At the Intersection of Journalism and Business Leadership

By Dean’s Intern Mia Perry at NPR

Mia PerryThere are many perks to being an intern at the NPR headquarters; working outside on the fourth floor patio, sitting in the studio while Lakshmi Singh delivers the news with perfect timing, getting #free-food notifications on your NPR Slack channel, and sneaking away from your workspace to see the Tiny Desk concerts. (I saw Ty Dolla $ign and Damian Marley perform, but I missed Lizzo and the Jonas Brothers.)

Although there are a multitude of other ways to spice up the daily work routine at NPR, my assignments were always interesting on their own. My internship created an almost perfect intersection of my journalism major and business leadership minor.

My main assignment on the Business Partnership and Strategy team was managing a six-week project that analyzed the profits and losses of the organization’s Digital Media products. This involved scheduling meetings, leading interviews with product owners, delegating project tasks, and designing the best ways of communication between the team that I lead and the teams we needed information from.

I also had to do a bit of recording and crunching numbers in Excel. Thankfully—through the Emma Bowen Foundation—the Dow Jones News Fund sponsored me as one of 15 fellows to attend a data journalism training in May which refined my skills in the software. I took Professor Tran’s Quantitative Methods for Journalists course last spring which also came in handy during my internship.

I presented the findings to my team, two of the organization’s Vice Presidents and a financial manager. I felt proud to know that my work would directly impact future business decisions in the Digital Media department.

Reflecting on my internship, I am most grateful for the opportunities to have meaningful assignments, experience a work-life balance, and make connections. Many of the internships I’ve had in the past have only allowed me one of those. The executives, directors, and editors I networked with at NPR were genuinely friendly and interested in my success. I look forward to their continued mentorship and guest passes to Tiny Desk concerts.