WVU :: Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism

Student Spotlight

Kathryn Gregory
Major Sequence: News-Editorial
Status: Senior

“The most important lesson that I learned during my internship is that every type of media…can tell your story in a different, yet convincing way.”

Where did you intern, name of the company or organization, and from when to when?
I interned as a member of a media production team producing a Webzine on the town of Cagli, Italy, for ieiMedia LLC. I was responsible for producing one major story, photographs, video sidebar and Webpage design. I interned from May 2007 to June 2007.

How did you hear about the internship?
I researched international reporting internships online and came across the program in Cagli. It was the 15th internship I applied for.

What was the process for applying for the internship?
The process involved filling out a long application, sending your transcript and grade point average information to the program coordinator and writing a brief biography on why you would make a good candidate for the program. It also involved a letter of recommendation.

Was the internship a paid position or learning experience?
It was strictly a learning experience, where I attended “journalism boot camp” everyday for about two weeks, then had more free time to work on my actual project.

What was the most important lesson you learned during the internship?
The most important lesson that I learned during my internship is that every type of media, whether it be video, articles or photos can tell your story in a different, yet convincing way. It’s important for people who are trying to break into the journalism field to be able to know how to do all of these things to make their story more interactive for the age that we live in. Each aspect of journalism that I learned about needs to work with the other types of media to make a complete story.

What other aspects of the internship do you think will serve you well later in the job market?
I think that all four aspects of the internship will serve me later in the job market. After traveling to Cagli, I know how to edit and shoot my own photos, shoot and edit my own video and create a streaming video package, how to write longer feature stories and how to create a Web page to package and showcase the work. I think that all of these aspects will help me in my career goals.

What was a typical day was like during your internship?
A typical day of my internship would involve taking an early morning Italian class, followed by a culture class where we would learn about the country that we were in and how cultural norms can get in the way of our understanding of other people. I would then have photography class, where we had an in-class lesson, had a workshop in the lab or took the cameras out into the town to shoot photos for our projects or mini assignments.

After photo, there would be a break for lunch, followed by a story telling workshop, where we would have an in class lesson on how to write feature stories, what types of questions to ask sources, among other things. After feature writing would be video class. In this class, we were always in the lab practicing shooting video or editing it. On numerous occasions, we went into the town and had to shoot small feature films on the town to have us actually see if we learned the day’s lesson.

As part of the internship, they allotted us time throughout the day to go talk to our sources and take photos and videos for our stories. I was constantly busy with classes, assignments and the project, but it was worth every second.

What advice would you give an SOJ student interested in pursuing an internship?
The best advice that I can give a SOJ student interested in pursuing an internship is not to give up. Many people apply for 20 internships before they get one. It’s a disheartening experience to get constant rejection letters, but students need to keep putting their name and their work out there, or no one will notice them. The best place to look for internships would be online. Other schools will sometimes showcase internships in their area that people here might not know about, so it’s useful to go out there and get all of the information that you can.

How did the School of Journalism prepare you to succeed in your internship?
The School of Journalism prepared me to succeed in my internship teaching me how to write in-depth features and how to ask the right questions. I was ahead in my story-telling module class because I had taken an advanced reporting class at WVU and had learned how to tell a profile piece.

What experiences from the internship will you be able to apply to your work at the School of Journalism?
I will be able to apply the story-telling module work the most at the School of Journalism. As a news-editorial major, I will be spending most of my time writing. I hope to be able to use my photography skills for my capstone class and maybe even my video skills if the in-class internship that I am assigned would allow me to do so.

If given the opportunity, would you do another internship? Why or why not?
Yes. I would do as many internships as I could get my hands on. Everyone has a different way of teaching journalism and writing the story, and it’s best to get as much experience as humanly possible about how to do these things so you can make up your mind on what works best. Internships help teach young journalists about the importance of our field and give us real-life working experiences that will help shape us into journalists with a competitive edge in the career world.

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	Student Spotlight Kathryn Gregory Major Sequence: News-Editorial Status: Senior “The most important lesson that I learned during my internship is that every type of media…can tell your story in a different, yet convincing way.” Where did you intern, name of the company or organization, and from when to when? I interned as a member of a media production team producing a Webzine on the town of Cagli, Italy, for ieiMedia LLC. I was responsible for producing one major story, photographs, video sidebar and Webpage design. I interned from May 2007 to June 2007. How did you hear about the internship? I researched international reporting internships online and came across the program in Cagli. It was the 15th internship I applied for. What was the process for applying for the internship? The process involved filling out a long application, sending your transcript and grade point average information to the program coordinator and writing a brief biography on why you would make a good candidate for the program. It also involved a letter of recommendation. Was the internship a paid position or learning experience? It was strictly a learning experience, where I attended “journalism boot camp” everyday for about two weeks, then had more free time to work on my actual project. What was the most important lesson you learned during the internship? The most important lesson that I learned during my internship is that every type of media, whether it be video, articles or photos can tell your story in a different, yet convincing way. It’s important for people who are trying to break into the journalism field to be able to know how to do all of these things to make their story more interactive for the age that we live in. Each aspect of journalism that I learned about needs to work with the other types of media to make a complete story. What other aspects of the internship do you think will serve you well later in the job market? I think that all four aspects of the internship will serve me later in the job market. After traveling to Cagli, I know how to edit and shoot my own photos, shoot and edit my own video and create a streaming video package, how to write longer feature stories and how to create a Web page to package and showcase the work. I think that all of these aspects will help me in my career goals. What was a typical day was like during your internship? A typical day of my internship would involve taking an early morning Italian class, followed by a culture class where we would learn about the country that we were in and how cultural norms can get in the way of our understanding of other people. I would then have photography class, where we had an in-class lesson, had a workshop in the lab or took the cameras out into the town to shoot photos for our projects or mini assignments. After photo, there would be a break for lunch, followed by a story telling workshop, where we would have an in class lesson on how to write feature stories, what types of questions to ask sources, among other things. After feature writing would be video class. In this class, we were always in the lab practicing shooting video or editing it. On numerous occasions, we went into the town and had to shoot small feature films on the town to have us actually see if we learned the day’s lesson. As part of the internship, they allotted us time throughout the day to go talk to our sources and take photos and videos for our stories. I was constantly busy with classes, assignments and the project, but it was worth every second. What advice would you give an SOJ student interested in pursuing an internship? The best advice that I can give a SOJ student interested in pursuing an internship is not to give up. Many people apply for 20 internships before they get one. It’s a disheartening experience to get constant rejection letters, but students need to keep putting their name and their work out there, or no one will notice them. The best place to look for internships would be online. Other schools will sometimes showcase internships in their area that people here might not know about, so it’s useful to go out there and get all of the information that you can. How did the School of Journalism prepare you to succeed in your internship? The School of Journalism prepared me to succeed in my internship teaching me how to write in-depth features and how to ask the right questions. I was ahead in my story-telling module class because I had taken an advanced reporting class at WVU and had learned how to tell a profile piece. What experiences from the internship will you be able to apply to your work at the School of Journalism? I will be able to apply the story-telling module work the most at the School of Journalism. As a news-editorial major, I will be spending most of my time writing. I hope to be able to use my photography skills for my capstone class and maybe even my video skills if the in-class internship that I am assigned would allow me to do so. If given the opportunity, would you do another internship? Why or why not? Yes. I would do as many internships as I could get my hands on. Everyone has a different way of teaching journalism and writing the story, and it’s best to get as much experience as humanly possible about how to do these things so you can make up your mind on what works best. Internships help teach young journalists about the importance of our field and give us real-life working experiences that will help shape us into journalists with a competitive edge in the career world.