Support
Over the summer of 2024, I interned as a reporter with my regional newspaper, the Adirondack Daily Enterprise. I had three goals for this internship.
First, I wanted to grow experience as a writer, giving me a stepping stone towards my future writing career. Journalism forces you write quickly, concisely, and accurately in real time, which will help me in whatever path I may ultimately pursue with writing, whether that is as a novelist, as a journalist, or as something else.
My second goal was to serve my local community through my journalism by providing information about current events and community values. The Adirondack Daily Enterprise is a central part of the community in my region, tying all the people who live there together.
Finally, I wanted to become accustomed to and skilled at working in a professional environment. Before 2024, I had worked as a performing musician, playing gigs around the region, so I had no prior experience in a traditional office setting, meeting deadlines and collaborating with coworkers. The newsroom is a great place to get this experience.
The internship allowed me to achieve my goals in the following ways:
In terms of my first goal to grow my writing experience, I published 42 news stories, which included in-depth reporting as well as photojournalism.
For my second goal, I made sure to be thorough and accurate in collecting information, while personally connecting with the community members I interviewed, which enabled me to write stories that upheld the newspaper's tradition of bringing the community together.
And for my final goal, I took on the full responsibilities of a reporter, including maintaining a full-time schedule, identifying potential stories, covering breaking news, interviewing sources, taking journalistic photographs, and writing full-length articles on subjects including state and local government, public services, disasters, disaster preparedness, housing, history, local heroes, community events, and small businesses.