Internship 16

This picture shows one of the signs put above the computer on someone's wall. It says "Our job is not to judge if they're right or wrong. Our job is just to lend voice to their stupidity." I took a picture of the sign the first full day of internship that I was here because it's true: The job of a news-writer is to give information about both sides of the story, even if one of the sides is, well, stupid. Since everyone has a different opinion, you can't tell right from wrong in the news business.

This picture may seem myspace-y, but it's on this blog because of the meaning behind it. From the picture you can take that I'm in a car, I'm near some kind of background that is white, like the top of a tall hill or an ocean (it's the ocean, by the way). Judging from the water on the car window it's raining (which it was), and the camera I'm holding is a Canon Rebel EOS, which was probably the most important resource to have in my time as an intern at the La Jolla Light.

This picture was taken about halfway through my time as an intern. I was out on an adventure to take pictures of the ocean, rough by the storm that La Jolla was caught in. Very often I'd be told to go out and take photos of an event, place or thing, or go out on my own and take pictures which could be used in the newspaper/website.

(taken with a camera phone)

This picture shows my target audience: the entirety of La Jolla (even though this is only 1/2 of La Jolla pictured, I couldn't exactly fit all of La Jolla into one camera phone shot). Taken from Mount Soledad, a high point in La Jolla. The picture is 1/2 of La Jolla, some of other parts of San Diego, too. Since the La Jolla Light is merged with San Diego Suburban News (?) it also applies to the rest of San Diego County.

Internship 15

Resources

Here is a picture of the entire county of San Diego. There are several of these around the office. Highlighted are the parts of the county that San Diego Suburban News offers news for.


These are all newspapers that San Diego Suburban News has produced in the past year. Once the year is up, new newspapers replace the year old ones, week by week. These can be used as resources or sources of past news events, or to see how formatting was used in past papers.

Classic resources: Pens, highlighters, post-its, a recorder, stapler. These can be used for interviews and editting.

The view of La Jolla that the Light office overlooks. From here, we can actually see some areas where notable news is happening.

Internship 14

Kathy Day, La Jolla Light News Editor

La Jolla

What made you interested in newswriting?

I just started doing it in Junior High. I always liked it. It's a good way to get to know interesting people and talk to people, and you get to share interesting stories with readers and also give them information that helps them learn of the world around them.

What'd you have to do in order to become where you are today?

I had to have a degree in journalism. I had a summer internship that got my foot in the door during college and I got a job with it after I graduated. I was in public relations business, I've done freelance writing so I could great a broad view of the business. At first I was a copy editor, then a reporter, then a data reporter for a long time. Eventually, I worked my way up.

Why are you interested in newswriting?

I think it's important that people know more than what they get on a television, tv news, the internet, etc. In newspapers, you get to tell more of the story than tv news. It's always been my that people need to know what schools and government, etc. are doing. I really like being at the community level. Although I don't LIVE in La Jolla, I treat the readers like my neighbors. Readers and sources have to know about the readers to be on that level.

Sometimes, if you're working on a story and it's somebody you've known a long time and you have a good relationship with, but you find out they didn't tell the truth, perhaps broke the law, you've gotta step back from being nice to becoming the bad cop and wanting to push info out of them. Sometimes, you have to flat out say "you lied to me -- tell me the truth now." Sometimes you have to go around the backdoor in order to get information.

Sometimes you have to be hard nosed to get the story you need, you have to ask hard questions and the people you interview won't like it. But if you create a good relationship with your interviewees and they know you're just doing your job, then they're likely to open up to you more.

Internship 13

This will be the blog that I don't do this week (since we get a choice of not doing one every week), but instead I'll substitute it with 3 pictures of the Riford center (which was my subject for the day)

Internship 12

1: Documenting

Over there ---->

2: Writing

The amount of people I work with per day can vary depending on the day. It depends if I am staying at the office and doing office work all day or if I'm out and about La Jolla, doing interviews and taking pictures.

"How many people are indirectly affected by your work?"

The work done here at San Diego Suburban News could affect everyone in the world if their homepages were set on ours. It's impossible to estimate how many people could be affected by my work since I can't count how many people read the La Jolla Light newspaper on a weekly basis, or how many check the website. So, I'll just say whoever decides to read the La Jolla Light and sees a photo that I took that is in an article will be affected in some way.

"Describe your direct collaboration with others—how does it go & how does it influence the work?"

At a newspaper office, there has to be a lot of collaboration in order to get work done orderly and correctly. If there is an issue, or I need someone's opinion on a story or photo, I will ask them to proofread it. I believe I've helped at the office in a way, too. At one point, my mentor Kathy Day gave me a rough draft of the newspaper that would come out the next day. She told me to find any errors in spelling, grammar, etc. I didn't find any errors in that field, however, looking closer at one of the articles, I saw a person I knew in a picture. However, under the picture, they had captioned his name wrong. Even though it wasn't that big of a deal, I was able to catch a small mistake, which must've benefited the newspaper that much.

