorgeous areas, but not so gorgeous roads. I, of course, drove passed the building at least three times, definitely turned into the wrong lot twice and FINALLY located it with some help from some paper directions.
Anyway, the few hours I was there was dedicated to introductions more than anything. The small group that runs the organization is great; they are all very personable, smiley and inviting. Deb and Stephen Freligh, the owners and art directors of the magazine, told me about all about what’s happening this summer. They told me that I would most likely be doing a lot of research on photographers (professional, amateur and student), helping with upcoming photo competitions and some customer service.
At noon a photographer came in to show us something he has been working on, he said it will benefit both the magazine and the Smithsonian (which Nature’s Best works very closely with.) It’s all hush-hush though so I can’t really elaborate…. all I know is that his video was very interesting and I had no idea what he was discussing was even in existence!
They’re very flexible with hours, which is awesome, so the real stuff will start tomorrow and I’ll work 10:30am until 3:30pm. I think we (when I say we, I’m referring to myself and a girl named Emma who attends RISD, she’s also interning there) will be learning the ins-and-outs of everything. I’m very excited for this internship!
Instead of waking up and heading to The Georgetowner on Thursday, I instead walked to a heavily guarded gate at the intersection of 17th and Pennsylvania streets. Yes, the White House. But this wasn’t just any run of the mill White House tour. Instead, our The George Washington University Semester in Washington Journalism program group was visiting the White House press room.
