A young throw-back journalist tackling the news biz
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How to be a good news intern
Though I’ve been at my internship at The Charlotte Observer for five weeks now, most of the other interns just got started. We had an intern orientation today, and Steve Gunn, a senior editor (who wears the “innovation editor” hat), gave a quick talk on how to be a good intern here. Back in the day, he was an intern at the Chicago Tribune and several other papers.
Here’s his main advice, in no particular order:
- Get something for your resume line. Likely it’s a set of good clips. But be sure you have that goal in mind, and work with editors. They want you to have a good experience.
- Work hard. Gunn said there’s a stigma on the current generation (as there has been on every generation since Socrates) that we feel we’re entitled to everything. You have to distinguish yourself as a bust-ass kind of person. Volunteer for the night shift. Volunteer for group projects. In general, take on as much work as you can possibly handle.
- Pitch an assignment every day. This not only shows initiative, but will keep you from doing crap “intern” assignments a lot of the time.
- Every story can be a front pager. No matter how many stories you pitch, you’re going to get assignments you’re not crazy about. But throw yourself into them. If it’s a silly event, find the good story. Make the extra calls it takes. Gunn told of a small cops brief he was assigned, but he got a hold of the people involved and turned it into a top-of-A1 strip.
- Always be working on something. Your editors just want you to be doing something, so you better not get caught with nothing to do. Researching stories, out finding them, etc. Have a list of stories you want to do, and when you get free time, work on them.
- Assume everyone knows more than you. Don’t be the hotshot intern who knows it all, even if you do honestly know more than half the folks in there. Approach every conversation with humility, and see what you can learn from them.
- Network. Find a mentor and have conversations with people who can help you when you’re looking for a job. The journalism industry is tight-knit, and while clips are important, “references are God,” Gunn said. I’ve invited the editor-in-chief to lunch every year, and that’s been great.
- Tell the truth. Don’t lie to get out of an assigment or if you’re late to work. Just explain yourself. Newsrooms are full of crazy people, so whatever you’re going through is not going to be a big deal.
- Be accurate. This applies to your stories. Be sure you get the details right, but also make your story tell the broader truth correctly.
- Read the paper. If you read the paper cover to cover, you’re going to be ahead of 95 percent of the newsroom. You’ll show you’re engaged in the paper and you’ll have the head start on story ideas for follow-ups.
- Do things you can tell stories about. What’s a summer without stories? Gunn told of a summer in St. Petersburg where he didn’t have a car. He rode his bike to work and to all assignments. He got made fun of, but what a story to tell interns decades later.
What do you think? What would you add?
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2 comments for “How to be a good news intern”
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© 2009 dunn, reporter. 
Go to the story and immerse yourself in your city
I’m blogging about this particular thing later, but my biggest pet peeve is when people I’ve interned with are content to sit at their desks or sit in their apartments when they’re not working.
You have to go talk to sources face to face when possible, a tip for any good reporter, to get some of the best nuggets of personality. And you can’t get a feel for a city you’ve never been in without experiencing it. I personally find myself lucky to have had internships in cities I wasn’t familiar with. Seeing it through fresh eyes has helped me come up with some neat stories to pitch.
Two additional thoughts… keep in mind these are from someone who has *not* worked in a newspaper newsroom, just TV, radio and internet media ones.
I think/hope they apply, but some would probably disagree.
1. Know your fellow interns. When I interned at a TV station many years ago, I met a guy that is one of my best friends today. We’ve grown up together, and we’re closer than pretty much all my college friends. You’re at a time in your life when you pretty much can do anything with anyone (within reason, of course!). In off hours, learn about the people who are smart like you who also impressed the interviewers.
There’s also the business side of this. While Steve says to be humble, not everyone will be. And in my mind, that could be a benefit to YOU.
The confident girl may know a heck of a lot, and it’s not your job to judge her — it’s your job to help each other learn in the short time you have together. And that lady who may be misunderstood in her trying to help others may also end up publisher one day at the place you want to live.
What can you learn from each other?
2. Learn about the whole business.
Newsrooms are full of dynamic individuals and interesting stories. And while the support teams may not _seem_ as fun, they do so much to get the paper and other products out the door. Some of us love what we do, too!
Clear it with your boss, then try to spend a day a week in another division. See in operations how the articles and photos get from the newsroom to pre-press to plates to paper to the docks. Find out how circulation coordinates all the transportation and delivery of not just papers, but direct mail, magazines, and e-editions. Listen to customer service calls.
Talk to advertising directors about the challenges and successes they find, ask them why certain things work.
You NEVER know what it is you’ll end up doing. One of my degrees is in journalism. I thought I wanted to be an on-air sports talent. Yet I found more happiness behind the scenes, in the internet and business worlds.
It’s better to gather information early so you can be exposed to the entire process. It will make you a better employee, journalist, and ally to the profession.