An anonymous person said, A news story should be like a mini skirt on a pretty

woman. Long enough to cover the subject but short enough to be interesting. Although a
little insensitive to women, I found the quote to be true about journalism during my time
as an intern at Delmarva Public Radio. Most news stories are very brief, but have enough
content to get the message across to the audience. As a Communication major at
Salisbury University, my core classes taught me how to effectively write brief news
stories. The time came to put what I learned into use when I began my internship at
public radio. I was given the responsibility to report on all news dealing with city
government. This meant going to all the city council meetings and work sessions, and
staying up to date with all current city news. Working for DPR challenged me to make
journalistic decisions on what to include and what not to include in two minute on air
news segments. Since I had to be aware of majority of city affairs, I was tasked with
weaving out which were newsworthy for on air radio. One other concept that I gathered
from my Communication classes was that the best news stories required devotion. Even
though this concept was taught in classes, I didnt fully grasp it until I had to practice it
during my internship. Sometimes long hours and late nights were necessary for me to
complete a story. Balancing skill and dedication in news reporting is important to
producing a story that listeners wantt to hear. The amount of dedication it takes for each
story surprised me the most during this internship, but it gave me the practice of
classrooms lessons and real life journalism.
This particular internship allowed me to make connections from my
Communication classes to the real world of journalism. One connection I made was that
news stories have to be short enough to capture the readers attention. In Professor
Haven Simmons Writing for the Professions class, he taught that the most important
information goes into the lede (opening sentence) of an article (2012). Writing for radio
required the same concept. My internship supervisor and mentor, Don Rush, taught that
the lede provides the audience. In Communication/Journalism, I learned that the lede has
to grab the readers attention right away. Don taught me that the lede is even more
important in radio. He said, listeners tend to be more distracted than readers, (2014).
He explained that most radio listeners are listening while they are busy doing other things
such as driving or getting ready for work. The lede keeps them from turning the dial or
tuning out of the segment. So when I wrote my city news stories, I struggled at times to
keep them interesting. One instance where this happened was when I covered a city
meeting where the council voted to approve funding for police tasers. Even though it was
indeed a newsworthy story, keeping the average listeners attention was important when I
went to write the script (on air version of a print article). I struggled trying to include
brief information that still informed the listener of what exactly happened. Even though I
learned how to write ledes in my classes, as a result of this internship, I learned that
writing ledes for on air publications were a bit more difficult. To also write an effective
lede, I had to be sure that I gathered all information for the story. A couple of weeks
before the council made this decision, a police officer had to use deadly force at stoplight
on a violent arrestee. Research was another thing I learned was essential when trying to
come up with an effective lede and story. It made the story a bit stronger to have that
background information and most likely kept the audience wanting to hear more about it.
Not only is the lede an important asset to a story but also, from firsthand
experience, I realized that sources were also vital. In Professor Jennifer Coxs
Introduction to Journalism and Public Relations class, she taught that the emotional
impact that a story needs should most likely be told through a source (2011). Getting
sound bite (audio version of a quote) was important for an on air publication since the
attention span was shorter for listeners. For the police tasers story, I interviewed Council
President Jake Day, and in the interview I asked him about the situation with the officer
who used forced. From that question, pulled from prior research, came the emotional
impact the story needed. Day said, There's no situation where you do not want
somebody to live. That's not something anyone would ever want to see. And this, based
on everything we're hearing, would prevent the loss of life, (2014). A communication
skill I learned directly from this internship was to ask questions such as these to get the
good sound bite. Adequate communication skills plus in depth research allowed me to
give quality interviews with sources. In radio world, quality interviews meant effective
sound bites. Effective sound bites meant listeners were more likely to follow with the
story.
Good written and oral communication was so necessary to have to be successful
in this internship. Radio required captivating scripts, or copies, (which resembled a news
articles) that were brief but still informative. If my ledes didnt contain the most
important and engaging information possible, I would lose my audience. This technique
was taught to me in my majors core classes, but I learned it most through the experience
