Internship Spotlights (Archive)

Zaria Johnson is working directly with community residents in Cleveland’s BIPOC neighborhoods to report on environmental issues. This work is part of The Land and NewsLab at Kent State’s “Ask The Land: Environmental Reporting Initiative." She says: "My favorite part has been meeting and talking to so many interesting and inspirational people in Cleveland."

Through his internship with Arborwear, the Ohio-based outdoor clothing store, Zachary Zdanowicz has learned that “working in a professional environment is not always as intimidating as you may think.” He has been working on a variety of projects to help prepare and promote Arborwear for its new building/retail store opening in Fall 2021.

Miracle Walker learned through her internship with Canton City Schools/Canton YWCA that "storytelling is what I was put on this earth to do." She created a promotional video for the YWCA and said: "Following a career in digital media production allowed me to give voice to the voiceless and bring awareness. We’re living in a digital age, and any way I can create awareness of a cause, that’s where my heart is."

Public Relations major Kimmy Daniels felt prepared for her internship with the agency Hello LLC, thanks to her coursework. So far, she’s gotten to try a couple of different things: content generation and scheduling for social media, writing guest pitches to podcasters, building media lists and helping to organize media events. She says: "I've gotten to dive into work with really cool clients and always feel supported by my superiors.” 

As an intern with Heritage Valley Health System, Lindsey Vlasic has been working to keep the public informed about the Pennsylvania hospital’s physicians. Her public relations classes have prepared her well for this work; she says: “Working in my current professional environment is not much different than the work I have done in my classes."

As an intern with Ohio News Connection, the stories Kennedi Combs works on reach outlets across the state and beyond. “The biggest lesson I’ve learned about reporting news in the professional world is that detail matters,” she says. “Even if every detail doesn’t go into the story, the better the reporter understands what they are writing about, the better the story will be.”

Through her internship at KeyBank, Camryn Stephens has been learning the importance of collaboration and communicating in a professional environment. Beyond that, she's also learned the many things she can do as a public relations professional. “I really enjoy working for a large company with many different areas for growth,” she says. 

Emma Andrus’s internship with Cleveland Documenters is part of an effort to train and pay hundreds of people to attend under-reported public meetings and publish the results. She has been editing notes from local government meetings and says, “I especially love that I’ve been able to learn so much more about public policy and local government."

Through an internship with GIE Media, Madisyn Woodring has learned how the interviewing and writing skills she learned can be useful for jobs of all kinds. “Feature Writing ... was the most valuable journalism class for preparing me for my internship. The work I did for this class prepared me to write lengthy profiles with lots of details. ... I have built up my journalistic skills such as writing and interviewing, which I use almost every day.”