Is Interning at a News Station Worth It?

Never would I have thought I would intern in college. I always thought about it, but did not think that I would bring myself to apply to a company and ask if they were accepting interns. In the fall of 2015, I decided to apply and intern at KITV4 (now known as KITV Island News). So far, this has been one of the biggest highlights of my life and I am happy to say that I took the chance I applied to be a news intern.
At KITV4 I learned about the different equipment, terminologies, skills that require someone to work at a news station. Interning at a news station can be enjoyable, but it’s not all fun and games. It takes a lot of energy and perseverance to work in this type of industry. Everyday is different and you have to work with what stories are given, whether they are tragic, happy, last night’s news, or something that happened right before the 5 o’clock morning show you have to be able to adjust.
At the beginning of my last semester of university, I was shadowing a reporter who allowed me to see what happens before, during, and after a LIVE story is shot. Notes that I jotted down to myself are: how to be presentable in front of a camera, what is appealing to the public, what needs to be said and what does not need to be said, and when writing or reporting stories be conversational.
Half-way into the internship I got the chance to experience what happens behind-the-scenes before, during, and after the morning and evening shows. The producers needed help running scripts, transcribing interviews, finding and cuing files, and welcoming guests. Later, I gained the courage to ask if I could help write teases and short stories and now I am working on putting my own story together that I got help from the reporters and cameramen at the station.
It is a chaotic and friendly environment and everything I have done has been worthwhile. There were days where it was slow and I wanted to be sleeping instead, but hearing about new stories and meeting different people everyday made my day. Being an intern has given me motivation to continue on gaining new skills and improve on my public speaking and writing.