I gained in this internship. Proper oral communication was also apart of producing a
successful news piece because the sound bites that came from my interviews gave weight
to the stories.
The skills needed for this internship were challenging but expected since I already
gained some kind of understanding from my classes. What surprised me about my
prospective career as a journalist was how much dedication was required at times to
produce the best story. In theory, I knew chasing a story took time and commitment. I
didnt realize, however, the amount those attributes took for each story I did. For most of
the city council stories I covered, I was working in the stations studio late at night.
Sometimes, the meetings would run later than usual. Don asked me to edit the sound bites
and write a script after each meeting before I went home. So if the council meeting didnt
end until nine at night, I wouldnt go home until an hour and a half later. There were a lot
of nights that I was tired but sat through the end of each meeting and made sure my story
was on Dons desk before I left. These stories were on a tight deadline because Don was
due to be on air early the next morning. Dedication was required for each story, no matter
how small it was. There were some nights that I waited through the three-hour meeting
just to get a sound bite for another story that didnt have anything to do with what
happened in that particular meeting. Whenever I slacked in my commitment to working
hard, it affected my story and those around me. This was shown when my copies were
not written as best as they should have. Each time Don had to fix or rewrite a copy, it
meant more work for him to do in the morning before his early news segment.
One time where I my dedication to journalism was tested was when I had to field
report in a pending snowstorm. Field reporting for this specific internship usually meant
taking the recorder and microphone, and asking community members what their thoughts
were about a particular topic. I covered a marijuana feature piece that dealt with
Maryland leaders discussing to decriminalize the drug or not. Don gave me a ride to
nearby Royal Farms, and I stood out in the freezing cold stopping people before they
went in. There were so many times during this assignment where I wanted to quit and
walk back to the studio, especially after much rejection. However, I really needed the
sound bites to bring the story alive, so I stayed until I got enough interviews. I learned
that being a journalist may mean that I wont be in the most convenient situations at
times. I had to come out of my comfort zones a number of times during this internship to
produce quality stories. I was proud of each story I covered by the end of my internship.
If staying late and standing the cold would get me the story, I was willing to do so.
Although there were things I wasnt comfortable with, such as walking up to strangers in
the freezing weather, I set it aside to get the job done. This aspect of my experience is the
part where I am most proud. It gave me security that if I can put this a lot of effort on a
smaller scale, then I know I will do my best when I am given responsibility over even
bigger stories.
Staying dedicated to getting the story done was a major lesson for me. Don shared
stories with me about times he had to remain committed no matter the surrounding
conditions. He once had to stand near the Lincoln Memorial in below freezing weather
for hours with other press to get interviews. I also recalled times in classes where
Professor Cox explained that being a journalist meant going aggressively after the story.
For me, that meant constantly calling government leaders asking for interviews or
waiting outside for council members after late night meetings. One moment I was proud
of was happened during a regular Monday night council meeting. After the meeting, the
council convened in a closed session, which the public was closed off to. For another
hour, I sat on the bench and waited outside the chambers for the members to finish so that
I could still get a sound bite for my story. By the time they allowed the public to re-enter,
I was the only one left. Councilwoman Laura Mitchell said out loud in front of the
council that she admired my dedication.
The level of commitment it takes to get a story really surprised me. Even though I
remained devoted and did whatever was necessary, there were moments I was very
disappointed in myself. For some stories, I didnt come as prepared as I should have. One
main example of this is when I covered the State of the City address given by
Salisburys Mayor Ireton and City Council President Jake Day. It was the biggest
assignment I had received during this internship. During the speech, I experienced an
equipment malfunction. My supervisor asked me to record the entire speech, and I
couldnt because I did not bring an extra set of batteries with me. Throughout the address,
I had to judge, which were key moments to turn the recorder back on to capture. I saved
the battery life mostly to get a post interview with the speakers. The interviews I gave
were great and I was excited about the reporter work I did. However, when I got back to
the studio to make audio cuts on the sound, I was unable to retrieve the sound from the
interviews. There was a moment during this crisis that I feared having nothing to show
for from doing this assignment. I ended up using the sound bites from the few times I
turned the recorder on. Don depended on me to have the sound and a written copy ready
