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Tweet ThisReporting the News Through a Public Media Lens
By Dean’s Intern Stephanie Mirah at Current
During 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/
I was unfamiliar with the niche public media beat when I joined Current, but having a solid foundation in reporting from journalism classes and writing for The Eagle made the transition easier than I expected. Each week, Current’s fantastic editors push me to improve my writing and encourage me to pitch my own stories. In fact, my latest article for the publication was one I pitched to them.
Interning at Voice of America’s Media Lab this semester has been such a rewarding and insightful experience. At the VOA60 Media Lab, my day starts at 8:00 a.m., when I am assigned which section I have to create a video for that day by my supervisor. After receiving my task, I scour VOA’s media sources to locate five news events from around the world that pertain to my section. I then create headlines for each story, send them to be edited and begin creating a 60-second video.
My time at Strauss Media Strategies has been a whirlwind. Every week I have learned new industry terminology, worked on several different projects and met a new member of the team. I have worked with large agency clients, with all of the benefits of a boutique firm.
As a returning intern to the Documentary and Special Projects Unit at Voice of America, I jumped right back into my position. Since day one, my supervisor, Beth Mendelson, and I have been juggling multiple tasks. She and I work together dynamically at a one-on-one level, so I have had the unique opportunity to learn the ropes of being an effective producer and director firsthand. What I particularly like about this internship is that I am learning the behind the scenes inner-workings of this job that I likely wouldn’t have learned in the classroom. A lot more goes into making a documentary than just telling a really great story—though that is a critical part.
Over the course of the fall semester, I have had the opportunity to work as a reporter for the Voice of America News Center. 2020 has shown that journalism is a critical part of maintaining democracy and a healthy, well informed society.
I applied for the Voice of America (VOA) internship without knowing I would be summarizing the top news stories from around the globe while sipping my favorite morning beverages and watching the sunrise through my home window every morning.
Every day is a new adventure during my internship with EMILY’s List. As someone who is so passionate about electing Democratic women up and down the ticket, I feel honored to be working with the nation’s largest resource for women in politics during this crucial election year.
This semester I’m working as the Social Media Intern for the Smithsonian Associates. It has been such an incredible experience to engage with a large audience and to be a part of such a fantastic institution. It has also been interesting to work for the Smithsonian Associates during their switch to virtual programming. It’s been really incredible to see this shift, as not only do we get to engage with the D.C. community, but now the programming is easily accessible nationally and even globally which has created a much larger audience. I have always been a big advocate for education and the arts, so it’s fantastic to be helping bring a bit of creativity and learning straight into the homes of people who may have never had the opportunity to visit D.C.