Tag: "Internship Thoughts"

Some Final Thoughts…

My internship with Greenspun Media Group has come to an end. I’ve had my last weekend in Vegas and now I’m preparing for a 2,000 mile journey back across the country to Ohio.

My internship experience was awesome. That’s a simple description, but it’s an honest one. I could not be happier with the opportunities I had, the people I met, or the fun times in Vegas. I got everything out of this internship that a college kid could want.

I had the freedom to pitch stories (even if they were somewhat out of the box), work in a number of different mediums, and cover some big-time events. In most places, interns are much more restricted and work within a specific program. Not here.

During my ten weeks here, I had my articles, videos and photos published on the website, in the newspaper and air on television. I produced about 30 articles and 15 videos. I wrote two long enterprising stories (that have still yet to run online), and had a significant hand in a project for the UNLV Rebels site.

This wasn’t a coffee-fetching internship.

Throughout my time here, I kept many of the media credentials I received for various sporting events. As I was packing up my stuff this weekend, I looked through these credentials and realized how I got to cover some events I would be pumped to cover for a job, let alone an internship.

I covered Major League Baseball spring training, a big-time NASCAR race, UNLV basketball and football, the Mountain West Conference Tournament, one of the biggest bowling tournaments in the world, a rodeo and high school state championships. Vegas has some great sporting events, and I had a hand in covering many of them during this internship.

I’m leaving here with some great clips and videos, but the most valuable part of the internship were the things I learned. The people here at the Las Vegas Sun are all super talented, and watching them work on a daily basis was a great learning tool by itself.

The concept I probably learned the most about during the internship was how to use web to tell good news stories. The Internet offers so many ways to tell a story that traditional mediums can’t do, and this internship helped teach me ways to utilize the opportunities available on the Internet. The mentality here is definitely to use the Internet to your advantage. Don’t fear it.

Yes, the news industry is in trouble. Veryyy big trouble. But I’m confident the skills I learned at this internship will help me in the future. Probably more than I even know. The mentality people have at the Las Vegas Sun is forward thinking, and in times like these, having that kind of approach is critical.

I loved working at Greenspun Media, and I could definitely see myself coming back here. The people in our office are great, the sports are awesome and the work is fun.

And, of course, Vegas isn’t a bad place to live. 🙂