for him to air the next morning. I figured I could have produced a much better quality of
work than I did. I learned a valuable lesson in being one hundred percent prepared for
everything, especially for major stories as such. If I could re-do the whole situation, I
would have brought extra batteries, arrived even earlier to the address, and even ran audio
pre-tests on the recorder before it started.
After all the things I learned from this internship about skill and dedication, I have
never felt more secure in my decision to be a professional journalist. Both lessons in skill
and commitment challenged me, but it also proved to me that this career is something I
really desire to be apart of. I proved to myself through this experience that I have the
dedication needed to be a quality journalist. The connections and people I met while
doing these stories are also reasons why this internship confirmed by career path. The
council members were very nice and helpful to me. They addressed me by my name and
even saved my number as a contact in their phones. Covering stories like the State of the
City and diversity in city government gave me the excitement to want to further report
and write. This was a great experience because it allowed me to preview what I would be
doing full time once I graduate from school. I overcame a lot the challenges that
accompanied the internship but it showed me that I am capable to master any other
obstacles I may face in my career.
Not only did this experience validate my chosen career path but it also revealed
other opportunities I have in this field. I really enjoyed the production side of this
internship and it caused me to desire to one day be a producer. Producing my own news
or sports show is now a goal of mine after all the work that I did for DPR. Production
skills that I gathered from the internship were cutting sound bite and creating news
packages. I learned that the production portion of an on air news story is what makes the
story existent. Without proper production, listeners would not have heard my stories.
The skirt to all the work I had to do at Delmarva Public Radio had to be long
enough to inform my readers but short enough to capture their attention. This required
two main aspects that I got from this internship experience. Writing effective ledes was
something I learned in my communication classes, but I discovered it was even harder to
accomplish when writing for on air broadcasting. There is a smaller window of
opportunity to catch the audiences attention in radio than there is in print. For several
stories, I was challenged with writing captivating ledes while also including all of the
important information. This task was difficult for me because the more information I
included, the more I felt I was going to lose the listeners attention. One story I
successfully applied this concept to is the one I wrote about the Mayor and Salisbury
Police Department adding more police officers to the streets. The lede I used was
Salisbury police could have 15 more police officers out on the streets within the next 18
months, (2014). The lede included the basic elements of who, what, when, where that
I learned in my Communication/Journalism classes. Although brief, it was effective
enough to keep the listeners attention for the rest of the story. The source or quote is
necessary to give a story emotional impact, I learned in class. In radio, the interview was
one of the most important parts to the story. Since the storytelling came from verbally
speaking to the audience, to keep their attention I had to provide my internship supervisor
with sound that came from another source. Listeners were more likely to stay tuned if
they heard more than one voice in a story.
To produce great stories for DPR, I had to possess adequate written and oral
communication skills. The written communication skills helped me better advertise the
stories to the audience. The oral communication skills gave me better interviews with
sources by asking questions that would best elicit an emotional response. Before
interning for public radio, I didnt realize how vital these skills were. The internship
strengthen my written and oral communication by challenging me to use both for every
single piece of work that I did.
The biggest lesson I learned from this experience was that the best journalists are
the ones most dedicated to their work no matter the circumstances. I was tested many
times this semester when it came to how committed I was to being a great reporter.
However, I feel I proved to my supervisor, peers, and myself that being a journalist is the
right career path for me. I connected a lot of what I learned in classes to the real life
journalism I participated in as an intern. My internship experience went a step further
than my classes and taught me how to actually be a journalist; a journalist who can
produce news that informs, engages, and successfully wear a skirt.

Bibliography



Cox, J. (Presenter). (2011). Introduction to journalism and public relations. Speech
presented at
Salisbury University, .

Rush, D., & Martin, A. (2014, February 25). Salisbury City Council agrees to buy
tasers for police
department. Retrieved from Delmarva Public Radio website:
http://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/
salisbury-city-council-agrees-buy-tasers-police-department


Simmons, H. (Presenter). (2012). Writing for the Professions. Speech presented at
Salisbury
University, .