Had you told me at the beginning of my freshman year that I would secure an internship just four semesters later, I would call you crazy. Despite that, here I am working around ten hours a week in Meridian Township.
I am a multimedia journalism intern for HOMTV, a small government access channel that runs out of the township building. They cover board meetings and happenings throughout Haslett, Okemos, and Meridian Township (HOM). As an intern, I undertake small story assignments for the township, participate in workshops, and put together my own personal segment for the semester.
We started the year off with three workshops and a podcast creation competition. We learned Adobe software, reviewed some interview basics, learned the equipment, and then started planning our podcasts. I brainstormed and decided to talk about what was going on that week, along with my favorite fixations due to ADHD, and some fun college tips. My goal was to have fun and learn some podcast skills, and I loved the work done by the other interns, but after our submissions, our supervisor chose my podcast as the winner. It was a fun experience to close out our initial training period.
I recently got to go out with one of my fellow interns and shoot photographs and b-roll for the construction of Trader Joe’s on Grand River Avenue. This was a valuable experience to learn how to operate Sony cameras to get quality pictures. I chose to take photographs because I have less experience in that realm, so it was fun to experiment and find the best way to get a shot.
The bulk of my focus now is working on my personal segment called “Keeping Up with Ki,” which is an interview style project that focuses on events, businesses, activities, and other things to do in the HOM area. I got to decide everything from what I wanted the show to be about, to who and where I chose to do interviews. With guidance and help navigating the equipment, I got to shoot my promotional video to prepare for my first segment.
Despite not getting the full newsroom feel and experiences with this internship, I feel like I am learning so much. Due to the small scale, I am getting more hands-on experience and I have more creative freedom. This has been a fun steppingstone experience that I am beyond grateful to get to start in.
During this semester, I am also enrolled in one credit of JRN 493 which is the Journalism Professional Field Experience course here at MSU. This is the internship requirement that all journalism majors must fulfill a minimum of one credit before graduation. The one credit course requires that I work a minimum of nine hours a week and complete five assignments throughout the semester. It is a pass/fail course and has been very simple so far this semester.
What I am learning at HOMTV will better me in the future as I take on more internships and build my portfolio. I hope to continue having fun as I produce quality work at HOMTV, and maybe even help with a township board meeting if my schedule permits.