Held to high standards

  • May 1, 2019

By Darwin Yanes

I Interned at WSHU for the spring semester of my senior year. I had previously taken Terry Sheridan’s JRN 393 course and that piqued my interest in audio journalism.

I knew coming in that there would real deadlines and higher standards than the course. However, once I started recording and editing my own stories, it became second nature.

Under the guidance of Terry, Jay Shah and JD Allen, I was able to sharpen my writing and my audio editing skills. This is something that I feel will be very valuable for me as a journalist.

The stories I covered included topics such as the environment, crime and immigration, to name a few.  I also was able to cover press conferences for high-profile individuals such Senator Chuck Schumer, New York State Attorney General Letitia James and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. These were valuable opportunities because I was able find new sources and develop a network.

I really enjoyed that every day at the internship was different. One day I was in the bureau, and the next I was In Patchogue covering the shellfish industry.

Even with all the fun I had, there were a few challenges during the internship. For instance, one word or popping p’s can throw off the whole story. At times it did get frustrating, but once you hear yourself on air, it makes the process worth it.

One aspect of this internship that I really liked was that I was held to high standard by my peers. We were all treated like reporters and expected to produce concrete news.

I would definitely recommend this internship to other student because of all of the hands-on experiences you obtain while reporting for WSHU.