Hometown Gazette Newspaper Internship
Hannah
Experience Information
Employer: Hometown Gazette
Job Title: Publisher's Assistant
Major: Writing
Received Credit: Yes
Paid: No
Abroad: No
Description of the Organization
The Hometown Gazette is a weekly newspaper located in Union City, Michigan. The newspaper is still in its early stage, after it was taken over by a new owner, renamed, and rebooted, with only a few employees working for it.
Description of the Tasks/Projects Completed
During my internship I was responsible for writing articles, taking photographs of local and nearby town events, and interviewing individuals about accomplishments or events. I also had the responsibility of managing ad sales, from customers coming in to pay for their ads, to me calling businesses to ask them if they'd like to repurchase/purchase ads.
Skills/Knowledge Gained Through The Experience
The knowledge and skills I gained through this experience are things that I would not have otherwise learned. I learned a lot about newspaper writing specifically. You have to keep the articles direct and to the point, while also maintaining a certain level of professionalism and creativity. The most important thing I learned was to focus on who the intended audience of the piece is. For example if I'm writing an article about an event for kids, I shouldn't use the higher vocabulary words that they may not understand and focus on making it sound more casual. Or if I'm writing about a church group, I should focus on using more refined language and maintaining a level of seriousness for the adults who would be reading it.
Favorite Part of the Experience
My favorite part of this internship was being able to go outside the office to cover events and take pictures, and then write the articles for those events myself. It I enjoyed having a by-line and getting my name out there. People in the community would recognize me as the Hometown Gazette intern and compliment me on the articles they had read or ask me what was going to be featured in the next week's paper. This internship gave me the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and fully embrace the community as a whole.
How the Experience Influenced Future Career Goals
The skills I've learned are going to be a great asset to me as I begin my future job search and begin my life after graduation. Working at this newspaper has helped solidify my future goals in regards to the industry I would like to go into. While I don't necessarily want to work at a newspaper as a reporter, I would like to pursue a job in the industry of editing, specifically developmental editing, whether it's at a newspaper, magazine, or even a publishing company.