Clearly the media plays a big (arguably the biggest) role in influencing public discourse in today’s world. One of the largest outlets that does this is news stations. Over centuries, news has shifted to be on different platforms and has come to serve different agendas such as informing, persuading, and/or entertaining those who are exposed to it. In the end, their goal is typically to report on the topics that are of or could be topics relevant to their audience’s lives, thereby directly influencing public discourse. News outlets are typically the ones who, in one way or another, determine what we as a society end up talking or thinking about.
In my sophomore year, I worked at WPRI-TV in Providence, Rhode Island. There, I was a Digital News Intern, where I contributed various content for the news station’s website. My primary responsibilities included writing news stories, covering police reports and press releases, creating photo blogs, and even running the teleprompter for the live television broadcast. My stories were read by thousands of people on a regional level and were even recognized worldwide when one story was picked up by CNN.com.
This internship aligns perfectly with this objective. In this position, my daily duties were to frame and evaluate these stories and prepare them for those who wanted to read about them. The role enhanced my written skills and my critical thinking abilities. Some of my stories, known as “Call for Action,” were on consumer problems and product recalls, which sometimes required me to advocate for a course of action.
Attached is a journal I was required to complete for my internship. This journal contains more information on what the job required of me as well as some examples of my writing and digital work that was seen by those in the city of Providence as well as those far beyond the greater city area.
A link for a portfolio of all my writing on the website can be accessedhere.