Uispj's Blog

Tips to Land and Maintain an Internship

uispj — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:32:46 +0000

Be Prepared

Come prepared with knowledge and questions about the company or organization.

Having no questions at all looks like you are not interested in the company, and may also seem like you are not interesting yourself!

Asking the wrong question makes you look unprepared. For example, never ask, “What does this company do?” This should already be clear to you, since you should have done research!

Stand Out

Show your unique abilities and qualifications.

Not everyone will have the same information on their resume. So showcase what will stand out to an employer.

Be Confident

No one knows what to expect for the interview or for the first day of an internship.

So have an open mind, be prepared for anything, and be open to perform any task asked of you.

Don’t limit your work to one person. You may be hired by one individual, but don’t pass up opportunities to learn from other people who work in the same area as you. Who knows you may learn something truly valuable!

Listen

You will be given a rundown of what your daily tasks will be and how work is conducted in that particular company. You should only have to be explained this once. So if you need to, take notes and write it down. You don’t want to become known as the undependable intern!

Make sure you understand what your tasks are. If you have questions, ask them! Then you won’t need to verify things later to make sure you performed the task correctly.

Stay Organized

Don’t let the daily tasks bury you. Learn to multitask, and work on your feet!

Make a list of tasks that need to be completely daily.

Make a media guide to stay on top of things. Compile a list of all of the news sources you send releases and other news briefs to. This list should consist of addresses, email addresses, phone numbers and any other special instructions. This will come in handy when it comes time to send out releases, as you will have all of the information in one location.

If you are working on multiple tasks at a time it may be beneficial to make a release calendar. This will keep you on track for when things should be completed and released by.

Enjoy Your Experience

Internships are a once in a lifetime event. No two people will ever have the same internship experience. Everyone will bring something into an internship and they will leave with something as well.

Above everything else, live in the moment and learn as much as possible. You were given an opportunity to show your skills, so work hard and improve as much as you can!

–By Megan McIntyre

Upcoming Speakers

uispj — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:41:28 +0000

Monday, October 26, SPJ will present two guest speakers from KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids. It should be an excellent meeting, as it offers the opportunity to hear from not just one, but two speakers who work in television, but play very different roles.

Erik Arendt is a 2007 graduate from Western Illinois University with a Fine Arts degree specializing in broadcasting. Arendt worked at WHOI-TV in Peoria, IL as a news photographer for a year before coming to Iowa. He began a photojournalism career at KCRG last April. His work entails shooting and editing stories of the day. Arendt also sets up live remote broadcasts, works on stories alone and with reporters, responds to breaking news and shoots still images for the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

Justin Foss has been a reporter from KCRG since 2007. He was previously at KIMT in Mason City, Iowa for five years as a reporter and weekend anchor. Foss is the recipient of several awards from the Iowa News Broadcasting Association, including first place awards for reporting and feature writing. Foss is a graduate of St. Thomas University in St. Paul, Minnesota. For more on Justin Foss, visit the KCRG Web site.

We will meet at 7 PM in E120 of the Adler Journalism Building. Hope to see you there!

By: Kelly Trettin

Forgotten War Remembered?

uispj — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:33:37 +0000

As military strategy changes in Afghanistan and President Obama sends in more troops, the “Forgotten War” has quickly become a hot topic in journalism once again. A few months ago at the SPJ National Convention we had a session where we discussed the lack of coverage in Afghanistan due to low ratings, dwindling finances and safety issues. While these are still of concern to news outlets, many are ramping up their coverage of Afghanistan as there appears to be changing military action. There was a great article in today’s NY Times about this phenomenon and I also noticed coverage on CNN this morning. Looks like Afghanistan is moving into the limelight for the first time in years and perhaps the term “Forgotten War” will become obsolete.

By: Kelly Trettin

Establish You Digital Identity

uispj — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:36:57 +0000

At our October 12 meeting, guest speaker Nick Bergus discussed how to establish your online identity. Although he hates using the term “branding,” this is basically what you need to do to establish a clear representation of yourself in the online world.

Google yourself. What comes up? Nick tells us that the first five hits that appear will basically give someone a sense of who you are as a person, a student, and a professional. If you Googled yourself and nothing came up that was relevant to you, that’s bad news, and it’s time to start staking out your online identity. In addition, if all that came up for you was a bunch of embarrassing party pictures on Facebook, that’s bad news as well and it’s time to lock things down and start presenting yourself in a more professional manner.

It’s easy to get started. Set your Facebook privacy controls if haven’t already. As Nick said, don’t be afraid to put things on your Facebook page, just be aware that lots of people can see it. Now that you have that taken care of, sign up for a LinkedIn account if you don’t have one already. It’s an online resume and a great way to present yourself professionally. Plus, it’s one of those things that will show up in your top five Google hits and make a good impression.