Describe your indirect impact on others through your work—there are probably many people you never actually see who are affected by your work. How does this happen? How does this influence your work?

As I said, working at a newspaper office, there will be plenty of people that read our work that we have never seen. There's no way to monitor how many people actually sit down and read the whole newspaper every week. This influences our work because it reminds that complete strangers to us, personally, are trusting us with providing them correct information about what's happening around their neighborhood.

Internship 11

Summary

This past week has been quite a crazy one, I guess you could say. Things were different every day. Some days I'd stay in the office and work on the La Jolla Visitor Guide website, while other days I'd step into the office and be sent to photograph an event at UC San Diego.

High!lights

On occasion, I would be told that something big or crazy had happened, and I needed to go to the site and take pictures. That was pretty exciting. One day, while it was raining, a king palm fell on one of the busiest streets in La Jolla Village. Out of nowhere they told me to get my camera and drive over there and take pictures. "This is what we call breaking news," Says my mentor. An hour later, the pictures that I took are on the website for all to see. Awesome!

Not to mention, it's pretty awesome seeing my name under pictures in the stories in the newspaper and website.

Low?Lights

Somedays, it'd feel like I was just in the way, as if my mentor didn't know what to do with me. She'd sound annoyed at me when I asked what I should do, or when I asked questions on how to do certain things. Can't say that was too good.

Internship 10

This photo shows me taking a selfportrait(-ish) photo of me in the rear view mirror of my car, with the rain falling down. The camera is a Canon Rebel EOS, the type of camera that I use while working at the La Jolla Light. I've come to find that this camera is indeed very helpful. Usually, on a day at the Light, I'm told to shadow somebody or I'm quickly told to go to a site and take pictures of a breaking news story that just happened, notably while it was raining. That's why this photo summarizes a Light day for me.

1. What exactly made you interested in newswriting?

2. Why are you interested in newswriting?

3. What courses in college did you have to take in order to become a newswriter?

4. What jobs built you up to this career you have now?

5. What do you think is in stock for you in the future?

6. Anything else?

^^ These are just some ideas for questions. I will be interviewing my mentor, Kathy Day, this afternoon. ^^

Internship 9

The

Internship 8

What characteristics and qualities do you see in the people at your internship that you'd like to develop in yourself? Some of these qualities and characteristics could be creativity, empathy, risk-taking, ambitiousness, honesty, fairness, and so on. There are so many qualities and characteristics that people could have, so look around and think of a few good ones that you see in the people you work with.

At my internship, everybody seems friendly to each other, as if they know how to talk to each other professionally but casually at the same time. That's something I'd like to learn how to do, because I don't want to sound sloppy talking, but I don't want to sound intimidating by being to professional. Not to mention the way that they dress. I see sanuks and pants worn quite often, but in a way that it still looks as if they're going to work and not lounging around home. The way they match their casual clothes and make them professional, as if it's a quality you inherit by being in the office.

What new appreciations (for who? of what?) have you gained through internship that you did not have before? How did you develop these appreciations?

I think I have a new appreciation for computers after going to this internship. That may sound strange, but I think it took as long as waiting until he whole office hit the pause button for 10 minutes while the server went down. The server had everything and anything that the office needed in order to produce a weekly newspaper in time. Also, an office worker told me a story about how newspaper offices were 30 years ago, before computers were commonly used. She explained the process of manually putting lines and formats into the papers and it sounded dreadful.

So, I'd have to say my newfound appreciation lies in computers for now.

Internship 7

The first part.

Internship site: San Diego Suburban News

Department: La Jolla Light

Project Title: Riford Center Profiles

General Description: Shadow 2 people (man and woman) who attend classes at the Riford Center and see how the Center affects their lives, whether it be socially, physically, etc. Write a well-written news story on this.

Learning Objectives: How to write a news story (yes, I did learn in Randy's class, but I can put it into real-world use at the Light)

Organization/Company Objectives & Benefits: A story for the newspaper

Schedule: Tuesday, the 19th: Visit the Riford Center and find 2 possible subjects to base my project on.

Academic Skills: Writing, Photography (the story will include photos)

Technical Skills: " "

Collaboration—Skills and Opportunities: Obviously, I have to work and talk to other people if I want to create a profile story about them. I'll get the opportunity to speak to Riford Center-goers and learn more about their lives, as theirs is much different than the ones I'm used to hearing about.

Exhibition Plans:

Schedule & Timelines: So far, I know for sure I'll be going to the Riford on Tuesday (And on wednesday, but that's for a different story idea). I know that my POL is on the last day of internship, but other than these dates there's nothing set in stone.

