NYN / NYSBA Internship Program Syllabus

The Program is based upon a 40-hour work week.  On days when the New York State Legislature is in session, usually Monday through Wednesday, interns will work primarily in a newsroom setting.  There’ll be editorial meetings, assignment desk work, and the principal duty of producing news stories at the Capitol and Legislative Office Building by deadline for the statewide afternoon satellite feed.  Non-session days will be reserved for seminars with broadcast and government professionals, and for interns to work on projects and other academic requirements.

Daily Newspapers: 

Interns will begin each work day by reading the political and government-related stories from newspapers around the state.  This practice is designed to develop a habit that will be essential to their careers as reporters.  It will keep them abreast of what’s happening, give them the opportunity to see how print journalists handled the same story they may have done the day before, and generate new story ideas.

Editorial/Assignment Meeting

All interns will meet with the Director to build and discuss the day’s news rundown.  They will contribute ideas, discuss the stories on the agenda, and determine each story’s relevance and priority.  Approaches to covering stories will be discussed to stimulate critical thinking on how best to report to the audience.  The day’s priority stories will be determined and assigned.

Reporting:

Interns will cover stories in one or two-person crews.  In two-person crews, one intern will perform all the duties of a reporter for the entire production of the story.  The other will do likewise as the photographer/editor.  All interns will get experience in both positions.  In addition, all interns will have the opportunity to produce a story as a “one-man band”.

Equipment:  

The Sony Corporation has donated DSR 370 DVCAM camcorders, and  DSR 1500A DVCAM video cassette recorders for editing.  Each intern will be given instruction on the use of both the shooting and editing gear.  The New York Network will provide technical support. In addition, we've added two Apple Final Cut Express non-linear editing stations.

Story Critique:

Students will do all their own writing and editing.  The Director will act as Executive Editor to ensure air worthiness for NYSBA member stations using the stories, and to meet uplink deadlines.  The interns’ finished products will be critiqued individually.  Generalized group critiques will be done at the Director’s discretion.

Text:

 “New York State Government. What it does.  How it works.” by Robert B. Ward (The Rockefeller Institute Press) will be the text/reference book for the Internship Program.  In particular, chapters devoted to the Governor, Legislature, Judiciary, the Budget, and the peoples’ role in government will be especially informative.

Classwork: 

 There will be some instruction on the composition and processes of  New York State government, as well as the operation of a professional newsroom.

• The parameters of the instruction will be determined by the intern’s prior knowledge;

• Most of it will be learned on the job, the rest may be offered in a classroom setting.

• Some background reading material will be available, especially on news writing.  When available, professional TV airchecks will be viewed, critiqued and discussed.

Seminars:

Guest speakers will be brought in on a regular basis to give the interns a first hand account of government and political reporting from both perspectives. TV and print reporters, government communications people, political analysts, authors and State agency heads are among those whose expertise can be invaluable to interns. A list of specific speakers will be available as appointments are confirmed.

Special Projects: 

Interns will be given the time and opportunity to work on and complete any special projects that may be required by their home campus, or desired for personal enrichment.  In the latter case, it will be done in addition to, and not at the expense of, the general requirements of the Media Internship Program.

Evaluation:

The Media Internship Program Director will evaluate the intern’s daily work.  Periodic written or oral evaluations may be administered to measure the student’s grasp of government’s organization and function, as well as the student’s understanding of news gathering, reporting, and TV production.  Grading will be in accordance with the requirements of the home campus.

Special Events:

There are some events in and around government that interns may find beneficial or enjoyable to attend, including the Governor’s State of the State Address, the annual Legislative Correspondent’s Association show, and the New York State Broadcasters Association Annual Convention in Bolton Landing (Lake George), N.Y. to name a few.  Logistics and scheduling cannot guarantee interns’ attendance at these events, but efforts will be made to gain access for them to one or more of these events.   

Program Overview
Mission
Syllabus
Student application