By Eugenia Finizio
JMC '13

Eugenia interviews college students about Occupy DC.

With a script, interview questions, a camera, and myself, I trek all over DC to report on stories. I then sit down and edit the the story together and send it to the producers at mtvU. After some final changes, the story airs on mtvU stations around the country and online.

As someone who has always wanted to become a reporter, being able to cover issues and events that I think are important to college students and then watch the stories air on television has been an amazing opportunity. I went from watching TRL with Carson Daly on MTV when I was in middle school to reporting for mtvU as a senior in college.

By Jason Calabretta
JMC '13

Junior Jason Calabretta poses with Al Roker outside the White House during the annual Easter Egg Roll.

As a student at SMPA, I have had some really cool experiences and opportunities, but this semester certainly has been a highlight.  For the past few months, I interned at NBC Washington working for the TODAY show, a dream of mine since I came to Washington, DC.

While interning at NBC, I did a little bit of everything.  I logged footage, searched through the tape library, ordered footage from the archives, researched stories and even accompanied a producer on a live shoot.  Every day brought something new, which is what I love about journalism.  It isn't the type of job where you sit at a desk doing the same thing day after day.  One day you could be helping with a story about the election, and the next be gathering elements for a story on the richest hedge fund managers.

Each day, I was able to see the show come alive for the following morning by sifting through the rundown and watching as producers and correspondents made changes to their scripts.  I loved watching the show the next morning and seeing how the rundown changed overnight as news broke.  One of my favorite parts of this experience was sitting in the edit room with producers and watching the story come alive from a piece of paper to the screen.

The standout experience this semester was assisting producers at the White House for the annual Easter Egg Roll.  Al Roker shot the weather report and a few other segments from the White House for TODAY that morning.  I have watched Mr. Roker on television since I was little and it was amazing to be in his presence.  I also was excited to be on the inside of an event that has fascinated me since my freshman year at GW.

I cannot even begin to explain how much I have learned at TODAY and how incredibly talented everyone at NBC News is. Interning at TODAY this semester truly has been a dream come true.  I'm excited to be returning to the show in the fall, when the news really will be picking up as "Decision 2012" moves into the home stretch.

By Matthew Rist
JMC '12

Senior Matt Rist sits at the anchor desk in the NBC4 Washington studios.

Covering everything from murder trials to Mitt Romney to kids dancing on the Mall, there’s never a dull moment at NBC4 in Washington, DC.  I’m happy to share my experience at News 4, which undoubtedly has been the best internship I’ve had in my four years at GW.

Now let’s get one thing straight—I’m what you would call a “veteran intern.”  I got the quintessential Capitol Hill internship under my belt freshman year, writing press releases, performing research, answering phones, and giving the occasional tour.  It taught me a lot about my strengths and weaknesses and how to interact with people.  Then I moved on to NBC’s Meet the Press.  There, I rubbed elbows with movers and shakers, and I learned how to digest dozens of daily news sources into useful information.  It was great to learn how television news operates and see the most talented journalists hard at work.

But this internship is different.  On my first day in the newsroom, I sat in on the morning editorial meeting and pitched my own stories.  In my first week, I accompanied a reporter to a murder sentencing in Maryland, where I saw my first live shot in action and filmed my first "standup" at NBC.  Let’s just say my standup skills have grown exponentially since then and that first attempt is tucked away on an “intern blooper reel.”  Each time interns go out with reporters on a story, we come back to the newsroom and cut our own version of the package for our demo reels—which is "television speak" for the tape of all your work.

In addition to going out with reporters, interns at News 4 get the chance to work on their own stories for the web.  My fellow interns and I have pitched, filmed, and edited a number of stories that have since appeared online at www.nbcwashington.com.  We got up close and personal with a record-setting $20 food truck sandwich, discovered a new exhibit on the Titanic, and, in my favorite video, played PacMan.  These are just a few examples of work I created as part of my News 4 internship.

I am so thankful for all of the wisdom and advice that mentors at the station have given me this past semester.  I have grown as a journalist, and I look forward to starting my career at a local television station following graduation.

Watch Matthew Rist report on the new "American Stories" exhibition at the National Museum of American History: