Hitting the Ground Running at NBC4

By Dean’s Intern Lauren Lumpkin at NBC4

I hit the ground running at my internship with NBC4 Washington this semester. By my second day in the newsroom, I was already writing my own stories.

NBC, of course, is a really large company. The local station located across the street from campus on Nebraska Ave, NW is split into TV studios, the broadcast team and my home – the digital team.

My favorite thing I’ve written was an article about Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ decision to rescind Obama-era guidelines for investigating campus sexual assaults. I did a lot of my own original reporting by reaching out to eight local schools and asking them if they would keep the Obama standards or adopt new ones. I also interviewed students, sexual assault survivors and a Washington, D.C.-based organization that provides free legal consultation to survivors. My editor liked the article so much that she pitched it to NBC national so that other local stations, like NBC Philadelphia and NBC Los Angeles, can do the same thing with colleges in their areas.

However, my day-to-day work isn’t always as glamorous. Much of it is cutting videos, scanning the wires for news and writing stories based on press releases. But I love when I’m able to pitch my own ideas and do my own reporting.

I’m currently working a series about money and millennials that will hopefully get off the ground soon!