My Journey into Public Media

By Dean’s Intern Samantha Hogan at Current.org

Scandal? Innovation? Hillary Clinton?  — That’s just the surface of my semester internship at Current.org, a publication that follows public radio, tv and its people, while also a master student in investigative journalism and public affairs.

“Public media” has proven to be a treasure trove of stories, despite the fact that I could barely define it before joining Current.

On day one, I was interviewing the Online News Association’s newest fellow, who was an up-and-coming producer at WNYC, and starting to delve into the nuances of the NPR One app.

There has been a learning curve orienting my mind toward public media, but Current has also allowed me to flex my 21st-century journalist muscles with funny graf and .gif format on Hillary Clinton’s failed attempt to find a NPR member station to listen to on Long Island.

It has been exciting to be on the edge of new content and emerging partnerships. I got the chance to speak with heads of TED, CPB, PBS and ITVS (which is indicative of head-spinning alphabet soup of public media) for a six-night live taping of TED Talks Live in New York City that would air the following spring on PBS.

I even got to try to track down Fetty Wap when NPR surprised fans 24-hours before the release of his album with the option to stream it for free.

I’m never bored when I’m assigned an article, and slowly but surely my know
ledge of the landscape is increasing. I’m given the time to dig deeply into each assignment and report more than is possible in many other newsrooms. The small team also allows my voice to be heard and for my pitches to come to fruition.

As one of my interviewees said, there are “public media junkies” out there, and now I see why.