Now it’s time to brand. Do you have Twitter? A blog? If you don’t, get started. Blogger and WordPress are both free blogging services. When you use these programs, you need to keep a focus. Don’t tweet and blog about what you had for breakfast. Rather, focus in on a few of your interests and stick to that. Then start finding people on Twitter and reading other blogs to get in touch with people who have similar interests. You can even start building your portfolio around your blog, so people can see some of your real work.

An important thing to remember, though, is to keep everything updated! Aim for a couple times a day; it sounds tough, but once you get started, it’ll get a lot easier and will definitely be worth the effort. Oh, and don’t forget to Google yourself again now that you have reinvented yourself!

By: Kelly Trettin

War Stories…A session reflection from the SPJ National Convention

uispj — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:56:51 +0000

By Kelly Trettin

“

There’s no inherent right to embed,” said Colonel David Lapan, Director of the Department of Defense Press Office. We were discussing the ongoing war in Afghanistan. My pen sat poised over page for a moment. I was sitting in the back of a hotel conference room, taken slightly aback in the second Friday morning session at the SPJ National Convention in Indianapolis, titled “War Stories: America’s Coverage of the War in Afghanistan.”

I thought the Society for Professional Journalists was the most fervent supporter of journalists’ rights anyone could hope to find. Especially at Convention, I didn’t expect to hear that there were limits on how and where journalists could do their job—especially something as important as a war our nation is fighting in. Apparently, there are limits to everything.

A little background info: the war in Afghanistan has been dubbed the “Forgotten War,” due to the severe lack of coverage in American media. Canada and Europe do significantly more coverage, according to Peter ter Velde, television reporter with Dutch NOS News and speaker at the Convention. Iraq is the main focus of American media, especially when it comes to on-the-ground coverage, where at one time or another 700 journalists have been embedded. In Afghanistan right now, there are only about 37 embedded journalists. Total (that means American and other). Hence, the name.

Back to my surprise: how could there not be a right for the fourth estate to monitor what is happening in a place where our government has spent significant amounts of money and where more than 170 American lives have been lost this year alone? The session continued; questions were posed; explanations given. We, the watchdogs, may not like to hear this, but Col. Lapan has a point.

When a journalist embeds with military forces, there has to be a significant amount of trust, Col. Lapan explained. The commander of the troops has to trust that the journalist will not report on certain things that would compromise the safety of the group. The journalist trusts that he or she will be protected from danger as much as possible. War situations are stressful, to say the least. Things can get sticky.

But journalists who want to cover the war should not give up, especially since there is already so little coverage in Afghanistan. Col. Lapan pointed out the two biggest things journalists can do to avoid these sticky situations that will compromise their ability to embed with troops:

1) Never divulge information on your unit’s location. (You know, Geraldo Rivera-style).

2) Allow the military to notify the next-of-kin when a soldier has been killed before contacting the family yourself.

Sounds simple, yes? Things are not always this clear-cut, but there is a desperate need for coverage of this war. Col. Lapan informed us that the majority of journalists embedded right now are not working under a larger news organization; there are lots of freelancers and bloggers. This means the door is open for nearly everyone.

So, the conclusion I came to is that if we cannot consider embedding with troops a right, we must consider it a trade-off. If we, as Americans and journalists, want to continue to enjoy protections of the First Amendment, we must compromise with those who fight everyday to defend and protect this right. If this means that journalists must delay the release of certain information, and perhaps never release other information (such as location), so be it. Any story is better than no story at all and when it comes to the Forgotten War, we need all the information we can get.

100th Anniversary Convention

uispj — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 18:31:33 +0000

This year the National SPJ Conference is being held in Indianapolis August 27-30 and it is the 100th anniversary. UI SPJ has been fortunate enough to send three representatives to the conference with chapter advisor Mr. Dick Johns. Morgan Olsen, Tina Larson, Julie Koehn and Kelly Trettin are currently in Indianapolis and will be blogging about some of the most impressive sessions thus far. Please check our blog regularly for exciting updates on this year’s conference!

Hello World!

uispj — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 18:09:40 +0000

Welcome to the blog of the University of Iowa’s chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. We have been an official UI organization since 1983, but have been operating for 39 years. UI SPJ is open to journalism students and students who are interested in the field of journalism. We typically meet Monday evenings in the Adler Journalism Building on the UI campus; usually we will invite a professional to speak to the group or we will host a workshop, such as resume writing. It is a great opportunity for students to meet and network with each other and with professionals working in the field they are interested in. We will be having an informational session and pizza party for anyone who is interested in joining on Tuesday September, 8 at 7 P.M. on the first floor of the Adler Building.

We have six members on our executive board for the 2009-2010 school year.

Co-Presidents: Morgan Olsen and Tina Larson

Vice Presient: Julie Koehn

Public Relations Director: Kelly Trettin

Newsletter Editor: Megan McIntyre

Treasurer: Michelle Morgan

Our advisor is Mr. Dick Johns, who has been with the chapter since its inception. We are currently working on updating our website. If you would like more information on SJP as a whole, please visit spj.org.