The second part.

What were the highlights? What challenges did you face and how did you manage them? How did you work with others? What did you see and/or experience that you did not expect? How would you describe your first week to someone who has never had an internship?

This week has been a very different week. It seems like almost every day I was doing something different. One day (Thursday) I spent the entire time on a computer, writing in codes for a website. I literally did that for all 6 hours of my worktime. Another day (Friday) I went to a middle school and a California University in one afternoon to take pictures and, in one instance, write about what was going on. Some days I'd walk around La Jolla with my mentor to meetings or interviews, while other times I'd go to a nighttime Jiu-Jitsu class to write about/photograph a story I'd been told about. Another day (Tuesday) I'd shadow an executive director of a successful adult center and attend a rotary club meeting at the La Valencia. Already, some of my work has been published in the La Jolla Light about La Jollan buildings that date back to the 19th century.

I haven't had too many challenges throughout the week, except maybe in storywriting (which, here, is probably the worst challenge to have at any time). In a story about 2 young children winning the Jiu-Jitsu championships, I had jumbled facts to write about, and had to constantly e-mail my subjects in order to get straight facts from them. I definitely had some highlights throughout the week. Mentioned before, I got to meet new people and go to interesting new places, which has been amazing.

Internship 6

What I want to know about my mentor:

• I want to know where she went to school, like what kind of college or courses she had to take in order to become a newswriter.
• How long it took for her to reach her current position
• Her opinion on how long newspaper print will last

I'm planning on having this interview next week, probably at her desk. I don't have this interview "set up" quite yet, but I'll get to that soon

Internship 5

Project title: Riford Center Profiles

Project description: Story of people who attend the Riford Center and how the center has affected their life in some way (socially, physically, etc.)

Project schedule: Some day in the near future I will go to the Riford Center and find two people to do profiles on (preferably a man and a woman). Get basic information on them, such as how long they have been going to the Riford Center, why they do, what they do there, etc. etc.

Materials & Equipment needed: 2 subjects, the time and materials needed to talk to them and document what they're saying. Camera in order to take pictures of in and around the Riford Center, and the subjects themselves.

Project documentation: Newsprint

Internship 4

1. What academic skills could you use on the job?

2. What forms of collaboration could you use in a project?

3. What technical skills can you use at your internship?

4. What new things can you learn while working at your site?

5. How can you exhibit, showcase or otherwise share your work?

6. How can your work or your skills & abilities help your company or organization?

I can use the skills I've learned to write newspaper articles this past semester in Randy's class as a skill at the Light. However, I didn't learn EVERYTHING about writing newspapers this past semester (sorry, Randy), so there's always room for improvement, and more to learn. Also, there are different programs at the Light office that I've yet to learn, as they use older models of computers with different programs. Exhibiting my work should be easy, since the products are posted in the newspaper for all to see. This work would help the Light, I'd think so, because it's like a story for the paper that I've written for them. That's one less story they'd have to write, therefore helping them.

Internship 3

1. What skills would you like to develop at your site?

2. What interests do you have regarding the work done at your site?

3. What needs can you address (needs your mentor has, your company has, etc.) based on your skills and interests?

At my site, I'd like to put my newspaper writing skills to use in real life application. I learned how to write in newspaper format through the 1st semester as a junior, but I'm still not entirely sure that I know everything as a newspaper writing (which is expected, I'd consider myself still fairly new to this style of writing). My mentor has given me a newspaper bible which is full of norms and rules with the newspaper world, i.e. what to and what not to put in the newspaper, how to organize facts, etc., which will help me on the way.

I like how the work is done around the site. In this office, there are several rooms and sets of people work in each room at their own desk. The Light is a small office, with quite a small staff, which makes it more personal, not to mention how well people can communicate with each other easily this way.

I live in La Jolla, so I am interested in what goes around in my neighborhood. This is, naturally, put up in the La Jolla Light. That's an interest in what the site does already: Inform me, as a La Jolla resident and an intern about the happenings around my environment (how should i word that to make myself sound like a human?) For a project, I've already decided I am going to create a story (or perhaps multiple, if I get the chance) created all by myself, from the initial reporting to the final story. Already, I am working on a project like this, about 2 children who have won the World JiuJitsu Championships recently that live in La Jolla. So far, I have interviewed them (mostly their coach and dad), taken pictures, and even started writing drafts for the final story. However, I have a ways to go before it can even be considered good enough to put in the Light paper.

What to do when I have concerns involving my internship? Say I don't know what to do one day. I can, to start off, figure out something to do, like finishing a blog or an unfinished story. Or, I can just express my concerns by just asking her anything that might not come across clearly to me. After all, there's no such thing as a stupid question, right?..

Alternate Project Ideas (if I don't have enough time to write my own article) include helping with photography for other articles, or helping write briefs or calendar entries in the paper. Most likely, this won't happen, but I'm not going to assume anything just yet.

