Indiana University School of Journalism

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While working at the San Diego Tribune, junior Mary Kenney reported on General Dynamics NASSCO's production of Navy ships.

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Three students interested in newspaper reporting found themselves working as reporters and editors last summer, refining what they learned in class. But they also said they became better storytellers, managers of details and organizers of their time.

Junior Mary Kenney spent the summer in California as a business reporting intern for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Her duties included writing business and science features, and shorter Q & A stories, as well as updating the Union-Tribune Facebook page. Her work appeared both in print and on the paper’s website.

Kenney said she knew she could live with a relative in San Diego, but she applied for many internships at locations far and wide. She collected her clips, and developed her resume and cover letter. She sent packets to numerous newspapers and news organizations that she thought may have internships, and those she knew had posted internships. Kenney said she sent a follow up email two weeks later.

It worked, and she found herself in California for the summer. A native Hoosier, Kenney said getting experience was more than worth the change of scenery.

“Don’t be intimidated by other demographics,” she says. “People need to get outside the state as well as get experience in media.”

Senior Pooja Kansal also worked in California this summer as copy editing intern for the Los Angeles Times as one of the Dow Jones Newspaper interns. For this opportunity, students apply in the fall, take an editing test and wait to see if they place in the top 60 students. In the final round, Kansal was placed at the Los Angeles Times.

Photo by Nick Demille

Pooja Kansal competed for the Dow Jones Newspaper internship to land her copy editing job at the Los Angeles Times.

While there, she received assignments, edited stories, worked on the Web page designs, adjusted story length and edited the blog. As copy editing intern, she said she learned more about the importance of details. Like Kenney, Kansal said she enjoyed getting away from Indiana for the summer.

“It’s more expensive going away, but it’s a more fulfilling experience,” Kansal said. “Going away allowed me to gain experience.”

Kansal said she was privileged to get a paid internship in her chosen career area, but she also said any journalistic internship would be beneficial to journalism students.

“Don’t worry about if it’s what you want to do later in life,” she said. “The work experience, networking opportunity and improved communications skills make it worth it.”

Senior Keiara Carr interned at The News-Sentinel in Fort Wayne, her home town. After high school, Carr won a $3,000 scholarship from The News-Sentinel. When she was looking for places to intern, she naturally applied to the newspaper that already had signaled its vote of confidence in her work.

Photo by Nick Demille

Keiara Carr turned to her hometown newspaper in Fort Wayne when seeking an internship.

“I don’t think that I would have gotten the internship without having previously been awarded the scholarship,” Carr said. “Every person you meet professionally can be a contact.”

In addition to her routine work, Carr said she pitched her own ideas and wrote two to three features a week. She focused on community-based stories. She recalled a story in which she interviewed a group of people who went to high school together in the 1940s, went on to marry others but found one another years later.

While the stories she wrote were diverse and interesting, Carr said some of the skills she gained were more practical.

“The internship helped me get organized,” she said. “Each week I would be interviewing several people and would make a to-do list on things I had to complete.”

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