Internships
The opportunity to learn on the job has become more and more important for college undergraduates, and the Journalism Department is committed to providing such opportunities to our majors. Each year, upper level Journalism majors do internships at newspapers, radio and television stations, and news websites. Over the years some of our students have won competitive internships at prestigious news outlets in various parts of the country including New York and California.
Some students do internships during the fall or spring semesters at daily and weekly newspapers in Rhode Island, radio and TV stations in the state, and occasionally at locations in nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut. We have had students do internships at all three Rhode Island TV stations, at just about every newspaper in the state and at WBZ and WHDH television in Boston as well as at Boston radio stations.
Many students who live in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the New England states have done internships during their summer break in their hometowns at newspapers, TV stations, radio stations and, on occasion, at television networks such as CNN.
The Department requires that students doing internships for academic credit have to complete at least two reporting courses prior to doing the internship. We do allow Journalism majors to do internships before they have taken such courses, but not for academic credit.
Any current Journalism majors interested in doing an internship should consult first with their faculty adviser to make certain they qualify and to discuss their options.
What students did on their “summer vacation”
Mark Scialla
Last summer senior Journalism major Mark Scialla went to Washington, not to govern but to cover those who do. He did a summer-long internship at Al Jazeera America, the U.S. version of the Middle East news network. He worked with international journalists and got the kindof firs
thand experience he wanted to help prepare him for a career as an international reporter.
“Veteranreporters, producers and editors were eager to share advice and stories,” Mark said. “They trusted me with importanttasks such as gathering interviews and footage for stories. Everyday was fast and unpredictable. One moment I'd belogging speeches, and the next I was interviewing celebrities. I spent my summer keeping up with developing news and digging for stories no one else had. Working for Al Jazeera was exciting and broadened my connection to an international community.”
Giana Campanale
Senior Journalism major Giana Campanale spent last summer at the Metcalf Institute for Marine & Environment Reporting as an intern where, among other things, she completed a training video for the Institute’s website. The video reports on the experience of journalists who attended the Metcalf Institute’s symposium on reporting science and the environment held on the URI campus in July.
She interviewed many of the Metcalf Institute fellows and shot and edited the video, enhancing the piece with slides and narration. You can see the video on the Metcalf website, www.metcalfinstitute.org, and on Youtube at youtube.com/watch?v=5pgUUn0tZwQ.
Brooke White
For three months last summer, senior Journalism major Brooke White worked as an editorial intern at Rhode Island Monthly magazine. “[These] were some of the best months of my life because of the amazing journalists I got to know, the opportunities I was given, and the huge amount that I learned and experienced,” Brooke said.
She worked alongside reporters, writers, editors, graphic artists and designers and saw what it would be like to be to work for a magazine full time. While interning, she contributed articles to four issues of the magazine and researched and wrote for several of the company’s email newsletters. She also went into the field with her editor and learned how to film and edit short videos for blog posts. “I did much more than I have room to tell you,” she said enthusiastically. “At the end of the three months, not only did I know that magazine writing was where I wanted to focus my journalism career but I knew that I wanted to write for the rest of my life.”
