The Berkshire Eagle, Pittsfield, MA
I knew I wanted to be a journalist as a senior in high school, but prior to this summer, I had never stepped into a newsroom—not unless you count The Williams Record’s office in the Paresky Center. But over the course of eight weeks, I penned 21 stories for The Berkshire Eagle, reporting and photographing for its features department. I met all sorts of characters—artists, musicians, workers—in communities across Berkshire County. On July 4, I met up with BJ Hill, a teacher from Worcester, as he began his “Walk Across Massachusetts.” This was BJ’s third walk across the state; each time, he collects messages from the people he meets, later presenting a notebook of their comments to the next elected governor. The story I wrote on BJ found its way to NBC’s Al Roker, who then produced his own segment on BJ for the TODAY Show. On that morning’s program, Al credited the Eagle for the tip. “I actually first saw this story in a great little paper called The Berkshire Eagle,” he said. Another highlight was meeting Josh Simpson, a renowned glass artist who was doing a show at the Berkshire Museum; my preview/profile on him and the show accumulated 481 shares on social media. The internship was tough at times, and it forced me to work in ways that were previously unfamiliar. But it allowed me to see the inner workings of a newsroom, and it opened me up to unique experiences that I will cherish for quite a while—and I realize that’s all I really could have asked for.
When I first walked into the Eagle newsroom, I was honestly a bit overwhelmed. Reporters and editors with decades of experience—sitting in rows and rows of computers—jabbered loudly on phone calls with sources, typing away furiously while toiling to meet their deadlines. And here I was, a 19-year-old kid with an interest in sharing people’s stories but no real experience in doing so outside of the purple bubble of Williams College. It was easier once I started to work and take on assignments. My immediate supervisor, Managing Editor of Features Lindsey Hollenbaugh, realized that I wasn’t just there to get a feel for the environment of the newsroom; I was there because I wanted to contribute to the paper. Lindsey gave me and another intern a tour on our first day, where I got to meet the other editors and reporters. Everyone in the newsroom was incredibly friendly and encouraging, offering advice and help if I needed it. After a couple of weeks, though, I think they stopped regarding me as an intern and more as just another reporter—I was overjoyed. I did not want to be babied—I just wanted to just get to work like the rest of them. I’d spent the summer of 2015 at the Medill-Northwestern Journalism Institute, where I was taught by award-winning journalists and professors, and I’d had a couple of years under my belt working at the Record. By this summer, I was just itching to get started for real.
Most of the stories I wrote related to arts and entertainment in the Berkshires, a particularly vibrant scene during the summertime. Nevertheless, I see myself doing more work on the news side in my future career because I see the primary role of the free press as to keep the public informed. While news stories may be generally more consequential, pieces about the arts and entertainment can make an impact by providing enrichment to the newspaper’s readership. If people didn’t know about a music festival or an or a musical performance I was writing about, it likely wouldn’t have the same adverse impact as if they didn’t get to see a story about the upcoming mayoral election. Yet maybe something in the story could strike a chord with a reader, and they might pursue cultural experiences they otherwise would not have had.
More than anything else, though, journalism is an exercise in empathy. My duty as a features reporter was to be able to see things from the perspective of the people I interviewed, and to write and communicate in such a way that readers could then visualize the lives of those people. The hope is that by taking in others’ stories, we can gain greater insight into our humanity, however phony that may sound. I sought to always provide an account that was generous yet truthful. In some cases, it was difficult. A dysfunctional art school missed the appointments they set up to speak with me, and an arrogant resort owner was so rude that I vowed never to step upon his property again. But every time, I put together a story that was sympathetic while genuine. Readers would gain little from hearing my arbitrary and cynical opinions; rather, if I present a case for whatever the story is, they can then decide from the anecdotes and facts that I give them whether or not they would like to go. That’s when a community paper works at its best.
My internship this summer sort of gave me the confidence to be able to say, ‘Hey, maybe I could do this for real.’ I was proud of the stories I wrote, and I had fun with a lot of them. Yet it also helped me realize how much farther I have to go. Most weeks, I produced roughly half as much as other reporters. While most full-timers were expected to put out four to five stories a week, I usually had two or three. I know I’m a slow writer, but perhaps I’ll improve with time—I’ll need to if I want to last in the business. I think that this summer, I worked well more than I worked hard. It’s not like I was just sitting on my hands, but my editors were simply more concerned with putting out a quality newspaper every day than making sure I was always busy. Sometimes, in fact, I was given such little work that I ended up pitching several of my own stories for the Eagle to run after I left (I also signed a contract as a freelancer, so I plan to continue writing for the paper in my remaining time at Williams.)
At the same time, I’m a little glad that I started out with a lighter load. Sometimes after reporters have been at a place for a while, they’ll try to churn out stories quickly just for the sake of meeting quantitative targets. The quality might suffer when this happens. In a way, I got to learn to write well before learning to write quickly—a bit like learning to walk before you run, if you will. I’d always known I liked the longer, more in-depth stories more than the hasty, bullet-point reports. Now that I’ve learned to write a good story, it’s easier for me to become a more efficient reporter in the future; it’d be harder if it were the other way around. I’ve often been told that daily community newspapers serve as the best training grounds for young journalists, and I definitely saw that in action this summer. Just the way that you build a rapport with sources, constantly thinking about your audience and communicating with editors to get the paper out, gives you all the skills you’d need to succeed as a journalist of any type.
Given my career ambitions in journalism, this summer was a great way for me to get some professional reporting experience and to have my work gain some exposure. Journalism is great in that you are frequently rewarded with a tangible product of your labor (seeing your byline in print never gets old.) You’re constantly putting things into the paper, whereas most other jobs have projects that take longer to get to a point where you can point and say, “I did this.” I’ll be able to apply the skills I learned at the Eagle when I assume duties as the Record’s editor in January. I’ll likely look for a post at a larger newspaper or perhaps a magazine next summer, and when I do, I’ll be able to proudly introduce myself as an Eagle alum. I am incredibly grateful to the Class of 1972 Internship Program and the ’68 Center for Career Exploration for providing me the support I needed to pursue this opportunity. Your generosity has afforded me a tremendous experience with everlasting value.
Megamenu Social