Voice of America, Washington, DC
This summer, I had the honor of interning at Voice of America’s central newsroom in Washington, DC. Voice of America is the United States government’s international broadcaster and the largest international broadcaster in the country. I worked as a writer and reporter for the organization’s website, producing content daily for an international audience.
Each day when I arrived, I took some time to get familiar with news breaking that morning and news from the previous night. Throughout the day, I would be assigned stories by editors in the newsroom to write articles on. From there, I’d take the time to consolidate information from various sources and submit an article for edits and eventual publication. Every day, I would be exposed to a broad range of issues and developments to report on. My editors sought to give me a broad foundation in news writing and tasked me to write about happenings from every corner of the world.
One of the most exciting parts of the work was original reporting projects. Often, one of the newsroom editors would assign me and other interns to cover events around the DC area, creating features stories that would run on the website. The most memorable assignment being covering a protest by one of the nation’s largest teachers’ unions outside of Customs and Border Patrol’s headquarters. What made the assignment so exciting was that, because the event was a protest, everyone was incredibly eager to talk with journalists. It was fascinating to be able to hear people tell their stories of how immigration policy affected every aspect of their classroom and why the issue was important to them. Consolidating this information into an article that could be read by people from all over the world was a challenge that my co-writer and I welcomed.
Before interning at Voice of America, I had limited professional work experience and even less journalism experience. While I had written and edited for the Williams Record, I was deeply curious to experience working at an international media organization. In many ways, my experience at Voice of America taught me so much about the editorial process and the interactions between reporting and policy.
Without a doubt, the people I worked alongside made my internship experience what it was. Working in the newsroom required me to interact with large numbers of people to release a story, from editors, reporters, video journalists and producers. Everyone I worked with had such a dearth of experience, and as an aspiring journalist, this information was invaluable to me. The insight I received on the shifting state of the news industry and the problems facing it in the future were incredibly helpful career discussions. The newsrooms at Voice of America were also incredibly diverse, with people from all corners of the world coming together to make the news. To have the ability to draw from that well of experience is an unmatched experience. The connections made will last forever and I am grateful to have spent my summer there.
Voice of America as an organization was also an interesting place for my first summer, as it straddles the relationship between media and government. As the United States’ largest international broadcaster, it is federally funded. While initially I was concerned about this relationship, given the importance of independent journalism, the unique status of Voice of America provided me an excellent learning experience. How many members of Voice of America’s staff contextualize the work that they do in the context of its international impact made clear the importance of the work that was being done.
When I return to campus, I will return with a more worldly perspective. My time at Voice of America has expanded my thinking and made me a much more critical consumer of information. Additionally, my experience at Voice of America has dramatically improved my writing style. Because of the organization’s international audience and multimedia formats, I got much better at writing concise pieces that focused on crucial information, without weighing myself down with filler content.
My time at Voice of America has solidified my decision to pursue a career path in public sector work. The experience of seeing the positive effect of the work I did daily was humbling and rewarding. I would like to thank the Class of 1974 for this amazing experience—one that will stay with me for a long time. Without the Alumni Sponsored Internship Program and the resources provided by Williams alumni and the ’68 Center, I would not have been able to spend my summer in Washington. This was an unparalleled experience and I am grateful for the opportunity.