Reporting Breaking News at Voice of America

By Dean’s Intern Skye Witley at Voice of America

This summer, I joined the Voice of America as a reporting intern for the organization’s News Center Hub, where I produce web-based articles about domestic and international issues each day. Voice of America is a government-funded news organization primarily focused on providing news to the world in over 40 languages.

In this general assignment role, I’ve expanded my repertoire of political reporting by covering a broad range of assignments, from Supreme Court decisions to Congressional hearings to developments with the military junta in Myanmar. I covered the niche public media beat in my previous Dean’s Internship, so having the opportunity to work for a significantly larger and more national-facing organization has been an exciting change of pace. Working as a VOA intern over the past two months has certainly piqued my interest in pursuing some form of political reporting in my fast-approaching journalism career.

One of my favorite aspects of writing at VOA has been the emphasis on quick story turnarounds, a muscle that I haven’t had the opportunity to strengthen as much at my previous internships. Thanks to guidance from a vast team of editors and lots of practice, I’ve learned how to turn around a comprehensive story in half the time it used to take me. By developing this skill at VOA, I can now meet the tight deadlines editors set for me and produce multiple stories in one day, an ability that I know will continue to grow and benefit me for years to come.

With only two semesters left in my undergraduate career, I consider my time at VOA to be a perfect stepping stone towards more political reporting opportunities and I’m excited to see what the future holds.

Here is a link to most of my VOA articles:

https://www.voanews.com/author/skye-witley