On Friday October 18, the English Department sponsored an event called “The Importance of Media Internships: Ways to Write for a Living.” Held in the WPU lower lounge, the event consisted of a panel of representatives from various media-related companies in the area who discussed internships and their significance in the job hunt. The members of the panel, consisted of a wide variety of people from various sectors of the media industry:
Marin Cogan (GQ Correspondent)
Lou Corsaro (Pittsburgh Business Times)
Jeff Krakoff (Burston-Marsteller)
Alan D. Miller (The Columbus Dispatch)
Bob Mecoy (Creative Book Services)
Anna Linaberger (KDKA-TV/WPCW-TW)
DeAnna Hamilton (WESA- NPR News)
During the panel, these individuals answered some key questions about the “Do’s and Don’t” of internships. When asked the question, “What are some turn-off’s with internship applicants?”, Anna Linaberger of KDKA said that hers were, “misspelling and poor grammar, being unable to provide all of the necessary paperwork, and not dressing in an appropriate way.” Lou Corsaro of the Pittsburgh Business Times, said that “people that don’t ask enough questions seem sort of suspicious, so make sure you come prepared with some sort of questions about the position you’re applying for”.
After this question, the panel discussed a common question that a lot of internship-seeking individuals have but never discuss. The question of how persistent one should be with an internship is one that students in the media field especially struggle with. However, all of the panelists agreed that showing a persistent attitude was a quality that is essential for a media intern to possess because of the very nature of the industry. Nevertheless, the professionals on the panel warned against becoming “annoying” by being too persistent. DeAnna Hamilton of NPR suggested that one be “politely interested” and she always suggested that one use the phone to contact someone for an internship rather than wait for an email.
At the end the panel turned onto a lighter note as the moderator asked, “What is the stupidest thing that an intern has done while working for you?” Marin Cogan at GQ told a tale of an intern that arrived for the internship with an “aristocratic air” and instead of doing the work that was asked of him, would instead spend his time at GQ googling “exotic fruits”. Hamilton of NPR spoke of an intern that was asked to clean a coffee pot but instead just threw it away. This intern also tried to grill toast on a coffee pot burner. Linaberger of KDKA told the story of an intern that sent a bottle of vodka with his resume. And finally Miller of the Columbus Dispatch told the story of an intern that was asked to complete a task by driving to a specific location, and then went missing for two hours and was reported to the station while he was gone for his erratic driving. When the intern returned from his adventure, Miller asked, “What was going on, why were you driving like this?” and the intern replied with, “I don’t have a license”.
There is an ever-increasing importance on having internships before you attempt to break into the media industry. This is the same for many internships these days, and therefore, as a college student it is important to always seize opportunities and make the best of your time. All of these lessons were taught at this well-organized and informative panel.