Aiding Policy-Relevant Reporting During COVID, 2020 Election and Social Unrest

By Dean’s Intern Kaela Roeder at The National Press Foundation

GraceGeorgeSince August, I have been working as an intern at the National Press Foundation, and assisting the team in “making good journalists better,” while also bettering my own understanding of complex and relevant issues that are essential to report on in 2020.

Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, the foundation has transitioned all of its normal training programs for journalists online, and is producing programming on important topics for journalists to report on such as poverty and inequality, national security and trade.

I’ve had the opportunity to conduct research on the programs, write articles on the briefings and handle the foundation’s social media accounts. I recently wrote on the program “American’s Child Care System in Crisis,” which was a briefing focused on the lack of accessible childcare in the United States and the unsustainable system.

Each day is quite different from the previous, which is to be expected from an organization focused on the news. But, an average day starts with checking Twitter and posting on the foundation’s social media accounts. From there, I search for recent work published by journalists who use our programs as a resource in reporting, research topics and resources to pair with the briefings and assist with administrative tasks to help the team.

While I have never physically met the rest of the team at NPF in person or visited the office, I have learned a great deal on the importance of policy-relevant and comprehensive reporting. This internship has not only taught me skills in research and social media but also on the topics taught to journalists, like how to report on the upcoming election and technology. I look forward to taking both points of knowledge to future internships and in my career.