The summer after my freshman year I began a summer internship at WKBW-TV , also know as Channel 7. I started attending Medaille with the idea that I wanted to be a news reporter, and channel 7 semmed like a great place to start.  After interning at Channel 7 for the summer, I soon realized that being a news reporter was definitely not for me. If I hadn’t completed my internship at Channel 7, I would have no idea what its like to be a news reporter. Even though I didn’t want to be a news reporter, I still feel that it was a great learning experience for me and I am glad I had the opportunity to do it.

My internship was in the news department, so for most of the day I sat at the assignment desk, with the assignment editor. I got to answer phone calls when they came in, being as polite and professional as possible (which is pretty hard when people call up with the dumbest questions). Calls that were of great interest I had to write down contact information, so that if a reporter was interested in doing a story, they would be able to get ahold of them.

Another part of my internship in the news room involved inputting press releases into the computer system.  Press releases would fly out of the fax machine like crazy. It was my job to include all pertinent information (WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY and WHO) and add it to a calendar on the computer so when the date of the event neared, it would pop right up.

When I wasn’t in the news room, I got to learn a lot about the field. I travelled with both reporters and camera men to get the information about a story that was needed. My all time favorite news story was one that involved a trip to Cirque Niagara, in which I was able to meet the acrobats and pet the horses!

Now, you are probably thinking to yourself, ” Is she crazy? It sounds like fun to be a news reporter”. I am sure it is, but just not for me. Going into my internship, I thought of news reporters as glamorous, but I never realized how much work they have to do. Am I afraid of a little hard work? No way! I am a firm  believer in working hard for something that you are passionate about.  I personally want a job with more “normal” hours, because getting up at 2 am, really won’t go over too well with me. That’t not the only reason why I decided not to be a news reporter. Being a news reporter seemed like a much too serious job for me. I want a job that I can have fun with and show off my dynamic personality. 

Want to learn more about pursuing a career as a news reporter? Click here!