This is the room where news-gathering decisions are made – the desk where the morning and afternoon editorial meetings take place. To a college intern, it can be an especially intimidating room. Clearly, you don’t want to say the wrong thing in a room with the reporters, producers, photojournalists, and news managers that you hope to impress during your internship. At the same time, you don’t want to say nothing and simply disappear in the corner.
In an afternoon meeting recently, I saw an intern doing just that. Now, I do give her kudos for taking the initiative to be part of the editorial meeting, but she was clearly afraid to make a sound in the room. I immediately noticed how she had pulled her chair as far away from the desk as possible, even though there were plenty of seats open for her to join us. She was trying her best not to be noticed, but of course, her cover was blown when I took the liberty of calling her out!
“Hey, over there in the corner! We’d love to have you join us! Can you tell us bit about who you are?”
Turns out, that’s all it took to help this intern break the ice in her new environment. While it is obviously important to observe, it is equally as important to assert yourself and meet people. I cover the do’s and don’ts of internship etiquette pretty extensively in the BiB ebook Being Green; check it out for more pointers on managing a successful newsroom internship. Here are a few more tips on mastering the newsroom editorial meeting, so that you get noticed and gain the respect of your new peers.
- You will notice that most interns do not attend the editorial meetings. Don’t be that intern. Take the initiative to attend the morning meeting if your internship is scheduled during the day – the afternoon meeting if you are scheduled during evening hours.
- Be sure to pipe up and introduce yourself the first time you attend a meeting. Either ask your internship coordinator to introduce you, or use your own judgment to find an appropriate time to speak up and let people know who you are. It can be a brief “Hi, my name is Bill, I’m from (insert the name of your college here), and I’m here as an intern for the next few months. Nice to meet you all!” That’s all it takes to get off on the right foot with your new newsroom colleagues.
- Always carry a notepad and pen with you into the editorial meeting. Take notes on what happens during the editorial process: story pitches, story selection, discussions about logistics, decisions about how to produce each show, etc. Pay attention to how some ideas are shot down immediately, some may require more time to investigate before executing, and others are ready to “turn” that day.
- As you begin feeling more comfortable with how the process works, you should make it a point to join in along with everyone else and start contributing your own ideas in the meeting.
Don’t be offended if most of the ideas you pitch flop! In most newsrooms, you will get an “A” for trying. But who knows, you may pitch an idea that turns into a great news story in your area!
Good Luck!
A broadcast journalism grad recently asked for my opinion on how to deal with a challenging photographer, and a few other difficult co-workers in his new newsroom. I thought this would be an interesting topic, because I believe it takes two to tango. Everyone plays a part in building and maintaining good relationships, both personally and professionally. At the end of the day, most people simply want work relationships that “work” – efficient and drama free.
Remember those “bleep”, “bleep” sounds that you’d hear to censor vulgar language on television broadcasts in the United States? Well, now those ear-pulsing sounds have become a thing of the past. 
We are a variety of working broadcast professionals, offering advice & guidance to people interested in tv, online & radio broadcasting ______________________________________________