Internship 2

What have you actively done to start off on the right note?

What have you actively done to create interesting opportunities for yourself?

What have you actively done to advance the interests of your mentor and/or site?

What can you do in the immediate future to improve yourself and your experience in the above areas?

At the beginning of internship, I made sure to bring in the proper materials to start myself off on the right note, such as notebook and pen, camera (for photography), and a folder full necessary papers needed for internship. I greeted everyone I met with a smile and my name, and when they talked to me I'd give them my eye contact, which hopefully gave them a good impression of myself.

So far during internship, I've taken part in going around La Jolla, following my mentor and other staff doing their jobs by performing interviews, doing research at the La Jolla Historical Society, and even watching how ads are placed in the weekly newspaper. Whenever a task or interview comes up and I am asked to do it, I take it, as it can lead me to interesting places, and already I've met interesting people.

At one point during the day, my mentor invited me to shadow her in an interview with a businessman. Although this interview sounds formal, the way she started the interview off was friendly and much different than how I thought it would go. The two discussed happenings in the daily life before going on to ask questions, which confused me. Afterwards, she told me that it's good to create a connection with the interviewee to make it seem less intimidating. Little things like these give me an idea how a reporter for the LJ Light, or any newspaper for that matter, is successful.

La Jolla Light Internship, day 1: January 6th, 2010

In the office, people mostly wore semi-casual office clothing. Pictured is the secretary, wearing a blue sweater with a white collared shirt underneath and black pants: Perfect attire for an office setting. I wore similar clothes: A purple dress shirt, black pants and purple snakeskin shoes to match the shirt. I think that'll suffice for work as an intern.

My workspace was a desk with some writing room and a Mac computer. Also on the desk were postits, scotch tape, highlighters, pens, paperclips, and a stapler -- Typical office materials. The weekly edition of the Light was sitting on the desk along with an unnam

ed CD.

Something that shocked me was the sense of humor the office had. I saw this sign above one of the computers next to my workspace. It says "Our job is not to judge if they're right or wrong, our job is just to lend voice to their stupidity("they" being the readers)." This quote is true but something you don't expect newswriters to openly admit, which was sort of a shock, I guess you could say.

The expectations as an intern are as follows; I am expected to produce a well-written newspaper article by the end of the 3 week term, like the one pictured. My project is to create a story that is acceptable as newspaper material. This story pictured is one about the seals at Children's Beach, an often brought up subject in La Jolla. As an intern, I expect to maximize my writing skills, as it may be published. Also, during this internship, I hope to become a more proficient photographer, since I'll be photographing events for the Light, too

.

What Happened During the Day
I woke up way too early, around 6 a.m. I had to go to the La Jolla Light Office at 9:30 a.m. so I had some time to get ready. At 8:30 a.m. I left my house and drove to the office, only to get there at 8:35 a.m.; way too early. So I went back home and left a little bit later. The office is on the 3rd story of a building at the end of La Jolla Blvd, near downtown La Jolla. Upon arrival I met a man named Dave, who would help me out throughout my internship. He told me that he was going to the La Jolla historical society later that day, and I should come along to take pictures and do research on the subject of Red Roost and Red Rest, 2 historical cottages by the La Jolla Cove that have stirred up some controversy in the past. Before we left, I was given an assignment to learn more about a blood drive in Del Mar, but when I called for information, they only gave me a website. Afterwards, I went with Dave to RR/RR first and took pictures using my Canon Rebel EOS, perfect for newspaper photos. Then I went with him to the la Jolla historical society, where I looked through several files about RR/RR's history in newsprint and photos. After I was done looking through the files, I returned to the office, where I uploaded the photos I had taken on the intern folder in the Editorial Network at the office. Hopefully these photos will be used in the Light soon. After this, I had a lunch break, and I went to Pacific Beach, which was a mistake, because it took too much time, but there aren't many fast food restaurants close by.

In order to succeed at the Light, I'm going to have to work on my writing skills quite a bit, in order to create an acceptable newspaper article. Also, I'll have to do some research on controversies and events in La Jolla in order to create a an article that hasn't been overdone.

My hours are from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a 1/2 hour minimum lunch break somewhere in-between. I wish I could start earlier so I could end earlier, but this schedule is okay.

Sarah's assignment
Has the economic crisis affected the La Jolla Light? How?
Yes, it has. We had to take a week off without pay last year, thankfully we didn't have to layoff anybody. However, one person left for graduate school and we didn't bother to replace them.

What changes will the La Jolla Light undergo because of the recession?
Adapting to more people using the web, and creating the website so it's not the same as other La Jolla websites, making it more like our own. We also need advertisers to support the Light, since the newspaper is free and is mailed, which can be expensive on our part.