Can't Help but Love It

Hey everyone!

I am really loving this internship, I can't help but have fun over there. Just as a reminder, this summer I am working at the Chicago Reader, a leading newspaper for alternative journalism. As I've mentioned before, the Reader really emphasizes and encourages the interns to get as much first hand experience as possible and to work closely with the senior writers. I think the most fun part for me has been talking with, observing, and reading the work of these journalists.

Recently, I've gotten to shadow Mick Dumke as he works on stories across the city. I've gone with him to a city council meeting and a city club meeting. The most exciting was probably going to see Toni Preckwinkle speak yesterday. For those of you not from Chicago, Preckwinkle is the Cook County Board President, a very big deal and a likely candidate for mayor next year. In fact, the only thing the journalists did at the Q and A was try to find a way to weasel out an announcement of her candidacy. It was fascinating. If there's one major takeaway I had from that press conference it's that you need to wash away all fear of being tacky. While Preckwinkle has been asked a thousand times if she's running for mayor at this point, it's the job as a journalist to keep on asking until she gives a more clear yes or no.

While shadowing has been fun, I'm also starting to work on my own projects. Since the Reader is trying to expand their news coverage, they're actually very encouraging of interns pitching and writing stories- which is great. However, I'm learning that pitching to a weekly newspaper is much different than a daily. The stories are much broader, the focus is on the trend or idea as opposed to just one event. I'm working on two projects right now that are very different than anything I would write for the Michigan Daily. What's different is at the Daily I would try to present answers to a question. At the Reader, the fact that the question exists is the story.

Overall, it's just too much fun. I'm discovering how intoxicating it is to work in a big city, how much fun it is to be taught by poke-the-bear journalists who are completely fearless, and I can only hope to learn as much as possible from them this summer.