Reporting the News Through a Public Media Lens

By Dean’s Intern Stephanie Mirah at Current

Stephanie MirahDuring my internship with Current, I have taken on a beat that I have always loved but never tried: the media. Every Monday and Wednesday, I spend my day talking to podcast hosts, public media employees, and community members to tell rich stories about what is happening in the public media sector. My most recent story is about a new podcast initiative co-funded by Richmond’s public media organization, VPM, and Virginia Commonwealth University’s Institute for Contemporary Art. For that story, I had the opportunity to talk to NPR’s underwriting announcer, Dr. Chioke I’Anson, which was sort of a fangirl moment for me. You may have heard I’Anson’s voice if you’ve ever listened to an NPR program. He is the person who comes in during your program to say: “Support for NPR…”

Outside of my internship at Current, I am the arts and entertainment editor for AU’s student newspaper, The Eagle. Something I have loved about Current is that I have been able to cover arts and culture-related stories through a public media lens. I recently wrote a story about a podcast host from San Diego’s KPBS who created a podcast on the tenets of American culture.

While I wish I had the opportunity to go into work and interact with my editors and fellow writers face to face, the support I’ve received from them virtually has been invaluable. I can’t wait to see what I get to report on next!

Here is a link to my author page: https://current.org/author/stephanie-mirah/