Carnegie Reporter, Vol. 3, No. 3 | Enterprising Journalism Interns Summer in the City

In the summer of 2005, ten top journalism students participated in the Carnegie-Knight Journalism Initiative Summer Institute at ABC News - eight whirlwind weeks dedicated to learning what it really means to be an investigative reporter. Assigned to the ABC News Bureau in New York City, the students hit the streets on the trail of a top-secret story slated to air on the anniversary of 9/11. (This date was later postponed due to urgent news coverage of hurricane Katrina.)

Participants described a level of excitement not usually associated with internships, and most felt their full range of skills and energy were put to the test. Clearly, being assigned to the award-winning ABC investigative team led by Brian Ross was a key factor in their positive experience. Working with producers, editors, and correspondents, these novice reporters traveled all over the U.S. generating piles of research, conducting field interviews and collecting footage for their stories. All agreed that their time on the road was the highlight of the summer, bringing to life everything they had studied in journalism school.

Chosen for their academic achievements and can-do attitude, the inaugural summer program participants are:

• Ariana Reguzzoni and Traci A. Curry, Graduate School of Journalism, University of California, Berkeley

• Melia J. Patria and Dana Hughes, Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University

• Steve Grove and Hsingching Wei, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

• Michael Andersen and Karson Yiu from Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University

• Tamika Thompson and Michelle Rabinowitz, Annenberg School of Communication, University of Southern California.

And here's what some of them had to say about their ABC adventure:

"This has met my expectations and more. The kind of work we have done here at ABC you'd never get to, especially if you are new to a news organization.... It's re-affirmed everything I had learned in school - you know, when you're going through it and you're exhausted and tired and you're wondering if these things you are doing in school are actually used in real life....You say to yourself, I wonder if I go someplace are they actually going to be doing this? By coming to ABC I see that people use, and do, what I learned in journalism school." Tamika Thompson

"I was surprised to know that they were going to include us to the level and extent that they did. Really getting in there and going beneath the surface and doing investigative work where we got to see first-hand what's going on in a given situation, and then bringing that background in and making a story out of it ... I am just shocked that they trusted us with that much responsibility - they put a camera in our hands and just said GO...and we did!" Traci Curry

"You don't really ever get this kind of opportunity. It's a taste of real life, a taste of what it's like at the top where everyone is the best in their field. Getting to be at the network level was a great taste of reality.... Everyone who wants to should have a fair chance to try their hand at being a journalist. It should not be exclusive; it's important keeping journalism dynamic by providing a broad spectrum of opportunities outside of traditional media." Karson Yiu

"It's been wonderful to work with the Ross Unit - they are so dedicated to stories that focus on safety, security and counter-terrorism measures, and their reports really force the public and government officials to take issues of security and safety more seriously.... It has been a privilege and especially meaningful because I was in New York City on 9/11/01." Melia J. Patria

"I really consider this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity getting to do real reporting work that will actually be put on the air. An opportunity like this to see good journalism being done within the confines of a corporate structure is an invaluable experience for any journalism student.... Things like this internship opportunity are what's important; school is theoretical and that is a critical piece to good journalism, but there is nothing like being in the field, having to do the work, seeing how things are put together and knowing that it really does count." Dana Hughes

The Summer Institute at ABC News was inaugurated this year as a lead-off program for The Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism. A joint undertaking of Carnegie Corporation of New York and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the initiative will focus on strengthening journalism schools within America's colleges and universities to better integrate journalism into the greater academic and campus communities and to prepare the journalism leaders of tomorrow. This one-time summer institute will be followed by on-campus summer programs over the next three years to offer students and the news industry further opportunities for collaboration.