A Learning Experience Like No Other

By Dean’s Intern Emma Galasso at CBS News

I’m currently interning at CBS News in the CBSN department. CBSN is the 24-hour news streaming service for CBS News. It’s just me and my two supervisors here in the DC Bureau that make up our team–the rest of our operation is based in New York.

Day to day, I work to book guests for politics update segments for the 1 pm, 5 pm, and 7 pm blocks. I also book their cars, greet them when they get here, and coordinate with producers on topics and questions.

Now, I’ve known for a long time that I don’t necessarily want my work to be just politics in the journalism field, however learning the process of booking for news commentary has been extremely valuable.

My favorite part of working at the DC Bureau are the days when our team gets to film “The Takeout with Major Garrett,” a podcast started by the CBS News Chief White House Correspondent that brings change makers into conversation at a local DC restaurant.

I typically run the camera work for these podcasts, then edit SOTs and log the show when I get back to the bureau. I also help build out the rundown for the show and search for SOTs to use within the show itself. My most memorable shoot? It was my second day at work, and Neil deGrasse Tyson joined us at Tupelo Honey in Arlington.

I also had the opportunity to work one day out of the Broadcast Center in New York City, CBS’s main hub for all things on the network. In my day to day job, I work with a lot of people out of the NY office, so putting names to faces was very enjoyable. Seeing the sets of CBSN, CBS This Morning, etc. was a rush of fresh energy.

CBSN has been incredibly exciting and covering national news has been a learning experience like no other.